Hotham — Australian Federal Election Results

Compiled by EveryElectionResult.com's data team · Last updated 2026-08-30

Hotham was won by Clare O'neil (Labor) at the 2019 federal election, with a margin of 11,326 votes over George Hua after preferences. This page covers every federal election in Hotham from 1969 to 2019.

Australia uses instant-runoff (preferential) voting: voters rank candidates in order of preference, and if no one has a majority of first-preference votes, the lowest-placed candidate is eliminated and their votes redistributed to voters' next preference, repeating until one candidate has a majority. The "Winner" and "Margin" below reflect the final result after preferences (equivalent to the AEC's own two-candidate-preferred figure) — not simply whoever led on first preferences, which can occasionally be a different candidate.

Full Election History (After Preferences), 1969–2019

Election	Winner	Party	Final Votes	Final Share	Runner-up	Margin
1969	Donald Chipp	Liberal	28,667	58.2%	Kevin Vaughan (Labor)	8,040 (16.3 pts)
1972	Donald Chipp	Liberal	30,003	57.1%	Barry Johnston (Labor)	7,493 (14.3 pts)
1974	Donald Chipp	Liberal	30,235	52.3%	Anthony Ross (Labor)	2,681 (4.6 pts)
1975	Donald Chipp	Liberal	32,278	56.7%	Anthony Ross (Labor)	7,655 (13.5 pts)
1977	Roger Johnston	Liberal	35,450	51.7%	Anthony Ross (Labor)	2,353 (3.4 pts)
1980	Lewis Kent	Labor	39,177	54.0%	Roger Johnston (Liberal)	5,833 (8.0 pts)
1983	Lewis Kent	Labor	43,083	60.1%	Peter Bolitho (Liberal)	14,427 (20.1 pts)
1984	Lewis Kent	Labor	34,551	58.2%	Michael Heffernan (Liberal)	9,686 (16.3 pts)
1987	Lewis Kent	Labor	35,535	56.5%	Peter Mccall (Liberal)	8,207 (13.1 pts)
1990	Simon Crean	Labor	36,309	54.2%	Erdem Aydin (Liberal)	5,641 (8.4 pts)
1993	Simon Crean	Labor	45,119	63.0%	Robert Hicks (Liberal)	18,608 (26.0 pts)
1996	Simon Crean	Labor	48,437	60.6%	Brad Maunsell (Liberal)	16,891 (21.1 pts)
1998	Simon Crean	Labor	51,451	63.6%	John Pesutto (Liberal)	21,987 (27.2 pts)
2001	Simon Crean	Labor	49,701	61.0%	Priscilla Ruffolo (Liberal)	17,947 (22.0 pts)
2004	Simon Crean	Labor	45,655	57.4%	Jennifer Marriner (Liberal)	11,778 (14.8 pts)
2007	Simon Crean	Labor	51,240	63.0%	Vince Arborea (Liberal)	21,149 (26.0 pts)
2013	Clare O'neil	Labor	49,232	57.3%	Fazal Cader (Liberal)	12,505 (14.5 pts)
2016	Clare O'neil	Labor	50,104	57.5%	George Hua (Liberal)	13,044 (15.0 pts)
2019	Clare O'neil	Labor	53,597	55.9%	George Hua (Liberal)	11,326 (11.8 pts)

First-Preference Result by Election

Every candidate's first-preference votes, before any preference redistribution.

1969

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Donald Chipp	Liberal	23,776	48.2%
Kevin Vaughan	Labor	19,717	40.0%
Ian Radnell	Democratic Labor Party	4,563	9.3%
Kenneth Nolan	AP	1,238	2.5%

1972

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Donald Chipp	Liberal	25,242	48.1%
Barry Johnston	Labor	21,796	41.5%
Henry Beven	Democratic Labor Party	4,211	8.0%
Ian Kenner	Independent	846	1.6%
John Murray	Independent	418	0.8%

1974

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Donald Chipp	Liberal	27,826	48.2%
Anthony Ross	Labor	26,822	46.4%
Francis Gaffy	Democratic Labor Party	2,163	3.7%
Richard Franklin	AP	801	1.4%
John Murray	Independent	177	0.3%

1975

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Donald Chipp	Liberal	32,278	54.3%
Anthony Ross	Labor	24,623	41.5%
Francis Gaffy	Democratic Labor Party	1,948	3.3%
John Murray	Independent	555	0.9%

1977

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Roger Johnston	Liberal	27,663	40.4%
Anthony Ross	Labor	26,144	38.1%
Kenneth Weaver	Australian Democrats	12,587	18.4%
Edward Woods	Democratic Labor Party	2,153	3.1%

1980

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Lewis Kent	Labor	35,201	48.5%
Roger Johnston	Liberal	28,054	38.7%
Robyn Groves	Australian Democrats	8,138	11.2%
Edward Woods	Democratic Labor Party	1,128	1.6%

1983

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Lewis Kent	Labor	43,083	56.4%
Peter Bolitho	Liberal	28,656	37.5%
Erwin Frenkel	Australian Democrats	4,683	6.1%

1984

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Lewis Kent	Labor	31,821	53.5%
Michael Heffernan	Liberal	20,736	34.9%
Greg Chipp	Australian Democrats	5,028	8.5%
Edward Woods	Democratic Labor Party	1,845	3.1%

1987

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Lewis Kent	Labor	33,035	52.5%
Peter Mccall	Liberal	25,432	40.5%
Len De Koning	Australian Democrats	4,402	7.0%

1990

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Simon Crean	Labor	29,570	44.1%
Erdem Aydin	Liberal	24,278	36.2%
Phillip Anderson	Australian Democrats	7,388	11.0%
Vincent Alfonso	Independent	3,025	4.5%
Daryl Esmore	Communist Party	1,874	2.8%
Peter Stamatopoulos	Independent	918	1.4%

1993

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Simon Crean	Labor	42,514	59.3%
Robert Hicks	Liberal	25,308	35.3%
Giancarlo Squillacciotti	Australian Democrats	1,743	2.4%
Sue Phillips	Independent	876	1.2%
Petar Pjesivac	Independent	765	1.1%
Gabrielle De Wan	Independent	482	0.7%

1996

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Simon Crean	Labor	44,182	55.0%
Brad Maunsell	Liberal	28,834	35.9%
Brad Starkie	Australian Democrats	4,271	5.3%
Emma Rush	Greens	1,511	1.9%
John Casley	AAFI	1,176	1.5%
John Condon	Independent	303	0.4%

1998

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Simon Crean	Labor	46,107	57.0%
John Pesutto	Liberal	26,059	32.2%
Polly Morgan	Australian Democrats	3,720	4.6%
Alan Salter	One Nation	2,559	3.2%
Susan Walters	Greens	1,492	1.8%
Stan Rosenthal	Unity	841	1.0%
John Cordon	Independent	137	0.2%

2001

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Simon Crean	Labor	44,351	54.4%
Priscilla Ruffolo	Liberal	28,579	35.1%
Jessica Joss	Australian Democrats	4,383	5.4%
Ollie Bennett	Greens	3,544	4.4%
Simon Hall	Independent	598	0.7%

2004

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Simon Crean	Labor	40,735	51.2%
Jennifer Marriner	Liberal	30,992	39.0%
Kiera Perrott	Greens	4,287	5.4%
Roger Coombe	FFP	2,045	2.6%
Jessica Joss	Australian Democrats	975	1.2%
Josephine Cox	Socialist Alliance	274	0.3%
Adam Ellery	CEC	224	0.3%

2007

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Simon Crean	Labor	44,853	55.1%
Vince Arborea	Liberal	27,451	33.8%
Matthew Billman	Greens	5,572	6.9%
Peter Dorian	Family First	1,657	2.0%
Craig Cadby	Australian Democrats	800	1.0%
Terry Farrell	Independent	758	0.9%
Mike Woodward	Independent	240	0.3%

2013

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Clare O'neil	Labor	40,512	47.1%
Fazal Cader	Liberal	31,929	37.1%
Lorna Wyatt	Greens	7,327	8.5%
Samuel Porter	Palmer United Party	2,981	3.5%
Stephen Nowland	Family First	1,818	2.1%
Peter Vassiliou	Independent	1,392	1.6%

2016

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Clare O'neil	Labor	39,881	45.8%
George Hua	Liberal	32,512	37.3%
James Bennett	Greens	8,042	9.2%
Helen Jeges	AJP	2,593	3.0%
Tatiana Rathbone	Family First	2,106	2.4%
Peter Vassiliou	RUA	2,030	2.3%

2019

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Clare O'neil	Labor	43,310	45.2%
George Hua	Liberal	37,447	39.1%
Jess Gonsalvez	Greens	8,722	9.1%
Jin Luan	United Australia Party	3,483	3.6%
Dennis Bilic	Independent	1,772	1.8%
Peter Dorian	RUA	1,134	1.2%

Margin Over Time

Final (after-preferences) winning margin, percentage points, coloured by the winning party.

Trend

Hotham has been contested at 19 federal elections on record since 1969. Winning parties over that span: Liberal, Labor.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who won Hotham in the 2019 federal election?

Clare O'neil (Labor) won Hotham in 2019 after preferences, with 53,597 votes (55.9%) to George Hua's 42,271.

Which parties have won Hotham since 1969?

Since 1969, Hotham has been won by: Labor, Liberal.

What was the closest result in Hotham?

The closest result on record for Hotham was 1977, when Roger Johnston (Liberal) beat Anthony Ross by 2,353 votes (3.4 percentage points) after preferences.