Isaacs — Australian Federal Election Results

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

Isaacs was won by Mark Dreyfus (Labor) at the 2019 federal election, with a margin of 12,453 votes over Jeremy Hearn after preferences. This page covers every federal election in Isaacs from 1949 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), 1949–2019

Election	Winner	Party	Final Votes	Final Share	Runner-up	Margin
1949	William Haworth	Liberal	21,260	54.0%	John Bourke (Labor)	3,160 (8.0 pts)
1951	William Haworth	Liberal	19,548	54.7%	John Bourke (Labor)	3,383 (9.5 pts)
1954	William Haworth	Liberal	19,315	55.9%	Donald Macsween (Labor)	4,075 (11.8 pts)
1955	William Haworth	Liberal	20,670	62.0%	Barry Jones (Labor)	8,026 (24.1 pts)
1958	William Haworth	Liberal	18,286	57.3%	Barry Jones (Labor)	4,675 (14.7 pts)
1961	William Haworth	Liberal	20,724	59.6%	Angus Mclean (Labor)	6,647 (19.1 pts)
1963	William Haworth	Liberal	20,953	59.1%	Paul Court (Labor)	6,446 (18.2 pts)
1966	William Haworth	Liberal	18,468	61.2%	Peter Wilkinson (Labor)	6,756 (22.4 pts)
1969	David Hamer	Liberal	28,562	58.0%	Alan Roberts (Labor)	7,855 (15.9 pts)
1972	David Hamer	Liberal	26,664	51.1%	Gareth Clayton (Labor)	1,180 (2.3 pts)
1974	Gareth Clayton	Labor	28,520	52.7%	David Hamer (Liberal)	2,955 (5.5 pts)
1975	David Hamer	Liberal	30,646	56.6%	Gareth Clayton (Labor)	7,140 (13.2 pts)
1977	William Burns	Liberal	38,595	57.3%	Kenneth Williams (Labor)	9,890 (14.7 pts)
1980	David Charles	Labor	35,856	51.8%	William Burns (Liberal)	2,495 (3.6 pts)
1983	David Charles	Labor	38,630	58.9%	Ann Dunkley (Liberal)	11,666 (17.8 pts)
1984	David Charles	Labor	32,681	54.4%	Peter Zablud (Liberal)	5,274 (8.8 pts)
1987	David Charles	Labor	32,351	52.7%	Rod Atkinson (Liberal)	3,294 (5.4 pts)
1990	Rod Atkinson	Liberal	38,775	55.7%	Jim Ensor (Labor)	7,969 (11.5 pts)
1993	Rod Atkinson	Liberal	37,490	53.0%	John Mcswiney (Labor)	4,224 (6.0 pts)
1996	Greg Wilton	Labor	36,158	51.6%	Rod Atkinson (Liberal)	2,193 (3.1 pts)
1998	Greg Wilton	Labor	41,467	56.4%	Mike Rawlinson (Liberal)	9,417 (12.8 pts)
2001	Ann Corcoran	Labor	40,011	52.8%	Michael Shepherdson (Liberal)	4,265 (5.6 pts)
2004	Anne Corcoran	Labor	43,277	51.5%	Jeff Shelley (Liberal)	2,494 (3.0 pts)
2007	Mark Dreyfus	Labor	52,131	57.7%	Ross Fox (Liberal)	13,901 (15.4 pts)
2013	Mark Dreyfus	Labor	46,704	53.9%	Garry Spencer (Liberal)	6,700 (7.7 pts)
2016	Mark Dreyfus	Labor	51,538	55.7%	Garry Spencer (Liberal)	10,606 (11.5 pts)
2019	Mark Dreyfus	Labor	54,645	56.4%	Jeremy Hearn (Liberal)	12,453 (12.9 pts)

First-Preference Result by Election

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

1949

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
William Haworth	Liberal	21,260	54.0%
John Bourke	Labor	18,100	46.0%

1951

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
William Haworth	Liberal	19,548	51.5%
John Bourke	Labor	16,165	42.6%
Samuel Goldbloom	Independent	2,224	5.9%

1954

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
William Haworth	Liberal	19,315	55.9%
Donald Macsween	Labor	15,240	44.1%

1955

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
William Haworth	Liberal	20,670	54.5%
Barry Jones	Labor	12,644	33.3%
John Hughes	Labor (Anti-Communist)	4,610	12.2%

1958

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
William Haworth	Liberal	16,534	45.4%
Barry Jones	Labor	12,933	35.5%
John Hughes	Democratic Labor Party	4,316	11.9%
Elias Cowan	Independent	2,624	7.2%

1961

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
William Haworth	Liberal	16,493	47.4%
Angus Mclean	Labor	13,527	38.9%
John Hughes	Democratic Labor Party	4,781	13.7%

1963

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
William Haworth	Liberal	17,591	49.6%
Paul Court	Labor	14,159	39.9%
John Hughes	Democratic Labor Party	3,710	10.5%

1966

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
William Haworth	Liberal	18,468	54.0%
Peter Wilkinson	Labor	11,712	34.2%
John Hughes	Democratic Labor Party	4,032	11.8%

1969

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
David Hamer	Liberal	23,525	47.7%
Alan Roberts	Labor	19,751	40.1%
Frederick Skinner	Democratic Labor Party	4,967	10.1%
Liane Wessley	Independent	1,026	2.1%

1972

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Gareth Clayton	Labor	23,904	45.8%
David Hamer	Liberal	22,110	42.4%
Frederick Skinner	Democratic Labor Party	3,635	7.0%
Peter Harrie	AP	2,499	4.8%

1974

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Gareth Clayton	Labor	26,225	46.1%
David Hamer	Liberal	25,267	44.4%
William Leech	Democratic Labor Party	2,179	3.8%
Elizabeth Chesterfield	AP	1,443	2.5%
James Bernard	Independent	1,181	2.1%
Janus Fawke	Independent	597	1.0%

1975

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
David Hamer	Liberal	30,646	53.2%
Gareth Clayton	Labor	23,506	40.8%
Ralph Cleary	Democratic Labor Party	1,917	3.3%
Eldon Simmons	AP	805	1.4%
Marc Aussie-Stone	Independent	719	1.2%

1977

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
William Burns	Liberal	29,857	44.4%
Kenneth Williams	Labor	23,275	34.6%
Francis Mcleod	Australian Democrats	11,427	17.0%
Ralph Cleary	Democratic Labor Party	2,741	4.1%

1980

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
David Charles	Labor	31,192	45.1%
William Burns	Liberal	26,293	38.0%
Michael Bakos	Australian Democrats	9,777	14.1%
Sydney Balhorn	Independent	1,955	2.8%

1983

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
David Charles	Labor	38,630	55.0%
Ann Dunkley	Liberal	26,964	38.4%
Terence Gough	Australian Democrats	4,689	6.7%

1984

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
David Charles	Labor	30,612	50.9%
Peter Zablud	Liberal	24,079	40.1%
Peter Lindemann	Australian Democrats	3,693	6.1%
Dudley De Rozario	Democratic Labor Party	933	1.6%
Charles Lacey	National	774	1.3%

1987

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
David Charles	Labor	29,325	47.7%
Rod Atkinson	Liberal	26,448	43.1%
Maxine Aspinall	Australian Democrats	4,428	7.2%
Bill Buchanan	National	833	1.4%
Linda Ely	Independent	395	0.6%

1990

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Rod Atkinson	Liberal	35,160	50.5%
Jim Ensor	Labor	23,613	33.9%
Darren Koch	Australian Democrats	10,874	15.6%

1993

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Rod Atkinson	Liberal	35,792	50.6%
John Mcswiney	Labor	30,007	42.4%
Kaylyn Raynor	Australian Democrats	3,546	5.0%
Judee Horin	Independent	1,458	2.1%

1996

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Greg Wilton	Labor	30,997	44.0%
Rod Atkinson	Liberal	29,595	42.1%
Kaylyn Raynor	Australian Democrats	6,734	9.6%
Angela Walker	AAFI	2,448	3.5%
Jan Allison	Independent	597	0.8%

1998

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Greg Wilton	Labor	35,604	48.4%
Mike Rawlinson	Liberal	28,060	38.2%
Robert Ryan	Australian Democrats	4,355	5.9%
Denis Reed-Smith	One Nation	2,971	4.0%
Daniel Tirawa	Greens	1,570	2.1%
Mija Carkeek	Unity	421	0.6%
Patricia Brook	Independent	325	0.4%
Amanda Mcintosh	Independent	211	0.3%

2001

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Ann Corcoran	Labor	31,951	42.2%
Michael Shepherdson	Liberal	31,520	41.6%
Haydn Fletcher	Australian Democrats	5,627	7.4%
Darren Bujeya	Greens	3,073	4.1%
John Groves	One Nation	1,358	1.8%
Shirly Oakley	Independent	1,342	1.8%
Patricia Brook	Independent	640	0.8%
Heather Stanton	Independent	246	0.3%

2004

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Anne Corcoran	Labor	37,245	44.3%
Jeff Shelley	Liberal	36,391	43.3%
Sean Hardy	Greens	6,143	7.3%
Jacob Mathews	FFP	2,019	2.4%
Haydn Fletcher	Australian Democrats	862	1.0%
Gordon Ford	Independent	650	0.8%
Carl Groves	One Nation	536	0.6%
Martha Malliotis	CEC	214	0.3%

2007

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Mark Dreyfus	Labor	44,056	48.8%
Ross Fox	Liberal	34,762	38.5%
Colin Long	Greens	5,636	6.2%
Jadah Pleiter	Family First	2,308	2.6%
Laura Chipp	Australian Democrats	1,970	2.2%
Gordon W Ford	Independent	1,137	1.3%
Robert Norrie	Independent	492	0.5%

2013

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Mark Dreyfus	Labor	35,837	41.3%
Garry Spencer	Liberal	34,864	40.2%
Sandra Miles	Greens	6,120	7.1%
Avtar Gill	Palmer United Party	2,846	3.3%
John Elliott	Family First	2,503	2.9%
Laith Graham	ASP	2,093	2.4%
James Leach	Democratic Labor Party	1,144	1.3%
Karen Dobby	Independent	743	0.9%
Nadia Seaman	Independent	558	0.6%

2016

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Mark Dreyfus	Labor	41,144	44.5%
Garry Spencer	Liberal	37,312	40.4%
Alex Breskin	Greens	9,429	10.2%
Elizabeth Johnston	AJP	4,585	5.0%

2019

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Mark Dreyfus	Labor	43,364	44.8%
Jeremy Hearn	Liberal	34,089	35.2%
Kim Samiotis	Greens	10,822	11.2%
Tony Seals	United Australia Party	3,813	3.9%
Bronwyn Currie	AJP	3,607	3.7%
Ash Puvimanasinghe	RUA	1,142	1.2%

Margin Over Time

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

Trend

Isaacs has been contested at 27 federal elections on record since 1949. Winning parties over that span: Liberal, Labor.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who won Isaacs in the 2019 federal election?

Mark Dreyfus (Labor) won Isaacs in 2019 after preferences, with 54,645 votes (56.4%) to Jeremy Hearn's 42,192.

Which parties have won Isaacs since 1949?

Since 1949, Isaacs has been won by: Labor, Liberal.

What was the closest result in Isaacs?

The closest result on record for Isaacs was 1972, when David Hamer (Liberal) beat Gareth Clayton by 1,180 votes (2.3 percentage points) after preferences.