Paterson — Australian Federal Election Results

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

Paterson was won by Meryl Swanson (Labor) at the 2019 federal election, with a margin of 10,877 votes over Sachin Joshi after preferences. This page covers every federal election in Paterson 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	Allen Fairhall	Liberal	21,741	58.5%	Cecil Robinson (Labor)	6,312 (17.0 pts)
1951	Allen Fairhall	Liberal	21,677	57.1%	Cecil Robinson (Labor)	5,365 (14.1 pts)
1954	Allen Fairhall	Liberal	21,870	54.5%	Kevin Barlow (Labor)	3,615 (9.0 pts)
1955	Allen Fairhall	Liberal	23,623	60.2%	William Harvey (Labor)	8,022 (20.5 pts)
1958	Allen Fairhall	Liberal	21,064	59.7%	Alan Lloyd (Labor)	6,816 (19.3 pts)
1961	Allen Fairhall	Liberal	20,155	54.3%	Robert Brown (Labor)	3,203 (8.6 pts)
1963	Allen Fairhall	Liberal	24,695	61.4%	Archibald Jones (Labor)	9,192 (22.9 pts)
1966	Allen Fairhall	Liberal	25,437	67.9%	Francis Murray (Labor)	13,392 (35.7 pts)
1969	Frank O'keefe	Country Party	25,692	57.5%	Francis Murray (Labor)	6,709 (15.0 pts)
1972	Frank O'keefe	Country Party	24,609	50.4%	Noel Unicomb (Labor)	437 (0.9 pts)
1974	Frank O'keefe	Country Party	26,935	50.3%	Noel Unicomb (Labor)	275 (0.5 pts)
1975	Frank O'keefe	National Country Party	30,985	57.0%	Noel Unicomb (Labor)	7,588 (14.0 pts)
1977	Frank O'keefe	National Country Party	36,740	62.7%	Kerry Scott (Labor)	14,878 (25.4 pts)
1980	Frank O'keefe	National Country Party	36,416	59.3%	Francis Murray (Labor)	11,470 (18.7 pts)
1983	Frank O'keefe	National	37,028	56.6%	Michael Williams (Labor)	8,616 (13.2 pts)
1993	Bob Horne	Labor	37,006	53.3%	Bob Roberts (Liberal)	4,585 (6.6 pts)
1996	Bob Baldwin	Liberal	37,519	50.4%	Bob Horne (Labor)	634 (0.9 pts)
1998	Bob Horne	Labor	39,268	51.2%	Bob Baldwin (Liberal)	1,871 (2.4 pts)
2004	Bob Baldwin	Liberal	45,244	57.0%	Giovanna Kozary (Labor)	11,068 (13.9 pts)
2007	Bob Baldwin	Liberal	43,228	51.5%	Jim Arneman (Labor)	2,540 (3.0 pts)
2010	Bob Baldwin	Liberal	45,582	55.3%	Jim Arneman (Labor)	8,778 (10.7 pts)
2013	Bob Baldwin	Liberal	52,080	59.8%	Bay Marshall (Labor)	17,043 (19.6 pts)
2016	Meryl Swanson	Labor	60,779	60.7%	Karen Howard (Liberal)	21,490 (21.5 pts)
2019	Meryl Swanson	Labor	59,348	55.0%	Sachin Joshi (Liberal)	10,877 (10.1 pts)

First-Preference Result by Election

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

1949

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Cecil Robinson	Labor	14,089	37.9%
Allen Fairhall	Liberal	11,189	30.1%
Arie Dorsman	Country Party	5,293	14.2%
John Mcgirr	Country Party	3,842	10.3%
Robert Clendinning	Country Party	2,101	5.7%
Ernest Slater	Country Party	656	1.8%

1951

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Allen Fairhall	Liberal	21,677	57.1%
Cecil Robinson	Labor	16,312	42.9%

1954

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Allen Fairhall	Liberal	21,870	54.5%
Kevin Barlow	Labor	18,255	45.5%

1955

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Allen Fairhall	Liberal	23,623	60.2%
William Harvey	Labor	15,601	39.8%

1958

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Allen Fairhall	Liberal	21,064	53.6%
Alan Lloyd	Labor	14,248	36.3%
Douglas Drinkwater	Democratic Labor Party	3,969	10.1%

1961

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Allen Fairhall	Liberal	20,155	50.9%
Robert Brown	Labor	16,952	42.8%
Aubrey Barr	Democratic Labor Party	2,490	6.3%

1963

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Allen Fairhall	Liberal	24,695	61.4%
Archibald Jones	Labor	15,503	38.6%

1966

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Allen Fairhall	Liberal	25,437	63.0%
Francis Murray	Labor	12,045	29.8%
Aubrey Barr	Democratic Labor Party	2,889	7.2%

1969

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Francis Murray	Labor	16,741	37.5%
Frank O'keefe	Country Party	13,150	29.4%
John Jobling	Liberal	12,500	28.0%
Herbert Collins	Democratic Labor Party	1,805	4.0%
Adrian Edwards	Independent	252	0.6%
Edward Fletcher	AP	227	0.5%

1972

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Noel Unicomb	Labor	23,430	48.0%
Frank O'keefe	Country Party	22,970	47.1%
Aubrey Barr	Democratic Labor Party	1,376	2.8%
Alan Capp	AP	1,005	2.1%

1974

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Frank O'keefe	Country Party	26,418	49.3%
Noel Unicomb	Labor	26,261	49.0%
Robert Fowler	AP	916	1.7%

1975

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Frank O'keefe	National Country Party	30,985	55.6%
Noel Unicomb	Labor	23,397	42.0%
Barnard Hassett	Independent	861	1.5%
Marc Aussie-Stone	Independent	505	0.9%

1977

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Frank O'keefe	National Country Party	36,740	57.6%
Kerry Scott	Labor	21,862	34.3%
Paul Baker	Australian Democrats	4,250	6.7%
William O'donnell	Independent	923	1.4%

1980

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Frank O'keefe	National Country Party	36,416	55.1%
Francis Murray	Labor	24,946	37.7%
Denis Driver	Australian Democrats	4,265	6.4%
William Reeve-Parker	Independent	516	0.8%

1983

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Frank O'keefe	National	37,028	54.1%
Michael Williams	Labor	28,412	41.5%
Darrel Woodhouse	Australian Democrats	3,048	4.5%

1993

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Bob Horne	Labor	33,012	47.5%
Bob Roberts	Liberal	24,510	35.3%
Gary Watson	National	4,719	6.8%
Bernadette Smith	Greens	1,981	2.9%
Rodger Riach	Australian Democrats	1,396	2.0%
Bruce Mackenzie	Independent	1,348	1.9%
Bernie Neville	Independent	1,295	1.9%
Alan Mcdonald	Independent	810	1.2%
Ron Franks	Independent	421	0.6%

1996

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Bob Baldwin	Liberal	34,113	45.7%
Bob Horne	Labor	32,378	43.3%
Bob Symington	Australian Democrats	3,727	5.0%
Jan Davis	Greens	2,647	3.5%
Tervor Carrick	Communist Party	1,829	2.4%

1998

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Bob Horne	Labor	33,066	43.1%
Bob Baldwin	Liberal	31,212	40.7%
Paul Fuller	One Nation	6,355	8.3%
Jan Davis	Greens	1,577	2.1%
Geoffrey Rutledge	Australian Democrats	1,467	1.9%
David Murray	Christian Democratic Party	957	1.2%
Anthony King	Independent	666	0.9%
Michelle Moffat	Independent	608	0.8%
Andrew Buchan	Independent	448	0.6%
Alison Dellit	Independent	164	0.2%
Paul Unger	Independent	145	0.2%

2004

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Bob Baldwin	Liberal	41,289	52.0%
Giovanna Kozary	Labor	28,633	36.1%
Aina Ranke	Greens	3,303	4.2%
Charlie Griffith	One Nation	1,417	1.8%
Bruce Mckenzie	Independent	987	1.2%
Paul Hennelly	Independent	778	1.0%
Tony King	CEC	727	0.9%
Larissa Robb	FFP	681	0.9%
Mike Tuffy	Independent	677	0.9%
Brett Paterson	Australian Democrats	577	0.7%
Neil Smith	Independent	351	0.4%

2007

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Bob Baldwin	Liberal	40,466	48.2%
Jim Arneman	Labor	35,291	42.1%
Judy Donnelly	Greens	4,344	5.2%
Paul Hennelly	Independent	1,073	1.3%
Heather Haynes	Christian Democratic Party	1,010	1.2%
John Hamberger	One Nation	832	1.0%
Christopher Stokes	Family First	559	0.7%
Tony King	Independent	341	0.4%

2010

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Bob Baldwin	Liberal	42,262	51.3%
Jim Arneman	Labor	31,522	38.3%
Jan Davis	Greens	4,936	6.0%
Kevin Leayr	One Nation	1,044	1.3%
Anna Balfour	Christian Democratic Party	870	1.1%
Josef Wiedenhorn	Independent	699	0.8%
Veronica Lambert	Family First	674	0.8%
Paul Hennelly	Independent	379	0.5%

2013

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Bob Baldwin	Liberal	46,922	53.9%
Bay Marshall	Labor	25,811	29.6%
John Brown	Independent	5,812	6.7%
Jayson Packett	Palmer United Party	5,451	6.3%
Anna Balfour	Christian Democratic Party	1,854	2.1%
Bob Holz	Independent	877	1.0%
Peter Davis	Independent	390	0.4%

2016

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Meryl Swanson	Labor	46,090	46.1%
Karen Howard	Liberal	31,527	31.5%
Graham Burston	One Nation	13,056	13.0%
John Brown	Greens	5,797	5.8%
Peter Arena	Christian Democratic Party	2,058	2.1%
Brian Clare	RUA	1,007	1.0%
Peter Davis	Independent	533	0.5%

2019

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Meryl Swanson	Labor	44,288	41.1%
Sachin Joshi	Liberal	35,059	32.5%
Neil Turner	One Nation	15,269	14.2%
Jan Davis	Greens	7,439	6.9%
Graham Burston	United Australia Party	3,888	3.6%
Christoper Vale	Christian Democratic Party	1,876	1.7%

Margin Over Time

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

Trend

Paterson has been contested at 24 federal elections on record since 1949. Winning parties over that span: Liberal, Country Party, National Country Party, National, Labor.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who won Paterson in the 2019 federal election?

Meryl Swanson (Labor) won Paterson in 2019 after preferences, with 59,348 votes (55.0%) to Sachin Joshi's 48,471.

Which parties have won Paterson since 1949?

Since 1949, Paterson has been won by: Country Party, Labor, Liberal, National, National Country Party.

What was the closest result in Paterson?

The closest result on record for Paterson was 1974, when Frank O'keefe (Country Party) beat Noel Unicomb by 275 votes (0.5 percentage points) after preferences.