Division of Goldstein

The Division of Goldstein (/ɡoʊldstaɪn/) is an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria, Australia. The division was created in 1984, when the former Division of Balaclava was abolished. It is located in the bayside suburbs of Melbourne, including Beaumaris, Bentleigh, Brighton, Caulfield South, Cheltenham (part), Glen Huntly (part), Elsternwick (part), Ormond (part), Gardenvale and Sandringham.

Goldstein Australian House of Representatives Division
Interactive map of electorate boundaries from the 2025 federal election
Created	1984
MP	Tim Wilson
Party	Liberal
Namesake	Vida Goldstein
Electors	126,189 (2025)
Area	56 km2 (21.6 sq mi)
Demographic	Inner metropolitan

Geography

Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Australian Electoral Commission. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned.^[1]

As a result of a periodical boundary redistribution, from the 2025 Australian federal election, Goldstein's boundaries will move east to include the suburbs of Moorabbin (part) and Bentleigh East (part) and take more of the suburbs of Cheltenham and Highett.^[2]

History

Vida Goldstein, the division's namesake

The division is named after Vida Goldstein, an early parliamentary candidate who contested five separate elections within the first two decades after Federation. The seat was created in 1984 as a reconfigured version of the Division of Balaclava. Like its predecessor, it was historically a safe seat for the Liberal Party; when combined, the seat is one of very few that has never been held by the Labor Party at any point since 1901.

Its most prominent members include Ian Macphee, a minister under Malcolm Fraser and prominent Liberal moderate; and Andrew Robb, a former federal director of the Liberal Party who served as a minister under John Howard, Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull.

The long Liberal run in the seat ended in 2022, when teal independent and former ABC News reporter Zoe Daniel defeated Robb's successor, Tim Wilson. The swing against the Liberals was large enough to drop Goldstein down to marginal in a "traditional" two-party matchup with Labor.

The seat was notable in the 2025 election with it bucking the national trend, being the only seat the Liberals gained in the whole country. The seat was regained by Wilson who contested a rematch against Daniel. This marked the first, and as of July 2025 the only time the Liberal Party had defeated a "teal" independent. Many have since suggested that Wilson's victory could be a model for future Liberal gains against similar independent MPs.^[3]

Members

Image		Member	Party	Term	Notes
		Ian Macphee (1938–)	Liberal	1 December 1984 – 19 February 1990	Previously held the Division of Balaclava. Lost preselection. Failed to win pre-selection for the Division of Deakin. Retired
		David Kemp (1941–)		24 March 1990 – 31 August 2004	Served as minister under Howard. Retired
		Andrew Robb (1951–)		9 October 2004 – 9 May 2016	Served as minister under Howard, Abbott and Turnbull. Retired
		Tim Wilson (1980–)		2 July 2016 – 21 May 2022	Lost seat
		Zoe Daniel (1972–)	Independent	21 May 2022 – 3 May 2025	Lost seat
		Tim Wilson (1980–)	Liberal	3 May 2025 – present	Incumbent

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Goldstein

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2025 Australian federal election in Victoria § Goldstein.[edit]

2025 Australian federal election: Goldstein^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Tim Wilson	50,228	43.42	+3.85
	Independent	Zoe Daniel	35,533	30.72	−0.57
	Labor	Nildhara Gadani	15,812	13.67	+0.07
	Greens	Alana Galli-McRostie	8,320	7.19	−1.23
	Trumpet of Patriots	Vicki Williams	2,066	1.79	+1.79
	One Nation	Leon Gardiner	2,037	1.76	+0.31
	Libertarian	David Segal	1,677	1.45	−0.96
Total formal votes			115,673	97.31	+0.74
Informal votes			3,198	2.69	−0.74
Turnout			118,871	94.24	+2.87
Notional two-party-preferred count
	Liberal	Tim Wilson	62,427	53.97	+0.25
	Labor	Nildhara Gadani	53,246	46.03	−0.25
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Liberal	Tim Wilson	57,924	50.08	+1.88
	Independent	Zoe Daniel	57,749	49.92	−1.88
	Liberal gain from Independent		Swing	+1.88