, 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 an incumbent "teal" independent. ==Members==