Victorian Labor’s Socialist Left stakes claim to Mark Dreyfus’s federal seat of Isaacs in factional tussle | Victorian politics

Labour’s Socialist Left is seeking to consolidate its grip on Victoria by using the renegotiation of the factions’ stability pact to push for the federal seat of Isaacs, currently held by Labor Right member Mark Dreyfus.

This comes amid speculation that the former attorney general, who was kicked out of the cabinet in May, could resign before the next federal election.

Talks over a new agreement have been going on for weeks between the Socialist Left, which stands behind Prime Minister Jacinta Allan, and the Workers’ Union, which includes the Australian Workers’ Union, the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Union (SDA), the Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) and its members.

The left wants the new deal to better reflect its dominance of the Victorian branch after internal elections at the August state conference saw it take 57 of 100 seats on the Victorian Public Office Electoral Committee, controlling half the votes in candidate primaries.

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This outcome was partly shaped by the absence of two right-wing players: the CFMEU construction division, which was suspended, and the Health Workers Union (HWU), which did not send a delegation.

A “major sticking point” in negotiations for the left was securing a guarantee for the next vacant federal seat, according to a senior Victorian Labor source who was not authorized to speak publicly.

This is widely expected Isaacs, suburban Melbourne electorate It covers parts of the Greater Dandenong and Kingston municipalities, amid growing speculation that Dreyfus may soon leave politics.

Dreyfus, along with former minister Ed Husic, was kicked out of cabinet after Labour’s landslide victory in May to make way for right-wing party figures Sam Rae and Daniel Mulino. Defense minister Richard Marles was a key architect of the inter-factional agreement.

Former Bill Shorten staffer Steve Michelson, who lives in the district, is expected to run for the right-wing seat.

However, some party sources pointed to national secretary Paul Erickson as a potential candidate, stating that serious opposition would not be expected if he chose to run. Erickson is a member of the left.

“If he wants it, it’s his,” someone said.

Another party figure said Erickson was the most powerful person in the Australian Labor Party after prime minister Anthony Albanese, who has secured two election victories, but expressed doubts he would want to run for Isaacs.

Asked about his future immediately after the election, Erickson said he would decide before the end of 2025 whether to seek another term as the party’s national secretary.

While Dreyfus, who turns 69 this month, has given no indication of his plans, he has remained silent about his treatment in the post-election reshuffle and his future in parliament.

A Victorian Labor Party source who is aligned with the MP said there was “certainly wishful thinking on both sides that Mark would actually go anywhere”.

The division of the federal electorate as part of factional agreements is not without precedent in the Labor Party. The previous stability pact included a commitment by the Socialist Left to support the Labor League candidate for the new seat of Hawke, then held by Rae.

outer metropolitan Gorton’s seat It was given to the right after left-wing MP Brendan O’Connor announced that he would not participate in the 2025 elections in July 2024. Seat of MaribyrnongMeanwhile, the right-winger moved left after Shorten announced his retirement from politics in September 2024.

Several senior left figures said their groups were “clearly” entitled to Isaacs and another federal seat.

But a right-wing source said the left “can’t take Isaac away without a fight.”

They said the left was “trying to change the rules to suit them” by claiming extra seats federally when over-represented in the Victorian parliament.

As part of the new stability deal, the groups agreed to formalize the transfer of seven right-aligned seats to the left after National Union of Workers MPs leave after the 2022 election.

However, they were unable to reach an agreement on the division of Victorian upper house seats, and as a result the primaries were postponed until May next year. Currently the left holds only two of the eight first places.

Sources agree that it is urgent to renew the stability agreement before primaries begin in the coming weeks.

The new agreement will remain in place throughout the 2026 and 2030 Victorian state preselection and all federal preselection rounds before 31 December 2030.

Dreyfus was approached for comment.