ALP 7.7%
Incumbent MP
Mark Dreyfus, since 2007.
Geography
Outer south-eastern Melbourne. Isaacs covers suburbs along the coast of Port Phillip Bay on the south-eastern fringe of Melbourne. It covers the southern parts of Kingston and Greater Dandenong council areas, and a small northern part of Frankston council area.
History
Isaacs was created at a redistribution before the 1969 federal election. The seat was long a marginal seat, but has become safer for the ALP over the last decade.
The seat was first won in 1969 by the Liberal Party’s David Hamer. Hamer held the seat until 1974, when he lost to the ALP’s Gareth Clayton, but Hamer won back the seat in 1975.
Hamer retired in 1977, and was succeeded by Liberal candidate William Burns. Burns failed to win re-election in 1980, when Isaacs was won by the ALP’s David Charles.
Charles held the seat for a decade, retiring in 1990. The Liberal Party’s Rod Atkinson won back the seat in 1990.
Atkinson was re-elected in 1993, but a redistribution before the 1996 election changed Isaacs’ margin from a 3% Liberal margin to a 3.9% Labor margin, and Atkinson lost to the ALP’s Greg Wilton.
Wilton was re-elected in 1998. His marriage broke down in 2000, and he faced strong media attack in 2000 after being found by police in a situation that some interpreted as an attempted murder-suicide. This ended with Wilton committing suicide in June 2000. He remains the only member of federal Parliament to ever die by suicide.
The ALP’s Ann Corcoran easily won re-election at the ensuing by-election, with the Liberal Party not standing a candidate. Corcoran’s margin was cut to around 1-2% at the 2001 and 2004 elections, and retired in 2007.
The seat was won in 2007 by the ALP’s candidate, prominent lawyer Mark Dreyfus, with a swing of over 6%, which gave him a 7.7% margin.
Candidates
- Heather Wheatley (Family First)
- Mark Dreyfus (Labor) – Member for Isaacs since 2007.
- Dale McClelland (Liberal)
- Gordon Ford (Independent)
- Chris Carman (Greens)
Political situation
Dreyfus holds the seat by a formidable margin. Having said that, the seat was very marginal after the 2001 and 2004 elections, and it is not inconceivable that a national swing back to the Liberal Party could see the seat change hands.
2007 result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
| Mark Dreyfus | ALP | 44,056 | 48.76 | +4.45 |
| Ross Fox | LIB | 34,762 | 38.47 | -4.82 |
| Colin Long | GRN | 5,636 | 6.24 | -1.07 |
| Jadah Pleiter | FF | 2,308 | 2.55 | +0.15 |
| Laura Chipp | DEM | 1,970 | 2.18 | +1.15 |
| Gordon W Ford | IND | 1,137 | 1.26 | +0.49 |
| Robert Norrie | LDP | 492 | 0.54 | +0.54 |
2007 two-candidate-preferred result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
| Mark Dreyfus | ALP | 52,131 | 57.69 | +6.21 |
| Ross Fox | LIB | 38,230 | 42.31 | -6.21 |
Booth breakdown
Isaacs covers parts of three local government areas: Kingston, Frankston and Greater Dandenong. Over half the population live in Kingston LGA, so it has been divided between Aspendale-Chelsea and Mentone-Mordialloc, with the other two LGAs left intact. It’s worth noting that the suburb of Frankston is not in the seat of Isaacs, or even that close to the boundary, so all references are to the council area, which mainly consists of Carrum Downs.
The ALP won majorities in all areas, but they varied markedly. The ALP only won slim majorities of around 52% in the Kingston parts of the seat, 58% in the Frankston area and over 70% in the inland area in Greater Dandenong council. The Greens also performed much more strongly along the coast.
| Voter group | GRN % | ALP 2CP % | Total votes | % of votes |
| Aspendale-Chelsea | 6.84 | 52.66 | 24,555 | 27.17 |
| Greater Dandenong | 3.69 | 70.94 | 18,929 | 20.95 |
| Mentone-Mordialloc | 8.85 | 51.67 | 17,582 | 19.46 |
| Frankston | 3.63 | 58.19 | 10,843 | 12.00 |
| Other votes | 7.09 | 56.24 | 18,452 | 20.42 |
There was also a pre-1969 seat of the same name in a different part of Melbourne.
The originally selected Liberal candidate was forced to resign after being fined over a workplace incident which left a 16 year old employee with permanent hand injuries.
Dreyfus undoubtedly has impeccable credentials, but saying that Corcoran ‘retired’ is perhaps dressing up the truth a fraction. She won the local component of the hotly contested 2007 preselection against Dreyfus 56% to 44% but could not withstand the votes from the central panel http://www.mitchfifield.com/news/default.asp?action=article&ID=35
Anne Corcoran’s father Bob played a role in the 1950s Labor split as a devout young Catholic who opposed the Groupers. Her original endorsement however was the product of a factional deal to shut out the much more talented Jill Hennessey.
So who is liberal candidate running for the seat of Isaacs? I wonder.
Dale McClelland
Mark Dreyfus is a supporter of Israel like my MP in Melbourne Ports, Michael Danby, In 2006 when Israel and Hezbollah had a short border war the Israelis bombed major Lebanese cities far from the combat zone where thousands of Aussies visiting relatives in Lebanon were located.
Whilst no Aussies were killed many were wounded and even UN military observer posts were bombed killing the unarmed military officers in them. One Australian female captain had a narrow escape when she was relieved a few hours before the IDF slaughter of a UN OP.
When this was happening ALP MP’s like Danby and Dreyfus were attending pro Israel rallies in Melbourne or supporting Israel in a less provocative manner.
Anyone who supports a country bombing Aussies overseas is a traitor and not only should be voted out they should bet tried and gaoled for being a traitor. They are lucky we do not have the death penalty,
Put Mark Dreyfus last on voting day
Adrian Jackson – Those Australians were in a known war zone and should have known better than to consort with terrorists. Maybe you should think about what you say before opening your rabidly anti-semitic mouth.
Hands up who thinks Adrian is doing himself any favours with his anti-“Zionist” bulldust?
Chris, (12 Aug 10) ha, ha, ha, I hate Mossad terrorist like you.
Semites are an ethnic group and include most Jews, Muslims, Christians and Arabs from Greater Palestine area; while Zionism is a fascist political movement.
Did you know that Sir Isaac Isaac’s was not only a High Court Judge, the first Australian born Governor General and a Jew he was also opposed to political Zionism and the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. The electorate is named after him so would you call him an anti Semite too. Go and get lost you idiot.
MDMConnell (13 Aug 10) yes I am anti Zionist definately just as I am anti Nazi and anti Communist.
Any Aussie who serves in a alien Army like the IDF is also a traitor. I think duel passports/citizenship should cease too given Israels passport forging recently
I bet some of Adrian’s best friends are Jews, too……
MDMConnell (13 Aug 10) Manny Waks is not one of them though
My prediction: Labor retain, maybe a 1% swing to them.
Anyone that enjoys fishing with there family, should vote the Greens and Labor last, there has been a big push to restrict us fishing using inaccurate information and dubious means
For fishing vote Greens and Labor last!