Published: 2 July 2021
Last updated: 4 March 2024
DASH LAWRENCE: The Electoral Commission decides not to proceed with an electoral redistribution after lobbying from local figures
LABOR’S JOSH BURNS is on track to retain the marginal Melbourne seat of Macnamara at the next federal election, after the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) announced it wouldn’t pursue a proposed redistribution to one of Australian Jewry's most populous electorates.
In a surprise decision on Tuesday, the Commission declared that parts of St Kilda East and Elsternwick, and all of Caulfield, Caulfield North and Caulfield East – which include several booths won by Labor in 2019 – would remain in Macnamara.
In March, the AEC had tabled a plan to realign the seat, shifting suburbs east of Hotham Road into the neighbouring Liberal stronghold seat of Higgins.
The move would have pushed South Yarra and Prahran – areas with a rising Greens vote – out of Higgins and into Macnamara. Seasoned Greens candidate Steph Hodgins-May, who has unsuccessfully contested the seat in 2016 and 2019, was favoured to end Burns’ brief tenure had the redistribution gone ahead.
Macnamara, known as Melbourne Ports until the 2019 federal election, has been held by Labor for over a century. A decline in the area’s working-class character and rising gentrification has seen the Greens’ vote ascend since the early 2000s.
The AEC’s shock announcement has narrowed the Greens’ path to a greater vote and possible victory.
Burns told The Jewish Independent he was pleased the AEC has decided to “make this redistribution less disruptive both to the Jewish community and to all of my constituents in Caulfield, Elsternwick and St Kilda East, and I hope to continue to have the honour of representing them in Parliament”.
The 34-year-old MP, considered a rising star in Labor ranks, has positioned himself as an avowed supporter of Israel since his election in 2019.
Following the AEC’s decision, Burns said he would “take nothing for granted” and intended to continue to “work hard for all of my constituents.
“My focus remains on the Liberal Party and getting rid of the Morrison Government.”
In April, Burns and Victorian Labor submitted formal objections to the change, warning the AEC that a proposed boundary would divide Melbourne’s Jewish community into two.
They were joined by Zionism Victoria, which made a submission claiming that the new division would “disrupt the Jewish community’s engagement in politics and with government”.
Modern Orthodox congregation St Kilda Shule and ultra-Orthodox community Adass Israel, both of which would have remained in Macnamara under the mooted redistribution, said they feared the change would have severed them from the rest of the Jewish community.
High-profile figures in the Jewish community also voiced concern. Former Jewish Community Council of Victoria President Jennifer Huppert said the move would weaken the Jewish community’s “capacity to speak and advocate for its interests with one voice”.
Others, including writer and Balaclava resident John Safran, told the Commission “this area is its own little ecosystem of Melbourne Jewish life and choosing Hotham Street as a dividing line severs this ecosystem”.
Others who made submissions included writer and academic Mark Baker, former City of Port Phillip mayor Dick Gross and former trade union leader Michael Borowick.
Steph Hodgins-May, who announced her intention to recontest the seat only days prior to the AEC decision, did not respond to The Jewish Independent’s request for an interview.
The Victorian branch of the Greens, which supported the redistribution, had previously launched a scathing attack on Labor’s submission, describing its objections related to the impact on the Jewish community, as "bizarre" and "nonsensical".
Labor, Greens and the Liberal Party candidates closely vied for the seat in the 2013, 2016 and 2019 elections. In 2019, Burns replaced the longstanding Labor member Michael Danby. After second preferences were counted, Burns secured 56.25% of the vote, defeating the Liberal Party’s Kate Ashmor on 43.75%.
The Liberal Party (Victoria Division), which joined the Greens in supporting the AEC’s draft boundaries for Macnamara, is yet to announce its candidate for the federal election (due in 2022).
Photo: Labor Member for Macnamara Josh Burns speaks to supporters at a rally outside the State Library of Victoria, June 12 (Mick Tsikas/AAP)
