by Philip Salama-West
In the atmosphere of a historic federal election victory for Labor, ALP MPs Mark Dreyfus and Clare O’Neil have enjoyed significant wins, firmly holding on to their respective seats of Isaacs and Hotham.
O’Neil scored the most decisive electoral victory of the two in the two party preferred (2PP) race with 60,479 votes (67.17 per cent) over challenger Harmick Singh Matharu, who gathered 29,558 votes (32.83 per cent).
Votes for O’Neil, who serves as the Minister for Housing and Minister for Homelessness and has been MP for Hotham since 2013, have also swung upwards since the last election at a rate of 5.58 per cent.
O’Neil’s victory was consistent across her electorate as she won all of Hotham’s voting booths in the two party preferred race.
Bentleigh Central was the most closely contested booth in the electorate, but Labor nonetheless came out on top there with 55.64 per cent of the 2PP vote.
Mark Dreyfus was likewise able to convincingly hold his seat of Isaacs with 58,615 2PP votes (56.85 per cent) against Liberal Party candidate Fiona Ottey who won 32,007 votes (35.32 per cent).
Dreyfus, who serves as Australia’s Attorney General and has held Isaacs since 2007, won convincingly across the electorate, with an upwards swing from the last election of 5.17 per cent.
Ottey was able to secure a two party majority in a single booth at the Hampton prefabricated voting center, winning 229 2PP votes (60.74 per cent) to 148 votes (39.26 per cent), but Dreyfus was able to sweep every other voting booth in the electorate.
Ottey had echoed Liberal promises to lower house prices and relieve cost of living pressures in her campaign.
Australian Greens candidate for Isaacs Matthew Kirwan was quick to point out that the strong Labor majority in Isaacs “doesn’t tell the whole story”, however.
The Greens have seen a major upwards swing in several booths, such as Dandenong West and Dandenong South which saw a 14.21 and 13.42 per cent swing for the Greens respectively.
Kirwan credited the results to his party’s “real action on housing, putting mental and dental health into Medicare and our principled stand on Palestine which has particularly resonated with the Muslim community in Greater Dandenong.”
Despite the upwards swing for the Greens, Labor’s majority was clear across every booth in the electorate.
Australian voters had “rejected the fear and hatred and division of Peter Dutton”, and “embraced Anthony Albanese’s vision for a fairer Australia”, Dreyfus said.
“It’s a great result for the country. I’m delighted to work with Anthony Albanese in building Australia’s future.”
