Mark Dreyfus
Encyclopedia
Mark Alfred Dreyfus QC
(born 3 October 1956), Australia
n lawyer and politician, is the Australian Labor Party
member for the House of Representatives
seat of Isaacs
, Victoria. He was elected in the 2007 federal election.
, the son of George Dreyfus
, a noted composer who came to Australia as a refugee from Nazi Germany
. Dreyfus was educated at the University of Melbourne
and holds degrees in Arts and Law, becoming a lawyer in 1982 and a barrister in 1987.
the Victorian Attorney-General and Planning Minister, for two years in the 1980s.
on recommendation from the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria
. He was a director of the Law Council of Australia and the Vice-Chair of the Victorian Bar.
Dreyfus frequently represented the Labor Opposition in court cases on Freedom of Information and other cases throughout the 1990s. In one case, he represented the ALP in attempting to unseat Liberal MP Bruce Atkinson
who faced allegations of moon-lighting. An active ALP member, he was asked by the Party to investigate branch stacking
and to write recommendations about how they might combat it. The resulting Dreyfus Report proposed sweeping measures to combat improper practices which were substantially implemented, imposing caps on the number of members who could be recruited at individual meetings and other restrictions on multiple recruiting. Some faction leaders including the Left's Kim Carr
and the Right's Stephen Conroy
initially strongly opposed the Dreyfus Report and its recommendations. Ultimately the Dreyfus reforms with slight modification were adopted unanimously by the Victorian ALP State Conference in 1998.
More recently Dreyfus has represented Aboriginal plaintiffs in cases relating to Stolen Generation
claims. He also represented environmentalists sued by Tasmanian timber company Gunns
for campaigning against and damaging them. He was a National Editorial Board member of the Australia Israel Jewish Affairs Council.
, for the right to contest the 2007 election. Although Corcoran won a majority of votes in the local ballot, Dreyfus, a member of the Labor Unity faction, had a large majority of supporters on the party's Public Office Selection Committee, and thus won the overall vote. Ironically, in his 1998 Dreyfus report, Mr Dreyfus stated: ‘Membership makes a party, not the other way around. Labor is, or should be, people—not vehicle, not structure, not hierarchy.’ At the 2007 election, he defeated the Liberal candidate, Ross Fox, gaining a 5.9% swing to Labor.
Following Labor's victory at the 2007 Federal Election, Mark Dreyfus was appointed chairman of the House of Representatives legal and constitutional affairs committee.
At the 2010 election. Mark Dreyfus was re-elected gaining a further 3.33% swing to Labor.
In September 2010 Mark Dreyfus was appointed as Cabinet Secretary as well as Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency in the Gillard Government.
In March 2011 he described the campaign by Tony Abbott
against the Carbon Tax as Nazi propaganda.
In August 2011 he was accused of calling Sophie Mirabella
a "bitch" in parliament. He denied the accusation although he did withdraw for an unparliamentary remark at the time.
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
(born 3 October 1956), Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n lawyer and politician, is the Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
member for the House of Representatives
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....
seat of Isaacs
Division of Isaacs
The Division of Isaacs is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. It is located in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, on the eastern shores of Port Phillip Bay...
, Victoria. He was elected in the 2007 federal election.
Early life
Dreyfus was born in PerthPerth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, the son of George Dreyfus
George Dreyfus
George Dreyfus AM is an Australian contemporary classical, film and television composer.-Life:The Dreyfus family moved in 1935 to Berlin to enable a better education for their two sons...
, a noted composer who came to Australia as a refugee from Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. Dreyfus was educated at the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
and holds degrees in Arts and Law, becoming a lawyer in 1982 and a barrister in 1987.
Career
He was a ministerial staffer, advising Jim KennanJim Kennan
James Harley "Jim" Kennan SC was an Australian politician and later Adjunct Professor of Law at Deakin University.He earned a Master of Laws from the University of Melbourne...
the Victorian Attorney-General and Planning Minister, for two years in the 1980s.
Legal work
An expert in planning law, Dreyfus was the Legal Editor of the Victorian Planning Reports and was a member of the Victorian Planning and Environmental Law Association. He was also the co-author of the Contract chapter in Butterworths' Court Forms, Precedents and Pleadings, Victoria, He was one of the top defamation lawyers in Victoria, representing some of the state's large media businesses. He was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1999 by Attorney-General Rob HullsRob Hulls
Rob Justin Hulls has been a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since 1996, representing the electorate of Niddrie. As well as previously serving as the Deputy Premier of Victoria, he was also the state Attorney-General and Minister for Racing.Rob Hulls was born in Melbourne and was...
on recommendation from the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria
Supreme Court of Victoria
The Supreme Court of Victoria is the superior court for the State of Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1852, and is a superior court of common law and equity, with unlimited jurisdiction within the state...
. He was a director of the Law Council of Australia and the Vice-Chair of the Victorian Bar.
Dreyfus frequently represented the Labor Opposition in court cases on Freedom of Information and other cases throughout the 1990s. In one case, he represented the ALP in attempting to unseat Liberal MP Bruce Atkinson
Bruce Atkinson
Bruce Norman Atkinson is an Australian politician. He has been a Liberal member of the Victorian Legislative Council since October 1992, representing Koonung Province from 1992 to 2006 and Eastern Metropolitan Region since. He is currently the President of the Legislative Council.Atkinson was born...
who faced allegations of moon-lighting. An active ALP member, he was asked by the Party to investigate branch stacking
Branch stacking
Branch stacking is the act of recruiting members for a branch of a political party for the principal purpose of influencing the outcome of internal preselections of candidates for public office...
and to write recommendations about how they might combat it. The resulting Dreyfus Report proposed sweeping measures to combat improper practices which were substantially implemented, imposing caps on the number of members who could be recruited at individual meetings and other restrictions on multiple recruiting. Some faction leaders including the Left's Kim Carr
Kim Carr
Kim John Carr is an Australian politician. He has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian Senate since April 1993, representing the state of Victoria. He was elected to the Senate at the March 1993 election, and was due to take his seat on 1 July...
and the Right's Stephen Conroy
Stephen Conroy
Stephen Michael Conroy is an Australian politician and the current Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy in the Gillard Ministry...
initially strongly opposed the Dreyfus Report and its recommendations. Ultimately the Dreyfus reforms with slight modification were adopted unanimously by the Victorian ALP State Conference in 1998.
More recently Dreyfus has represented Aboriginal plaintiffs in cases relating to Stolen Generation
Stolen Generation
The Stolen Generations were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian Federal and State government agencies and church missions, under acts of their respective parliaments...
claims. He also represented environmentalists sued by Tasmanian timber company Gunns
Gunns
Gunns Limited is a major forestry enterprise located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1875 by brothers John and Thomas Gunn, it is one of Australia's oldest companies. It has over 900 square kilometres of plantations, mainly eucalyptus trees. It is Tasmania’s largest private land-owner...
for campaigning against and damaging them. He was a National Editorial Board member of the Australia Israel Jewish Affairs Council.
Politics
In March 2006 Dreyfus successfully challenged the sitting Labor member for Isaacs, Ann CorcoranAnn Corcoran
Ann Kathleen Corcoran , an Australian politician, was an Australian Labor Party member of the House of Representatives from 12 August 2000 to the 2007 election, representing the Division of Isaacs, Victoria....
, for the right to contest the 2007 election. Although Corcoran won a majority of votes in the local ballot, Dreyfus, a member of the Labor Unity faction, had a large majority of supporters on the party's Public Office Selection Committee, and thus won the overall vote. Ironically, in his 1998 Dreyfus report, Mr Dreyfus stated: ‘Membership makes a party, not the other way around. Labor is, or should be, people—not vehicle, not structure, not hierarchy.’ At the 2007 election, he defeated the Liberal candidate, Ross Fox, gaining a 5.9% swing to Labor.
Following Labor's victory at the 2007 Federal Election, Mark Dreyfus was appointed chairman of the House of Representatives legal and constitutional affairs committee.
At the 2010 election. Mark Dreyfus was re-elected gaining a further 3.33% swing to Labor.
In September 2010 Mark Dreyfus was appointed as Cabinet Secretary as well as Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency in the Gillard Government.
In March 2011 he described the campaign by Tony Abbott
Tony Abbott
Anthony John "Tony" Abbott is the Leader of the Opposition in the Australian House of Representatives and federal leader of the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott has represented the seat of Warringah since the 1994 by-election...
against the Carbon Tax as Nazi propaganda.
In August 2011 he was accused of calling Sophie Mirabella
Sophie Mirabella
Sophie Mirabella is an Australian federal politician. She has been a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives since 2001, representing the Division of Indi, Victoria...
a "bitch" in parliament. He denied the accusation although he did withdraw for an unparliamentary remark at the time.