Melbourne Ports has been held by the Australian Labor Party since 1906.
It has been held by only five men since 1906, most notably Jack Holloway, a minister in the Curtin government, Frank Crean, Treasurer and then Deputy Prime Minister in the Whitlam government, and Clyde Holding, a minister in the Hawke government and before then state Labor leader in Victoria.

Originally, it was anchored in the industrial suburbs in the west of the electorate, which are part of Labor's heartland in west Melbourne.
 On those boundaries, for decades it was one of the safest Labor seats in the country, and Labor usually easily retained it even during severe nationwide defeats for Labor.
Since its extension eastwards to Caulfield and other Liberal-voting areas in the 1990 redistribution, it has become much less secure for Labor.
Continuing the gradual downwards trend in the Labor primary vote, in the 2013 election, Labor was returned with a primary vote of less than 32 percent.
In 2016, Labor actually suffered a primary vote swing of four percent and a two-party swing of two percent even as it nearly reduced the Coalition to minority government nationally.

In 2018, the Australian Electoral Commission proposed renaming Melbourne Ports to Macnamara, after medical scientist Dame Jean Macnamara.
The new name was gazetted on 13 July 2018, and was used from the 2019 federal election.
Melbourne Ports has been held by the Australian Labor Party since 1906. It has been held by only five men since 1906, most notably Jack Holloway, a minister in the Curtin government, Frank Crean, Treasurer and then Deputy Prime Minister in the Whitlam government, and Clyde Holding, a minister in the Hawke government and before then state Labor leader in Victoria.
Originally, it was anchored in the industrial suburbs in the west of the electorate, which are part of Labor's heartland in west Melbourne.  On those boundaries, for decades it was one of the safest Labor seats in the country, and Labor usually easily retained it even during severe nationwide defeats for Labor. Since its extension eastwards to Caulfield and other Liberal-voting areas in the 1990 redistribution, it has become much less secure for Labor. Continuing the gradual downwards trend in the Labor primary vote, in the 2013 election, Labor was returned with a primary vote of less than 32 percent. In 2016, Labor actually suffered a primary vote swing of four percent and a two-party swing of two percent even as it nearly reduced the Coalition to minority government nationally.
In 2018, the Australian Electoral Commission proposed renaming Melbourne Ports to Macnamara, after medical scientist Dame Jean Macnamara. The new name was gazetted on 13 July 2018, and was used from the 2019 federal election.
Division of Melbourne Ports