Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will not move from his Melbourne seat of Maribyrnong as widely expected, saying he will continue to contest the western suburbs seat he has held since 2007.
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But Labor's Victorian factions will work through the weekend on a deal to carve up three other seats held by the party which are up for grabs, Macnamara (formerly Melbourne Ports) Jagajaga and Fraser.
Mr Shorten has written to party members in his electorate advising them that the anticipated switch to the seat of Fraser, a newly created electorate next to Maribyrnong, is off.
A recent boundary reshuffle by the Australian Electoral Commission moved about 40,000 voters out of Maribyrnong and into the new seat of Fraser, which is expected to be very safe Labor territory.
Mr Shorten's seat is tipped to become progressively more marginal over coming electoral cycles as its changing demographics fuel more support for The Greens.
"This is not an easy decision," Mr Shorten wrote.
"However, as the majority of voters from the old Maribyrnong electorate will still reside within the boundaries, I advise you of my intention to nominate as the candidate for Maribyrnong."
Despite the AEC's boundary movements drastically remodelling Maribyrnong, Mr Shorten's home is still within the electorate, which he told party members was a big factor in his decision to stay put.
"My family's home is in the new seat of Maribyrnong," the Labor leader wrote.
"This weighed heavily on my decision."
Factional figures are confident that an agreement can be struck to put new candidates into Macnamara, Fraser and Jagaja and to find a new state seat for former Andrews Government Emergency Services Minister.
In Macnamara, Josh Burns, a former staffer to retiring member Michael Danby, has won out in a vote of the local membership ahead of Glen Eira councillor Mary Delahunty and Nick Dyrenfurth of the John Curtin Research Centre. But Burns still must win the support of the party's national executive if he is to contest the seat.
A tussle within the left of the party over the federal seat of Jagajaga vacated by former federal minister Jenny Macklin remained unresolved on Friday. The standoff involves one group which backs local activist Sonja Terpstra and another allied with former Julia Gillard staffer Ryan Batchelor.
Nominations for preselction in all of Melbourne's Victorian seats will close on Monday with Mr Shorten's edict that no sitting members are to be challenged expected to hold sway.
