Culture must change with branch stacking review
A REVIEW of the culture of the ALP’s Victorian branch was needed, Corio Labor MP Richard Marles said yesterday.
Mr Marles said the national executive’s intervention in the branch was one of the biggest moves in ALP history.
“If we can take any kind of hope out of this week … it’s the fact that we did act very swiftly … dealing with Adem Somyurek, but secondly in terms of putting in place one of the biggest interventions that we’ve seen in the Labor Party’s history,” he said on Channel 9.
Former premier Steve Bracks and ex-deputy federal leader Jenny Macklin will take control of the Victorian branch until early next year, and an audit of every Victorian member is proposed.
“I really hope that through Steve Bracks and Jenny Macklin now leading an administration of the Victorian branch, we get not just a sense of confidence about what the party’s membership looks like, but that we get a wholesale review of the culture of Victorian Labor, because it’s desperately needed,” Mr Marles said.
Premier Daniel Andrews has requested all voting rights in the state branch be suspended until “at least” 2023.
It follows a TV report of Mr Somyurek allegedly branch stacking and unleashing a tirade against a female colleague. He denies wrongdoing.
Mr Bracks and Ms Macklin will make recommendations on restructuring the Victorian branch.
Deakin University senior politics lecturer Geoff Robinson said reforms should include boosting power of branch members to preselect candidates, banning membership payment in cash and auditing members.
Dr Robinson said the NSW preselection model should be considered for Victoria.
“In theory in NSW (Labor) it’s just the local members that preselect the candidate so you can stack people but they are wasted,” he said.
“Whereas in the Victoria system because you have this central panel that does half of the preselection voting, it’s to your advantage to pile up votes anywhere.”