Name: Federal Labor intervenes in Victorian branch amid branch-stacking allegations levelled at Adem Somyurek - ABC News
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Federal Labor intervenes in Victorian branch amid branch-stacking allegations levelled at Adem Somyurek - ABC News

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Federal Labor intervenes in Victorian branch amid branch-stacking allegations levelled at Adem SomyurekShareFederal Labor's governing body has agreed to launch an extraordinary intervention into the Victorian branch, appointing administrators and seizing control of all state and federal preselections.The intervention follows claims that up to a quarter of Victoria's 16,000 ALP members .The wide-ranging intervention was proposed by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and approved at a National Executive meeting on Tuesday night.Former Victorian premier Steve Bracks and former federal deputy-leader Jenny Macklin will take charge of the branch as administrators until the end of January next year.The pair will also head a review of the branch, providing an interim report next month before making detailed recommendations by November 1.Every membership will be audited to assess whether it is "genuine, consenting and self-funded" and all voting rights will be suspended until 2023.Labor's National Executive will also control the preselection of candidates for the next state and federal elections.Barring any unexpected retirements, the first test of a national executive-led preselection is likely to be when both federal and state electorate boundaries are redrawn in Victoria next year.In a press conference on Monday, the Premier announced he had sacked Labor powerbroker Adem Somyurek from the ministry after a report aired by Channel Nine depicted him using offensive language to describe a colleague.The report also aired allegations he was involved in "industrial-scale" branch stacking, a practice that involves signing up illegitimate members to influence ballots, including votes to determine election candidates.Mr Somyurek has denied he was involved in branch-stacking, but has apologised for some of the language he used.In his letter to the National Executive with the plan, Mr Andrews said he had "no confidence" in the integrity of voting rolls produced for internal elections in the Victorian branch."Accordingly, we must suspend those elections and begin a long and critical process of validating each and every member of the Labor Party in Victoria," he wrote."I cannot accept yet another review that, while well intentioned, cannot and will not deliver the profound reform that is required."There have previously been allegations of branch stacking in Victorian Labor, but reviews failed to tackle the structural issues that allow it to continue to happen.Some Victorian Labor figures have welcomed the shake-up saying it was time for serious reform, with one adding that the proposal "smashes the business model of stackers" by suspending voting rights until 2023.Mr Somyurek has since resigned from the Labor Party, and the branch-stacking allegations have been referred to Victoria Police and the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC).Investigators , however it was unclear to which agency they belonged.Two other ministers, Marlene Kairouz and Robin Scott, have also resigned amid the scandal but vowed to clear their names.16 Jun 202016 Jun 2020Tue 16 Jun 2020 at 7:13am, 16 Jun 202016 Jun 2020Tue 16 Jun 2020 at 2:17pmMore on:

Federal Labor intervenes in Victorian branch amid branch-stacking allegations levelled at Adem SomyurekShareFederal Labor's governing body has agreed to launch an extraordinary intervention into the Victorian branch, appointing administrators and seizing control of all state and federal preselections.The intervention follows claims that up to a quarter of Victoria's 16,000 ALP members .The wide-ranging intervention was proposed by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and approved at a National Executive meeting on Tuesday night.Former Victorian premier Steve Bracks and former federal...

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Federal Labor intervenes in Victorian branch amid branch-stacking allegations levelled at Adem Somyurek - ABC News

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