Daniel Andrews wants federal Labor to control state branch until after election

Daniel Andrews has asked the Labor Party’s national executive to delay the state conference and not return voting rights to its Victorian members until after the state election.

Premier Daniel Andrews has asked Labor not to return voting rights to its Victorian members until after the state election.

The state branch has been under the control of the Australian Labor Party’s powerful national executive since June 2020 following allegations of industrial scale branch stacking and an audit of memberships.

Party members do not have voting rights and the executive has been selecting the party’s candidates in Victoria for both federal and state polls.

Victorian Labor was due to hold a state conference this year and this event would have allowed members to vote for which delegates would attend the event and vote on their behalf.

Elections could then have been held for senior party positions.

Federal Labor has been controlling the Victorian state branch since June 2020 following allegations of industrial scale branch stacking.

But Mr Andrews has written to the national executive asking the state conference be delayed until after the November election, arguing it would take resources away from their campaign effort.

Labor’s national conference was delayed for similar reasons and is not likely to happen until next year.

The Premier’s Socialist Left grouping and a selection of right-aligned factions have a majority vote on the national executive after signing a peace deal last year.

They are expected to approve Mr Andrews’ request in a move that could frustrate grassroots members, who have been waiting for the party processes to be restored.

He has also asked the national executive to preselect the party’s remaining candidates in state seats.

Most of these have already been decided but candidates have not yet been selected for electorates in which the party is less likely to win.

Federal Labor’s control over the Victorian branch has been challenged as unlawful in the Supreme Court and the High Court but the bid was unsuccessful.