Why corruption probe will focus on Labor’s long-running turf war

This week’s IBAC hearings into the misuse of taxpayer funds will lift the lid on the battle between Daniel Andrews’ Socialist Left faction and Labor’s right.

Decades of branch stacking operations assisted by the alleged misuse of taxpayer staff in electorate and ministerial offices are set to be exposed from Monday when a corruption probe centred on Victorian Labor begins.

A long-running turf war for control of seats and branches in Melbourne’s south east, between Premier Daniel Andrews’ Socialist Left faction and the party’s right, will also be explored.

The Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission and the Victorian Ombudsman will this week start public hearings for Operation Watts.

It has been investigating misconduct involving the use of MP staff and the awarding of grants to community organisations.

The joint probe was launched after the leaking of secretly recorded tapes involving factional powerbroker and former minister Adem Somyurek and alleged branch stacking activity from taxpayer-funded staff.

Branch stacking is a practice within political parties in which factional warlords recruit large numbers of new sympathetic members to local branches so they can use their voting power to select candidates and influence decision.

Powerbroker Adem Somyurek at Fountain Gate Shopping Centre. Picture: Tony Gough

It is not always illegal but previous scandals have included the signing on of non-genuine members, forged applications and the paying of membership fees out of slush funds.

IBAC has been investigating whether taxpayer-funded workers and resources were improperly used to support branch stacking operations, with Mr Somyurek’s allies and state MPs Marlene Kairouz and Robin Scott also appearing in the tapes.

But it’s believed the watchdog has widened its scope to include multiple Labor factions, with dozens of workers and at least six current and former ministers interviewed.

The scandal also triggered a takeover of Labor’s Victorian branch by the national executive and the expulsion of 1700 members, including some working in electorate offices at the time.

Branch stacking has been rife within the party for decades despite several attempts to stamp it out and the IBAC hearings are expected to shine a light on the historic use of government resources to assist these operations.

There has been a long-running practice in some circles to award “days” of work in federal and state electorate offices to factional figures.

Sometimes these are the beginnings of genuine careers in government but often also involve providing a guaranteed salary to someone who is recruiting members or assisting powerbrokers.

Genuine electorate office staff have long been frustrated by this scheme and senior figures are bracing for these people to have explained detail of the operations to IBAC.

The scandal involving Mr Somyurek happened against the backdrop of a long-running turf war for control of branches in Melbourne’s south east.

Many of the video tapes involving the powerbroker and his allies were recorded in the electorate office of federal Holt MP Anthony Byrne in Cranbourne West.

Mr Andrews’ Mulgrave office sits within this war zone and his Socialist Left faction exerts considerable control in the region.

For years, massive recruitment drives by left-aligned or right-aligned groups have sparked off battles to control local branches.