Ex-Liberal Party powerbroker Marcus Bastiaan lodges action over branch stacking claims
Former Liberal Party powerbroker Marcus Bastiaan has lodged a mass defamation action against multiple media organisations after being accused of branch stacking.
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A former Liberal Party powerbroker has lodged a mass defamation action after being accused of branch stacking.
Marcus Bastiaan settled a case against Nine Entertainment earlier this year, securing a confidential payout worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
He also negotiated to have dozens of articles and social media posts removed that claimed he was involved in branch stacking for the Victorian branch.
Now Mr Bastiaan has lodged a new claim against nine organisations, including the Daily Mail, the ABC, Fairfax Media and the Guardian.
It accuses articles by the outlets of defamation over claims he was the “architect of a corrupt branch stacking scheme in which he installed electorate staff funded by taxpayers and then diverted them from their employed duties in pursuit of his scheme.”
As well as damages, he is seeking a permanent injunction banning publication of similar allegations again.
He also wants an order forcing the defendants to remove existing articles which cite the claims.
Mr Bastiaan has vehemently denied any wrongdoing since the allegations were first made public in 2020.
“I reject allegations of branch stacking,” he said at the time.
“As the voluntary chair of the Party’s Membership and Training Committee between 2015 and 2018 my role was to recruit and train new members.
“Two years ago, I stepped down from the Party’s Administrative Committee to focus on my family and business. These priorities have not changed.
“The ongoing leaking of years-old historic material is an unnecessary distraction for the Liberal Party.”
Consultants from KordaMentha were subsequently engaged to scrutinise the party’s membership records in the wake of the allegations.
In the wake of the investigation, KordaMentha recommended sweeping changes to party processes, including for membership applications to be made online with photo ID and signatures, and the introduction of new rules on the transfer of memberships between electorates.
The Korda Mentha review made no finding against Mr Bastiaan.
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