Secret tapes, carpark cash drops, ministers threatened: inside Victoria's stackathon

Victorian minister Adem Somyurek handed over thousands of dollars in secret cash drop-offs and used political advisers meant to be working for other MPs to stack branches with fake members and amass significant political power inside the Australian Labor Party.

Mr Somyurek, the Local Government and Small Business Minister and member of the ALP national executive, handed a folder containing $2000 and dozens of party membership forms to an adviser working for another Andrews government minister at the Hampton Park Shopping Centre on May 13.

The adviser, Nick McLennan – who works for Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gaming and Liquor Regulation Marlene Kairouz – used the money Mr Somyurek withdrew from an ATM to pay for new members, according to hours of video and audio recording obtained by The Age and 60 Minutes. Exactly a month earlier, Mr Somyurek and Mr McLennan carried out a similar cash drop-off.

Mr Somyurek is captured on tape after the April 13 drop saying: "Well, if he [Mr McLennan] gets caught on the street, he'd better not say he's doing f---ing this stuff."

The extensive recordings captured over a year raise serious questions about Mr Somyurek’s conduct, and show him boasting about his power within Labor and denigrating many state and federal colleagues, including Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews.

"F--- the Premier," he says on one tape, while in another he claims he will be running Victoria if Mr Andrews steps down. "I'll be just running the joint ... It's who I say is going to be the f---ing premier."

Mr Somyurek has declined requests for an interview but emphatically denies he is involved in branch stacking – the unethical process of harvesting members among people who have no intention of joining a political party.

Branch stacking allows political powerbrokers to control the numbers in grassroots branches, which help decide the candidacy of federal and state members of Parliament. ALP rules prohibit the practice of paying for other people’s memberships and require members to sign a form declaring they have paid for their own memberships.

The Age and 60 Minutes have seen copies of the membership forms used by Mr Somyurek in his branch stacking operations and have spoken to several of the new party recruits. Some admitted they did not pay for their own memberships, while others were unable to name the Premier of Victoria.

The tapes show Mr Somyurek spent many hours building his power base and aggressively reshaping the make-up of branches in Victoria including Cranbourne, in Melbourne's south-east, and Hoppers Crossing in Melbourne's west. Mr Somyurek claims he controls nearly two-thirds of the Victorian Labor Party.

"I’m more powerful than all of them put together," he says in one tape, referring to other Labor powerbrokers. In another recording he claims "our people have been putting like industrial-scale numbers, you know, just f---ing masses for a year", before describing plans to launch a "big f---ing stackathon" in Melbourne’s south-east.

Mr Somyurek was appointed Minister for Local Government by Mr Andrews in 2018 despite a patchy record. His previous stint in cabinet, in the first term of the Andrews government, was cut short in 2015 following an allegation of bullying when he was small business, innovation and trade minister. When he was a backbencher in 2009 he lost his job as chair of the electoral matters committee for a driving offence.

The tapes, recorded between mid 2019 and mid 2020, show Mr Somyurek pressuring politicians he claims to control, telling them to move members into branches and in some cases provide staff for what appear to be political activities.

He claims Melbourne’s growing Indian community make better members than "Anglos".

"Stacking Anglos, it’s not going to work. Anglos just f--- off after a while," Mr Somyurek says in one recording just before Christmas. In another, he says: "The good thing about Indians is they pay. Well, people pay for them. But I’d rather not be exposed too much with the Indians."

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd said Mr Somyurek was a "kingpin" and "Frankenstein" of the ALP, and called on federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese and Mr Andrews to expel him from the party if he was shown to be involved in misconduct.

"He should be booted out. Very simple. And if they've [Mr Somyurek or his allies] fallen afoul of the law, throw the book at them," Mr Rudd said.

Mr Somyurek claims on tape that he uses the parliamentary staff of MPs for his branch stacking operations. He claims Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Veterans Robin Scott agreed to allow his parliamentary electorate officer, Nathan Croft, to work on boosting membership in key city and country branches for Mr Somyurek.

"He’ll be doing work from there, Robin won’t mind," Mr Somyurek says in March.

Mr Somyurek is later recorded on video speaking to Mr Croft. In the recording Mr Croft says: "I spoke to Robin and he said on his days [when I work at his office] he’s pretty chill. I gave him the heads-up that I was doing some of this stuff and he’s like, 'Have fun.' "

On another tape, Mr Somyurek is recorded claiming he will direct state MP Tien Kieu to try to enlist staffer Jake Cripps for political activity aimed at bolstering branch memberships.

"I will speak to Tien and get you for a couple [of days]," Mr Somyurek tells Mr Cripps in March.

(L to R) Jaclyn Symes, Gabrielle Williams, Daniel Andrews, Melissa Horne and Adem Somyurek.Credit: Photo: Eddie Jim

Mr Scott and Mr Kieu denied any knowledge of or involvement in branch stacking, while Mr Cripps, Mr Croft and Mr McLennan declined to answer questions.

Ms Kairouz did not respond to questions about branch stacking.

Political staffers are funded by taxpayers and meant to assist MPs on policy, media or electorate work that benefits the community. The abuse of public resources for party political purposes was made unlawful after the "red shirts scandal" engulfed the Andrews government in 2015, leading to an Ombudsman inquiry and police raids.

Geoffrey Watson, SC, a barrister and director of the Centre for Public Integrity, said using taxpayer-funded parliamentary staff to stack branches could be a criminal offence.

"If that was proved, it would be a strong case for criminal offences, and multiple criminal offences," Mr Watson said.

"I mean, it is a diversion of public money for an ulterior or improper motive and that’s just misconduct in public office, a very serious offence which carries a hefty jail term."

In the tapes Mr Somyurek is dismissive and rude about his colleagues. He boasts he is working to remove state MP Pauline Richards and intends to demote Gabrielle Williams, the Minister for Women and the Prevention of Family Violence.

"They're dumb, they're stupid," he says of the "younger, new generation" of Labor leaders. "All these little f---ers, like Gabrielle and all, they don't know how f---ed they are. I will force her out of the ministry, that f---ing stupid bitch, when Andrews goes."

The recordings include disparaging comments about Mr Andrews, with Mr Somyurek claiming the Premier is regarded by some in Labor as untrustworthy. Mr Somyurek says a close factional ally and former senior government minister labelled Mr Andrews a "c---".

Julian Hill (left) and Robert Mitchell.Credit: Photos: Alex Ellinghausen

Mr Somyurek’s conduct affects Labor MPs in Canberra as well as Spring Street. The tapes reveal him big-noting himself and boasting about his power over federal politicians.

He says he wants to remove Victorian federal Labor MPs Rob Mitchell (the member for McEwen), Julian Hill (Bruce) and Joanne Ryan (Lalor), and claims that rising stars Josh Burns (Macnamara) and Tim Watts (Gellibrand) rely on his support.

"Tim Watts is like bowing to me. I don’t know what they say behind my back," says Mr Somyurek in a video in which he imitates Mr Watts bowing to him.

Tim Watts(L) and Josh BurnsCredit: Photo: Alex Ellinghausen, AAP

Mr Somyurek says he is "protecting" Anthony Byrne, the member for Holt and deputy chair of the Federal Parliament’s powerful intelligence and security committee.

"Anthony’s got a terrible reputation, everyone thinks he’s a waste of space. I don’t. I protect him. I had to stop articles talking about Anthony Byrne going. I said he’s got my protection, he’s going nowhere."

Mr Somyurek claims his reach in Canberra now extends to federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese’s inner circle.

"I’m having discussions with people who are close to Albo," he boasts on one tape. He asks one Labor staffer: 'Who’s going to protect Albo?"