Releasing results of quick probe into dead man branch stacking a disgrace

Lily D ‘Ambrosio, Victoria’s Minister for Climate Action, Energy and Resources, and the State Electricity Commission.

The Victorian ALP has won the gold medal in the “taking out the trash” stakes.

Friday evening’s release by the party’s acting state secretary of the results of its internal investigation into the “dead man branch stacking” scandal is a disgrace of historic proportions.

The fact the party chose to release the result of the quick “investigation” as everyone was heading into a weekend shows just how damaging this episode is for Labor and the Andrews government, particularly senior minister Lily D’Ambrosio.

The timing was so convenient and cynical it makes you wonder whether the Premier’s private ­office had a hand in this strategy.

According to the statement, Labor “Inaugural Party Monitor John Thwaites AM” was unable to identify “who was responsible for any breaches of the rules relating to the renewal of memberships of deceased members”.

How convenient.

In his letter to acting state secretary Cameron Petrie, Thwaites noted: “It is clear that the posthumous renewal of memberships was an egregious act and has caused upset to the families of the deceased. I am troubled that this occurred.”

Well if he can’t work out after little more than a week who was behind signing up at least two dead men to the membership of the Lalor South branch, a branch associated with D’Ambrosio, then maybe he should have taken longer and asked more people more questions. Why the rush?

These were “egregious prac­tices” in a Socialist Left branch associated with Socialist Left minister D’Ambrosio but this was because of flaws in the membership renewal process that was in place before the Socialist Left grabbed control of the party in the wake of the Bracks-Macklin internal review of party membership rules.

Victorian Labor acting state secretary Cameron Petrie. Source: LinkedIn

“Our branch rules no longer allow the renewal of memberships in cash or the renewal of memberships in bulk. Further, there were significant changes to the local branch structure to promote oversight and improve governance: the Lalor South branch no longer exists,” the Friday night statement read. “It is the view of the party monitor that the administrators’ work was effective in removing non-genuine members from the membership and this will protect the Victorian Branch against those who seek to subvert its processes.”

And then came the apology from Petrie: “On behalf of Victorian Labor, I sincerely apologise to the families affected for the distress and hurt caused by the renewal of the memberships of their deceased loved ones.”