Branch stacking


Branch stacking is a term used in Australian politics to describe the act of recruiting or signing up members for a local branch of a political party for the principal purpose of influencing the outcome of internal preselections of candidates for public office, or to inordinately influence policy of the party.
Allegations of such practices have become controversial in Australia after several inquiries or contests which received mainstream media attention, and most political parties now have clauses in their constitutions which allow "head office" intervention to resolve alleged stacking, or other allegations of fraud, with penalties for those who engage in it. Branch stacking itself is legal under Australian law, being internal party matters, but some activities like providing false information to the Australian Electoral Commission, such as numbers of members, can be prosecuted as fraud.
There are a number of ways that branch stacking may influence the way in which decisions are made within political parties. For example, a party faction may enrol many members in the party who belong to the faction or agree to vote in the manner instructed by faction leaders.

In the ALP

Branch stacking has historically taken place in all Australian political parties. In the Australian Labor Party, besides membership stacking, another technique is to take advantage of the favoured position of unions within the party, especially the significant vote they have at ALP State and national conferences, which in turn determines party policy and elects internal office holders and membership of committees. The committees may in turn determine preselections for party candidates at elections. The number of members in a union determines the number of delegates to the conferences to which it is entitled. This offers an opportunity for stacking to take place at the union level, which then flows through to other organs of the ALP. Another avenue of stacking is the Young Labor wing of the ALP, which also sends delegates to ALP conferences, and is entitled to a seat on the ALP National Executive.
Party factions and the so-called "numbers men" try to work within the rules to advance their causes and reward their supporters. Some have labelled the faction leaders and numbers men as the faceless men of the Labor party, who have also been accused of being driving forces for the election of party leaders and cabinet ministers and the removal of prime ministers. When all factions are playing the system, it is not possible to tell the true views of party members on particular issues. The Hawke-Wran review of the ALP in 2002 claimed branch stacking, largely driven by factions seeking to expand their influence, had a "cancerous" effect on the party and a "deadening" effect on branch activity, as many of the recruited members have no commitment to the party.

In the Liberal Party

Commentators and authors within or formerly within the Liberal Party of Australia have claimed similar activity in their branches has had a similar effect. A recent example of alleged branch stacking within the Liberal Party occurred in 2017, with Liberals in Victoria claiming that members from within the party's religious right were stacking branches with Mormons and Catholic groups in a drive to pre-select more conservative candidates. A similar situation was reported in 2019, with allegations that members of the Liberal Party’s hard-right faction in Sydney were attempting to engage in branch stacking in order to erode the support of factional rivals, which included sitting Liberal members in several safe state and federal seats.

Stacking methods

Activities commonly considered to be branch stacking include: