A public inquiry into alleged corruption within Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews' government has heard his own faction had participated in branch stacking.
On Tuesday, the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission heard the dodgy practice had been employed by the socialist left faction of Victoria's Australian Labor Party in recent years - against its own strict rules.
Federal Labor MP Anthony Byrne, who has admitted to rampant and repeated 'branch stacking', ended his second day under the spotlight in stunning fashion, implicating Mr Andrews' own faction.
Ellen Schreiber, a former electorate officer and ministerial office executive assistant, told IBAC she had been yelled at for not branch stacking correctly
Labor member for Holt Anthony Byrne (left) spent Monday exposing the dirty inner actions of the Australian Labor Party
Former Victorian minister Adem Somyurek has been accused of branch stacking
Victorian Labor minister Luke Donnellan has resigned from his position after day one of an the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission public inquiry
Asked how he knew of it, Mr Byrne said he had read about it in reports in addition to seeing it with his own eyes.
'I saw some in the south eastern region and some elsewhere,' he told the public hearing via videolink.
'It was not at high level, but I would say the left, the socialist left (was branch stacking.'
Mr Andrews - who is a former head of Labor's socialist left faction - has long maintained he has never had any involvement with branch stacking.
'No. I follow the party’s rules,' he said in June last year.
Branch stacking is a practice within political parties that sees people recruited into a branch of a political party to influence who is pre-selected as an election candidate.
It comes with the problem of certain factions of political parties boosting membership with a view that pre-selection votes ensure its preferred candidate gets the job.
It has also been banned by the ALP for decades.
Under the terms of the hearings, no-one that gives it incriminating evidence can later have it used against them in criminal proceedings, unless they are found lying.
In that instance, they will face perjury charges, which can carry sentences of up to 15 years behind bars.
The IBAC hearings have been established to investigate 'premeditated systemic rorting of taxpayer resources', including allegations of branch-stacking, which in itself is not illegal.
It will also look into 'allegations that public money intended to fund community associations was misused for party‐political work or other improper purposes'.
The hearings are expected to go for at least a month and drag before it a series of ALP power brokers - possibly even the premier himself.
Much of the proceedings have heard allegations former Labor MP - and one time ally of Mr Andrews - had been rampantly branch stacking in a bid to increase his power within the Australian Labor Party.
Mr Somyurek, who denies the claims, was first elected to Victorian Parliament in 2002 and was sworn in as minister for small business, innovation and trade in the Andrews Government in December 2014.
An investigation into alleged branch stacking by Channel 9's Nick McKenzie saw him leave the party last year.
On Monday, Mr Byrne claimed he had negotiated a branch stacking peace deal with rival powerbrokers in the early 2000s, including an unnamed parliamentarian.
After Mr Byrne gave his evidence, Mr Somyurek tweeted: 'Dan and I went into parliament in 2002, what a coincidence'.
Ellen Schreiber, a former electorate officer and ministerial office executive assistant, told IBAC Adem Somyurek yelled at her because she had rightfully withheld members incorrectly allocated to his branch
A jovial Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews on Tuesday. He has refused to comment on the IBAC investigation.
