Branch stacking in the Victorian Labor Party

Despite some saying that branch stacking has only been happening for "the last few years", branch stacking has been happening in the Victorian Labor Party for decades.

Labor Party preselection is decided by 50% local member vote and 50% central executive vote.

With the local member vote, the number of genuine members in a seat varies.  In some cases it is as low as 100.  In this hypothetical example, to win the local vote, a preselection candidate only has to pay 100 individual membership fees of $47.25 - making a total of $4,725.  Compare this to paying $10,000 for a hairdressing course, and you can see why the maths make this attractive.

John Brumby, Victoria's Premier, floated the idea of US-style primary elections to choose Labor candidates.  This would have allow Labor supporters to choose the candidate, and make the preselection less vulnerable to rorting.

The Victorian Labor Party preselection system must be fixed.  While there remains a substantial reward for bad behaviour, branch stacking will continue.