Hundreds of new Labor party members provided no contact details when they signed up for the ALP, a damning investigation into branch stacking in Bill Shorten's home state has found.
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As reported by Fairfax Media earlier this month, hundreds of Victorian memberships are being scrutinised by former Labor MPs Carlo Carli and Mike Symon after allegations of branch stacking, centred on the Indian community and spread across three federal electorates, surfaced.
A leaked copy of the interim report from the pair highlights serious concerns that many of the new members did not share the party's values and that they were being signed up to build a base within the ALP to use as a vehicle to public office.
"This investigation is concerned that many of these members may have little commitment to the ALP," the report says.
The investigators have been conducting questionnaires and interviews with new members to determine if they are "genuine".
There is also concern that the huge surge of members could influence preselection in critical seats including Cranbourne, where incumbent Jude Perera is expected to retire. Labor holds the seat by just 2.3 per cent.
"If unchecked this influx will have a big influence on internal party decision-making and especially on preselections.," the report warns.
Three men, the Conroy-aligned Jasvinder Sidhu and the left aligned Intaj Khan and Manoj Kumar, have been identified as behind the alleged stacking. Mr Sidhu, a former adviser to Premier Daniel Andrews, and Mr Khan have both denied the allegation.
Many in the Labor party say the evidence of branch stacking is clear, with big surges in short periods of time.
Party sources point to the fact that people joined online – yet provided no email address – proved systemic branch stacking.
"It is pretty weird to join the party online and not provide an email address or any contact details," one senior figure said.
The preliminary investigation reviewed nearly 700 applications and found that "180 provide no email address and 130 provided no email address or phone number at all".
Much of the party angst about the new memberships has centred on the fact that many have joined online via the "central branch" and do not attend local meetings, yet may still be eligible to vote in local preselections.
A controversial rule change at Labor's state conference to ban central branch members from voting in preselections, without attending local branches, has since addressed this issue, despite opposition from some parts of the Right lead by former Senator Stephen Conroy.
The interim report recommended making attendance changes to party rules.
Earlier this month Mr Sidhu denied he was a branch stacker, saying the Labor party should be praised for engaging with Melbourne's Indian community.
A final report from the investigators is due next month.
