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 preselection of candidates for public office, or of inordinately influencing the party's policy.
[7] 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 to erode the support of factional rivals, which included sitting Liberal members in several safe state and federal seats.
[8] In 2021, branch stacking within the Western Australian Liberals was presumed to be a factor in the party's defeat in the prior state election following a cache of leaked WhatsApp messages.
Branch stacking by a faction called The Clan resulted in a concentration of more right-wing, conservative candidates.
Among The Clan's members were Mathias Cormann, Ian Goodenough, Peter Collier and Nick Goiran.