Commentators and writers who belong or have belonged to the Liberal Party of Australia have claimed that similar activities in their branches have had a similar effect. [5] [6] A recent example of alleged branching within the Liberal Party occurred in 2017, when the Victoria Liberals claimed that members of the party`s religious right were stacking branches with Mormons and Catholic groups to shortlist more conservative candidates. [7] A similar situation was reported in 2019, with allegations that members of the far-right faction of the Liberal Party in Sydney attempted to stack branches to undermine support for rival factions, including Liberal members in several secure state and federal seats. [8] For a proactive stacking approach to be beneficial, businesses must assess the limits and rules that may change from one funding source to another. It is important to understand the parameters of programs that may be of interest to your business. Most funding programs clearly indicate in their guidelines whether and how stacking can be applied; Eligible applicants should carefully review these rules and each program`s unique application process to effectively navigate the process. Cracking, stacking and packaging are the three most common techniques for diluting the strength of minority votes. The stacking of branches inflates membership and threatens to delegitimize the democratic pre-selection process. In 2021, the stacking of branches within the Western Australian Liberals was seen as a factor in the party`s defeat in the state`s previous election after a WhatsApp message cache was leaked. The stacking of branches by a faction called The Clan led to a concentration of more conservative right-wing candidates. Clan members included Mathias Cormann, Ian Goodenough, Peter Collier and Nick Goiran. Former prime minister Colin Barnett believes this negatively affected the party`s election result, and an internal review of the electoral defeat is imminent.
[9] Activities commonly considered to be branch-based cumulation are: A proactive stacking approach to leveraging multiple grant programs requires strong project management and funding expertise, but the benefits are worth it. To learn more about government funding programs and application strategies, please download the free Guide to Financing Canadian Business. Electoral boundaries to discriminate on the basis of race are illegal under the Voting Rights Act. However, techniques such as cracking, wrapping, and stacking manage to achieve the appearance of balance through unfair redistricting while maintaining racial imbalance among elected officials. He also said that the cumulation of branches was one of the “most difficult challenges” for the parties, as any attempt to prevent it could impose excessive restrictions. To stack state funding programs for your upcoming project, consider combining some of the federal programs mentioned in this section with grants and loans offered by your provincial government. Party factions and so-called “men of figures” try to work inside and sometimes outside the rules to advance their causes and reward their supporters. [3] Some have described faction leaders and figures as the faceless men of the Labour Party, who have also been accused of being driving forces for the election of party leaders and ministers and the removal of prime ministers. If all factions play the system, it is not possible to say the true opinions of party members on certain issues. The ALP`s 2002 Hawke-Wran report[4] claimed that the stacking of branches, mainly motivated by factions seeking to expand their influence, had a “cancerous” effect on the party and a “blunting” effect on branch activity, as many recruited members have no obligation to the party. Accusations of stacking branches are not uncommon in Australian politics.
Canadian companies that use government grant programs to achieve their strategic objectives often approach the process by assigning an upcoming project to a specific funding program. While this is certainly a step in the right direction for many companies, it is also a missed opportunity to take advantage of other potential funding opportunities for their projects. For Canadian government funding programs, stacking involves access to more than one grant or loan to cover a single project. There are some ground rules governing this strategy to ensure that the government spreads its financial support over as many businesses and projects as possible, but as a general rule, stacking is absolutely allowed. While stacking is allowed for most government grant and loan programs, there are some general rules that businesses must follow. Any deviation from these rules may result in the rejection of one or more grant applications, so it is important to follow and follow these guidelines: Productivity and growth projects often involve several significant capital expenditures, including infrastructure and equipment costs, which can be offset by Canadian government funding programs. The phased approach also works well for these types of projects. Setting up several smaller “phases” of the project and applying for a grant program for each phase can help maximize the value of the funds received. Joint business financing programs in support of this sector include the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) and the Southwestern Ontario Development Fund (Southwestern Ontario Development Fund). The accumulation of branches can affect in several ways the way decisions are made within political parties.
For example, a party faction may accept many members who belong to the faction or agree to vote in the manner indicated by the faction leaders. Research and development projects that result in new products or services offer many opportunities for Canadian government funding. We recommend a phased approach to government funding programs to support basic research, development, prototyping and commercialization activities. A proactive program that lends itself well to cumulation is the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) with the government`s retroactive tax credit program for scientific research and experimental development (SR&ED). Multiple branches is a term used in Australian politics to describe the recruitment or registration of members for a local branch of a political party in order to influence the outcome of internal screening of candidates for public office or to unduly influence party policies. Branch stacking occurs when people are recruited from a branch of a political party to influence who is shortlisted as a candidate for election. Allegations of such practices have become controversial in Australia after several investigations or competitions have attracted mainstream media attention. Most political parties now have clauses in their constitutions that allow the “headquarters” to intervene to resolve alleged allegations of fraud or otherwise, with sanctions for those who participate. The accumulation of branches itself is legal under Australian law as it is an internal party matter, but certain activities such as providing false information to the Australian Electoral Commission, such as the number of members, can be prosecuted as fraud.
Within the Australian Labor Party (ALP), in addition to membership stacking, another technique is to use the unions` privileged position within the party, particularly the important votes they have at the ALP national and state conferences, which in turn determine party policy and elect internal office holders and committee members. The committees, in turn, can set primaries for the parties` candidates in elections. The number of union members determines the number of delegates to conferences to which it is entitled, which provides an opportunity to stack up at the union level,[1] which then trickles down to other ALP bodies. Another way to stack up is the Young Labor wing of the ALP, which also sends delegates to ALP conferences,[2] and is eligible for a seat on the ALP`s national executive. If you are undertaking staff development initiatives, consider both hiring and training grants. There are several programs to support the hiring of students and graduates of higher education. Since new hires may not have some of the skills your company wants, consider stacking the money from hiring with a training program like the Canada Job Grant. In June, media claimed to have discovered stacks of “industrial-scale” stores in the Victorian Labour Party.
What is branch stacking and is it illegal in Australia? Opening new export markets can take a lot of time and resources. Fortunately, government funding can directly and indirectly support the costs of international expansion projects. This includes participation in international trade fairs and the development of research partnerships with foreign institutions. One program that supports these types of projects is CanExport PME, which is currently not accepting applications at the time of writing, but is expected to reopen in the coming months. Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * In the 2020 census, Georgia`s white population fell to just over half (50.1%). Nearly one-third of the population (30.6%) are African Americans and 10.5% are Latinos of any race. However, 71% of Georgian lawmakers are white. To break it down even further, imagine that there are two members of a party who want to be the official candidate for an upcoming election. “When membership lists are artificially inflated with large numbers of `members` lacking commitment to the party, internal democratic processes are distorted,” the report says.
Perhaps there are factions of the party that prefer one member to the other, for some reason. This would only be illegal if false information was provided to the Australian Electoral Commission.