Stacking row splits Liberals, unseated Senator Crane

  Mr Randall said: "If you are trying to recruit for a branch, you just need to get numbers.
  "As far as phantom members are concerned, 90 per cent of people who become members don't play an active role."
  He said he had not been directly involved in signing up catering firm members but admitted he had later visited the firm to pick up the membership forms from another man.
  "I ring up friends and relations if I need members for a branch," Mr Randall said. "I don't regard that as bulk memberships."
  Membership forms obtained by The Sunday Times are full of irregularities and some appear to breach party rules. Some have no dates, others are

not properly signed. But they were all accepted by head office.
  They survived Perth division membership audits in October and November 2000 that resulted in several branches controlled by another faction being deemed unconstitutional.
  During these months all WA branches sent five delegates to their divisional conferences which in turn elected delegates to State Council, which selected the Senate team in April, 2001.
  It was not until February 2001 -- the day before the State election -- that party director Peter Wells circulated a memo saying the Menzies House headquarters would "no longer" accept membership applications unless "fully substantiated".
  By then all State Council

delegates had been chosen.
  At the April 21 pre-selection, party president David Johnston controversially won the second spot on the Senate ticket. He took up his seat last month. In an almost unprecedented move, sitting Senator Winston Crane was pushed down to the unwinnable fourth spot.
  Rick Mincherton, who was president of the membership services committee until voted out in September 2000, yesterday alleged the party was in the grip of a "grubby group" that let branch-stacking flourish.
  "What you've uncovered has only scratched the surface," Mr Mincherton said. "If you are part of the grubby group, it is a piece of cake to stack branches. All you need is

$300, some back-dated membership forms and you've got your branch."
  Mr Mincherton called for a complete overhaul of the party's membership system to stamp out any corrupt practices.
  The irregularities in relation to Perth division were enough to allow an appeal by Mr Crane over the pre-selection, he said.

  Senator Johnston said yesterday he did not decide to run for the Senate until after the 2001 state election when he saw what "the appalling performance of some country senators" had done to the party's vote.
  "There was a membership push in Perth division in the middle of 2000," he said. "That was because the division was a facade.

  There was no skulduggery. I cleaned up that division. I don't know how it voted in the pre-selection, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was for Winston.
  Party director Peter Wells said he was not aware of any particular allegations of branch-stacking before the October and November 2000 audits.
  "One man's branch-stacking is another man's membership drive," Mr Wells said.