After months spent grappling with the impacts of COVID-19, allegations of industrial-scale branch stacking have forced the Andrews government to address darker elements in Victorian Labor.
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But while the scandal may lead to a painful process of party reform, some experts doubt it will have the power to dent the government's popularity among the electorate.
Premier Daniel Andrews lost three ministers within 25 hours from Monday morning, with Labor powerbroker Adem Somyurek excommunicated from the party after he allegedly used his own cash and the help of parliamentary employees to create fake branch members and amass political influence.
Mr Somyurek,who denies the branch stacking allegations, was further caught in covert recordings using sexist and homophobic language to describe his colleagues.
It was also alleged that staff of Mr Somyurek's factional allies Robin Scott and Marlene Kairouz had been involved in his branch stacking efforts.
The claims led to the two ministers resigning from cabinet, although they have vowed to clear their names.
The scandal has made its way to federal parliament, with backbencher Anthony Byrne now the target of incessant leaking by Mr Somyurek after his office played host to covert cameras.
Whether they were placed there with or without Mr Byrne's knowledge is being investigated.
Mr Andrews took the extraordinary step on Tuesday of asking Labor's national executive to help clean up the Victorian party by appointing party stalwarts Steve Bracks and Jenny Macklin as administrators until January.
The pair will lead an audit to check that every rank and file member is genuine and has paid for themselves, with voting rights for preselections suspended until 2023.
They will also recommend a process to ensure the legitimacy of the party's membership in the future.
Deakin University senior lecturer and political historian Dr Geoffrey Robinson believes the freeze on preselections is aimed at preventing MPs who have been supported by branch stacking from panicking about whether or not they will keep their jobs.
"It's certainly going to generate an element of tension and conflict as people try to shore up their positions," he told AAP.
The emergence of the scandal suggests tension was rife in the party already, he said.
"You've got factions, you've got sub-factions, and now it looks like you've got a sub-faction in the sub-faction," Dr Robinson said.
Politics Lecturer at Monash University Dr Zareh Ghazarian says branch stacking is possible because Labor's membership is so low it can easily be influenced.
Victorian Labor has about 16,000 members, compared to AFL premiers Richmond boasting more than 100,000.
Preselections for candidates in state parliament can be determined by fewer than 100 votes at a local level.
"Reportedly about a third of the Victorian Labor members might be branch-stacked members and if that's the case we're dealing with a significant power base here," Dr Ghazarian told AAP.
Opposition Leader Michael O'Brien is hoping the scandal can inflict a chink in Mr Andrews' armour, stressing the alleged poor behaviour has unfolded under his rival's 10 years of parliamentary Labor leadership.
"They say a fish rots from the head, well so does a government," Mr O'Brien said this week.
But Mr Andrews wants to convince voters he acted quickly to weed out Mr Somyurek and won't be distracted from repairing the economic damage the coronavirus has wrought in Victoria.
"I will not have our agenda sidetracked," the premier said.
Dr Ghazarian is unconvinced this is the last time there will be branch stacking in the Labor party, unless there is a "massive redo" of membership rules.
Nor does he think it will be the issue that turns people against the government, with voters proving to have short memories regarding other scandals.
The Labor party misused $388,000 in parliamentary allowances to pay political campaign staff during the Victorian 2014 election, but won the November 2018 election with an investigation into the issue hanging over its head.
"There (are) still another two and a half years until the next election. A week is a long time in politics, two and a half years is a whole lifetime away," Dr Ghazarian said.
There is an opportunity for Mr O'Brien to capitalise on the issue, the expert believes.
But he says they are dealing with their own internal challenges, including fundraising, disputes between the social conservatives and progressives.
Dr Robinson doesn't believe the scandal will move the dial significantly with voters in the short term, either.
Voters aren't usually caught up in the internal affairs of political parties, unless it seems to take over a government as it did when former prime minister Julia Gillard toppled her predecessor Kevin Rudd, Dr Robinson said.
Australian Associated Press