The Queensland Liberal Party has added substance to the perception of politicians as rorters. First there was the Young Liberal fraud. Now, according to newspaper reports, two Chinese members have signed up about 600 Chinese members in the Federal Electorates of Ryan and Moreton, while branches have been moved between Federal Electorate Councils, creating additional delegates to a Senate pre-selection council. I have heard Liberal Party members say that none of this is illegal. It ought to be.
Political parties have the important role of pre-vetting candidates for election.
Their task in this process is at least as important as the task of voting. Tampering with it ought to be a crime. Under Liberal Party rules anyone can be signed up to a branch in an electorate and vote in a preselection they do not have to be an Australian citizen, live in the country, or be of voting age. It is illegal to pay for memberships, but cash is notoriously tight lipped about the hands it passes through. In theory, organised crime or a foreign government could control any Liberal Party preselection it wanted to.