Taxpayers continue to foot the bill for factional playgrounds

The recurring theme of branch stacking stories -- apart from rampaging egos, sundered alliances and political self-obsession -- is the misuse of taxpayer-funded staff for internal party politicking.

There's a long list. The claims that electorate office and ministerial staff were involved in Adem Somyurek's branch stacking within the Victorian ALP. Claims of branch stacking by an electorate officer for that most expired of political has-beens, Kevin Andrews, that led to a resignation. The employment of family members as electorate office staff. The involvement of electorate office staff in the misuse of taxpayer funding for political purposes.

Now, Kevin Andrews' office is back in the news over sensational evidence reveaed by Nine television and newspapers that electorate office staff there were engaged in branch stacking and "facilitating factional operations". The staff were said to be under the direction of the Victoria Liberal Christian right powerbroker Marcus Bastiaan.