Marcus Bastiaan

Bastiaan joined the Liberal Party in Victoria in 2010.[4] In 2012 he stood unsuccessfully for Bayside Council in Melbourne's inner south local government election. Bastiaan polled the third highest primary among 16 candidates and lost on preferences.[5] Bastiaan later became chair of the party's Goldstein branch and Brighton branch.[6] Between 2015 and 2018 Bastiaan was elected to the Liberal Party's Administrative Committee and served as Chairman of the Party's Membership and Training Committee. [7]

Bastiaan has written in The Spectator advocating for democratic reform within political parties, while criticising the influence of political lobbyist. Bastiaan has advocated for larger Party membership as a way to improve the quality of political candidates and increase the capacity of political parties to campaign. [8][9][2]

In 2017, Four Corners reported that the Kroger/Bastiaan group had taken control of the Liberal Victorian Administrative Committee.[10]

In April 2018, Bastiaan was elected metropolitan male vice-president of the Liberal Party (Victorian Division) at the annual State Council.[11][12] In September 2018 Bastiaan announced that, due to the serious illness of an immediate family member he and his wife Stephanie would step down from their voluntary roles within the party.[13][14]

In December 2018, The Age newspaper reported leaked text and Facebook messages allegedly from administrative committee members Paul Mitchell and Marcus Bastiaan which used a racist and homophobic term.[15]

Bastiaan has been accused of branch stacking within the party since 2016, and according to some factional sources, causing instability in the party.[16][17] Bastiaan was believed to be involved in drawing people from religious backgrounds to the Liberal Party, despite concern it could harm the Liberals' chances of winning the state election in Victoria in 2018.[18]

In August 2020, allegations were made by Channel Nine's 60 Minutes and The Age Newspaper that Bastiaan was involved in branch stacking activities. [19] [20] Bastiaan's activities were allegedly endorsed by Kevin Andrews and Michael Sukkar, both conservative federal MP's. Andrews a former member of the Howard Ministry and Sukkar a current Minister in the Morrison Ministry both denied the allegations. Bastiaan additionally rejected the allegations stating that his role as Chair of the Membership and Training Committee was to recruit and train members. Bastiaan however decided to resign his Party membership, stating that the ongoing leaking was an unnecessary distraction for the Liberal Party. [21][22] A subsequent Department of Finance investigation into Andrews and Sukkar cleared both Federal Members of wrong doing. [23] A second investigation into branch stacking and all aspects of the Liberal Party's membership records was conducted by forensic accountants KordaMentha. [24] The three month investigation made no finding against Bastiaan, Sukkar, or Andrews. [25] Bastiaan subsequently stated that he was pleased to be cleared of branch stacking allegations, and called upon the Party President Robert Clark to come clean about his factions plot to damage federal MP's. [26]

Bastiaan married Stephanie Ross in May 2017 at Our Lady of Victories Basilica Catholic church in Camberwell. Bastiaan graduated from Brighton Grammar during 2008, attending there after moving back to Brighton from Merricks North, where he lived on a farm. Bastiaan has run several technology businesses, including e-commerce and logistics start-ups.[27][28][29] Bastiaan's father is a periodontist and supported Bastiaan in starting an antiques business.[27] Bastiaan's mother is a surgeon.[30][31]