The Branch-stacking Victorian Labor MP Anthony Byrne has confirmed that he will not be recontesting for his seat of Holt at the federal elections due in May. The MP’s office staff has confirmed with the Epoch Times on March 4 that Byrne will resign from his seat of Holt, which he has consistently held for more than 20 years since his first win in 1999 after the by-elections caused by the resignation of the former Labor MP Gareth Evans. Byrne’s resignation comes after he appeared as a primary witness at the public hearing in Oct. 2021 by Victoria’s anti-corruption commission IBAC into allegations of branch-stacking by former Labor powerbroker Adem Somyurek. At the hearing, Byrne confirmed allegations of Somyurek’s branch stacking but admitted that he too had been involved in controlling ALP branches and stated that such activities were “completely out of control (pdf).” The Labor leader Anthony Albanese faced …