Future Labor leaders could be elected in a ballot conducted by the electoral commission after the NSW branch stared down a revived push to reopen allegations of possible rorting in the vote that saw Bill Shorten named Opposition Leader.
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And Labor's left faction was crying victory as a result of major governance changes to how the party operates internally being introduced as a result of their calls for an inquiry.
An official Labor Party review says 73 changes to addresses of branch members in Sydney's Auburn did not affect the result of the Labor leadership ballot held in 2013.
Bill Shorten beat the left's candidate Anthony Albanese by 52 per cent to 48 per cent in a ballot that involved the party membership, and not just the caucus, for the first time.
According to a statement from NSW Labor, the chair of the Review Tribunal Greg James QC found: "Nothing was disclosed during the course of the Review Tribunal's deliberations which would suggest that the election of Mr Shorten as leader of the Labor Party was flawed."
But in February, party member and Auburn councilor Hicham Zraika was suspended for six months because of changes to the postal addresses of his branch members.
"I regard the fact that 73 of the 124 changes to branch member postal addresses in the lead-up to the federal leadership election occurred in the electorate of Auburn, as a serious matter," NSW Labor General Secretary Jamie Clements said in a statement.
Tim Ayres from the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and NSW Labor Assistant Secretary John Graham raised the issue in February.
Mr Ayres told Fairfax Media the decision vindicated his decision to call for further investigation, including what role Senator Sam Dastayari might have played.
"It means that the party acknowledges there was a problem," he said.
Mr Ayres
said he was satisfied by the finding presented to Friday's administration committee that the changes in addresses would not have had any effect on the Labor leadership result.
"It puts the issue beyond doubt, it's certainly not at a scale that would have affected the leadership ballot," he said.
Some of the new governance changes will require a member's consent to have their address changed.
"These are significant measures which will ensure that future changes to branch member postal addresses will be beyond the manipulation of any individual," Mr Clements said.
For the first time since 1971, the left will be given access to the Labor Party membership roll.
"It's a real Cold War relic and to his credit Jamie Clements has responded and fronted admin with a comprehensive report and these governance changes," Mr Ayres said.
"It's a very good development for Labor Party," he added.
In a statement, Mr Clements said he would be writing to the electoral commission to see how much it would cost the Labor Party to have it run future ballots. Mr Shorten said he was open to the idea of having future leadership contests overseen by an external body.
