Minutes/General Meeting/2015-04-28

=General IRC Meeting (#ppau)=

Start: 20:36 28/04/2015 AEST

Finish: 22:06 28/04/2015 AEST

Agenda

 * Data Retention Campaign (DanielJ)
 * AEC Audit (DanielJ)
 * State Party Registration plans (DanielJ)
 * Course of Action should an early election be called (doggie015)
 * General Business

Attendance
+ others unnamed
 * Simon Frew (Chair)
 * Daniel Judge (NC)
 * Fletcher (NC)
 * Gator
 * doggie015
 * WilliamP
 * Mandrke
 * jscinoz
 * Mudgutz

Apologies

 * brad1121

Data Retention Campaign

 * Our data retention protection guide was released: https://pirateparty.org.au/dataretention/
 * Spawned from an ideas of Mozarts to try and get something more tangible than just another angry press release
 * through a pretty good collaborative effort of a bunch of people working in various pads and word docs etc we managed to distill it down to that page
 * the page is aimed at a less technical audience
 * as people are probably aware the data retention laws have now received royal assent
 * so there's not a lot can be done to stop the laws, its now about future repeals and awareness raising of how crap they are in the meantime and how people can avoid the worst aspect of them
 * please share the page widely and consider doing so aimed at the initiated
 * It's had some pretty good traffic so far
 * also this popped up yesterday: http://www.pedestrian.tv/news/arts-and-culture/confused-about-all-this-vpn-crap-pirate-party-is-h/5f0c9701-dda5-473f-b2a0-1ecc4c132015.htm
 * we'll iterate and update that page as necessary...
 * otherwise, as far as an actual campaign goes... there's been talk of a cryptoparty type event but nothing too concrete atm
 * keep making noise on the issue and try and pounce on any new info and maybe we can also run on a repeal platform at the next election
 * need to ensure we reach people and do so in accessible, non technical/esoteric language
 * some cryotoparty info is available here: https://cryptoparty.in/
 * should we create a 'cryptoparty' set up guide?

AEC Audit

 * We have until the 4th may to submit 500-550 names of people to ensure we remain registered
 * We had a great response from everyone in regard to the audit mailout we sent
 * List is ready to send to AEC
 * the AEC does this to every party without an elected rep. in between every election, so it's not like we were targeted
 * just need to sign off by a JP before sending, DanielJ will do so tomorrow
 * despite the email asking people to confirm their details here: https://oevf.aec.gov.au/ we still had a lot of "confirmed" people who didnt match up when checking with available info on that form, so we checked every name and only submitted those we could confirm
 * AEC calls a random sample of the 550 people on the list to confirm their membership
 * state by state breakdown of the confirmed names:
 * ACT: 43
 * NSW: 195
 * NT: 3
 * QLD: 102
 * SA: 42
 * TAS: 21
 * VIC: 144
 * WA: 56
 * Biggest issue with confirming names was that many people omit their middle name on our membership database but middle name is needed for 100% confirmation with the AEC roll checking tool (if their middle name is on the roll)

State Party Registration plans

 * To attempt to rego for state parties will be the next step
 * this will take a bit, and require recruitment etc
 * NSW for instance requires, not only over 700 members in NSW alone, but also that each of those members print, sign and mail back a stat dec saying 'yes im a member'
 * however, that figure (again for NSW) is 100 for local elections
 * similar for tas, but it's only 100 members statewide for state registration
 * from the AEC audit we have 195 NSW members that we have looked up on the electoral roll and have confirmed are enrolled and they have each stated via email form that yes they are a member... so as a trial run for eventually doing the 750 or so for NSW we could try and get those 100 stat decs out of that 195 names
 * and whatever we learn from that process we can then apply in future for when we need to do it for the full 750 and so similar things in other states
 * also, if we want to run in local council elections at all for NSW the cut off rego date for that is june ... so it's not much more than a month to do so
 * we may not make it, but it'll be worth trying if only to test a process for doing it more fully in the future
 * so if you are in NSW, expect an email soon asking you to print and return a stat dec
 * ideally we will be able to get it together and run in state elections in the next batch of them in a few years time.
 * til then we could possibly aim for some local elections in some states
 * a lot of states have the same requirement for state rego as for local, hence why NSW is worth targeting first as it has that lower bar than state and we have a lot of NSW members
 * Note that when members sign up to join PPAU they are also signing up to join the relevant state branch (when it comes to exist)

Course of Action should an early election be called

 * As many of you would be aware, the LNP government is not nearly as cohesive as they said they would be
 * Tensions are still very high after that failed spill motion
 * And personally I (doggie015) get a sense that if another one is called, we could be seeing a Double Dissolution trigger used
 * I would like us to be able to hit the ground running should that actually happen
 * It's better to have a plan and not need it, than need it and not have it
 * Info on DD's: A double dissolution cannot take place if the term of the House of Representatives will expire within 6 months.
 * Note that it is only the dissolution which may not occur after this date. The writs must be issued within 10 days of dissolution, and polling day follows between 33 and 58 days after that.
 * so all up a timeline could be slightly over 1-2 months
 * Cash will be our biggest problem if a DD is called
 * Crowdfunding a DD election campaign should get us through if one is called, but crowdfunding is not a reliable long term solution to funds, it is better for spot campaigns/specific issues (ie the translation) but even then a lot of donors are repeat donors and will surely suffer donor fatigue in the long term
 * many suggestions raised such as Patreon and things like Bitcoin
 * Consensus that work on the membership renewal payments system needs to be a focus
 * Concern our paywhatyouwant memberships are also not overly sustainable in long term
 * Suggestion to survey the membership on what they would prefer as options
 * the other thing if an election were called will be to not only do our pre-selection candidate process, but also then get materials like how to vote cards etc made... something we should probably do in the short term is dig out the HTV files from the Griffith by-election and make sure they are up to date enough so that candidate info could just be plopped in at the last minute
 * To Do: update these files on preparation
 * Need more info on data retention and website blocking added (& other current issues)

General Business

 * Summary: Once we get member renewals system sorted, do our own internal audit of our membership database (which would have been happening now if not for the AEC one, but at least much of that work doubles up), then stepping up recruitment will be the next key step. Notwithstanding a snap DD then that will be the best thing to get us on track for the next election as well... along with associated policy development and steps towards state and local elections/registrations.
 * Don't forget to keep an eye out for details of the next congress which will be mid-late July.