Minutes/National Council/2017-11-29

Start: 8:47 PM AEDT

End: 10:52 PM AEDT

Attendance

 * Simon Gnieslaw
 * Tom Randle
 * Emily Sievers
 * John Jeffery
 * Mark Gibbons
 * Simon Frew
 * Alex Jago
 * Miles Whiticker (From 10:05PM)

Apologies

 * Miles: may be late

Absentees

 * John August

Previous Meeting Minutes (Tom)

 * https://pirateparty.org.au/wiki/Minutes/National_Council/2017-11-15

ENC vote completed (Tom)

 * ENC vote has now finished, it passed
 * 32% of the ~1000 eligible full members voted
 * CAP-0: Constitution – carried 98.34% in favour
 * Motion needed to cover the expenses of changing the constitution with Fair Trading NSW

VIC State Co-ordinator (Simon G)

 * Simon G expresses an interest in become the Victorian State Coordinator
 * Mentions he has free time and ideas he wishes to explore as the year starts to wind down.
 * Mixed support and discussion for the proposal from other National Council members.
 * Tom says that he will vote against appointing more co-ordinators at this point.
 * No motion is put.

NSW State Co-ordinator (Simon G)

 * Simon G expresses a view there should be a NSW Co-ordinator appointed as well
 * There are potential opportunities to work with other groups.
 * Frew says that he will help manage those with other local members in Sydney, forward anything to the National Council.

Alliance Working Group (Simon G)

 * Simon G reports:
 * Rundown of the Digital Open Democracy event:
 * Proposes the National Council consider forming a Working Group on the topic.
 * https://discuss.pirateparty.org.au/t/australian-digital-democracy-forum-this-tuesday-melbourne/1710/6
 * Suggests not being left behind in any coordination between groups involved and keeping communication open.
 * General discussion about Party focus, including our own existing strategy and internal improvements which most of those present suggest should come first before external alliances.

Name Change (Simon G)

 * Simon G raised the previous Party Name Change debate.
 * General discussion from other National Council members that the debate has finished and that there is no proposal to change the Party name.

Reports to NC on PPI (Miles)

 * Miles gives a report to NC on PPI General Assembly 2017
 * https://pirate-parties.net/2017/10/announcement-ppi-general-assembly-2017/
 * PPI had hybrid online + in-person, in-person being in Geneva, Switzerland. About 6 attendees to Miles' knowledge. About 30 remote participants.
 * Kim Dotcom's Internet Party (NZ) was voted in as a member of PPI
 * Previous NZ Pirate Party appear to be defunct
 * PPI recognition award passed 60%
 * Minutes: http://wiki.pp-international.net/PPI_Conference_2017/Minutes
 * We are in a better position than them financially based on their treasurer report
 * Heard that they have lingering issues with their membership database
 * During opening discussion, there were some suggestion to be primarily about helping get new Pirate Parties started
 * Popular suggestion to get a centralised wiki of platforms of different pirate parties around the world
 * Working Groups discussion
 * Did not like the procedural structure in participating, our hybrid in-person/online system is more advanced and efficient.
 * Disappointed that they didn't approach us for advice on how to run it given that we originally suggested it
 * Miles did some live tweeting
 * https://twitter.com/hashtag/PPInt?src=hash
 * Likes our Congress processes better
 * In conclusion: very encouraging to see them get their GA online, and Miles offers to work with them to help bring meeting processes close to ours


 * Pirates are running the "Think Twice Conference" in Jerusalem. Good to suggest it to anyone who might be visiting.
 * https://pirate-parties.net/2017/07/tt3/
 * Tom suggests putting the message out on our Forums + Newsletter

Report to NC on Qld State Elections 2017 (Miles)

 * Miles gives a report on the Qld State Elections:
 * Labor projected to win on a slim margin
 * One Nation fell well short of expected, might get 1 seat. Still around ~14% vote state-wide.
 * Greens currently at 9.7%, and possibly will get a seat in Maiwar.
 * Alex hopes that Greens get a seat to keep the balance of power from the ALP
 * Miles: "fantastic energy and enthusiasm, huge volunteer networks", "were actually door knocking and doing events, they had the volunteer numbers"
 * Miles: Compared to ALP who mainly used advertising and cold calling
 * Summary: Protest vote is strong, Greens are energised and growing, growing call for alternative minor/third party options, and interest from moderates for alternative options too.
 * Alex wants to do a report on unregistered parties who run candidates anyway

General Business

 * Funding for SE Queensland/Brisbane Ads (Miles)
 * Miles would like some funding from the national budget
 * To be used to get over the line for State Registration
 * Target one of the 3 east coast capitals
 * Tom: Please prepare a proposal
 * Simon G: "I was very impressed with the amount of return we got from Twitter/Facebook in the membership drive. I think that it's worth allocating a small monthly budget towards this to get our everyday Facebook posts/tweets more noticed. Even some reddit advertising would be good"
 * Frew: "I'm not opposed to advertising, but it needs a lot of thought"
 * Tom has ethical issues about giving party money to Facebook. Nobody has complained yet.
 * Miles: Unfortunately, it's effective.
 * Mark gives update on Funds: We're good. Funds are incoming from new members, so the Facebook ads pay for themselves in that way.


 * 'Encryption is terrorism' Submission (Frew)
 * https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Law_Enforcement/NewandemergingICT
 * Recommends the Party make a submission

Motions

 * MOTION: Accept the minutes from NC meeting from 15 November 2017
 * Put by: Emily Sievers
 * Ayes: 6 (Tom Randle, Simon Gnieslaw, Emily Sievers, Simon Frew, Alex Jago, Mark Gibbons); Nays: 0; Abstains: 1 (John Jeffery)
 * Motion carries.


 * MOTION: Approve $50 payment to Fair Trading NSW for update of Constitution form.
 * Put by: Tom Randle
 * Ayes: 7 (Tom Randle, Simon Frew, Simon Gnieslaw, Alex Jago, Emily Sievers, John Jeffery, Mark Gibbons; Nays: 0; Abstains: 0
 * Motion carries.


 * MOTION: close meeting
 * Put by: Emily Sievers
 * Ayes: 8 (Miles Whiticker, Simon Gnieslaw, Mark Gibbons, John Jeffery, Emily Sievers, Simon Frew, Alex Jago, Tom Randle); Nays: 0; Abstains: 0
 * Motion carries.