User:Mozart

Deputy Secretary & Press Officer

Bachelor of Laws student, Bachelor of Music graduate.

Contact:

[mailto:mozart.palmer@pirateparty.org.au Email]

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Blog

Withdrawal from PPI information

 * http://olbrychtpalmer.net/2013/01/10/ppi-painful-problematic-incompetence/
 * Receive statement from Travis McCrea (chief administrative officer) after April 2013 Kazan conference.
 * Receive statement from Arturo Martinez (former CoA member) ASAP.
 * PPAU protest --- http://lists.pirateweb.net/pipermail/pp.international.general/2013-March/013811.html
 * Engels' reply --- http://lists.pirateweb.net/pipermail/pp.international.general/2013-March/013831.html
 * My reply --- http://lists.pirateweb.net/pipermail/pp.international.general/2013-March/013833.html

Improving electoral participation
Platform amendment and position statement proposed at April 2013 policy meeting.

Platform amendment
To add to the Platform, under the section "Reform of Democratic Institutions," the following text:


 * Improving electoral participation


 * Pirate Party Australia encourages the maximisation of political participation. As part of the global movement that is well known for its interest in the concept of fluid (or direct) democracy, we have strived to investigate new means of political participation. We intended to seize the opportunities that modern communication technologies provide to change the nature of politics towards increased participation. However, in 2013 Parliament passed a bill amending the Electoral Act which doubled the cost of the nomination fee for contesting elections.


 * It was unthinkable that Parliament would pass such exclusionary measures, but now that Pirate Party Australia has been confronted with this change, there is concern that future Parliaments may continue the trend of discouraging alternative representatives. In response to this, Pirate Party Australia pledges to do all it can to restore candidate fees to a reasonable level, and to oppose legislation that would introduce further unfair burdens on candidates. The Party's full position on the issue can be found here. ("here" will be linked to the related position statement that is included in this motion).

Position statement
Improving electoral participation

Pirate Party Australia encourages the maximisation of political participation. As part of the global movement that is well known for its interest in the concept of fluid democracy, Pirate Party Australia has strived to investigate new means of political participation. We are one of the few political parties in Australia that provides for the remote participation of members and online voting. We intend to seize the opportunities that modern communication technologies provide to change the nature of politics.

However, while the Internet particularly is opening up new methods of participation, Pirate Party Australia and other minor parties like ours exist because their members do not feel existing parties adequately represent our interests and views in Parliament. To rectify this, we and other parties contest elections. This aim is stated in our constitution.

In 2013, both houses of the Federal Parliament passed a bill amending the Electoral Act 1918 (Cth). Among other innocuous changes, the Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Improving Electoral Procedure) Bill 2012 included an amendment to the Electoral Act that doubled the nomination deposit for contesting elections. As a result, the fee per Senate candidate is $2000, while the House of Representatives is $1000, coming to a combined cost of more than $300,000 to contest every electorate and run full Senate tickets nationwide.

Pirate Party Australia views this as a serious affront to democracy. This is a deliberate stacking of future elections in favour of incumbent parties, and deprives Australians — both electors and candidates — of true democratic participation and fulfilment. This places an unfair burden on parties and candidates that do not have the same membership numbers and corporate sponsorship that well established parties enjoy. This is not conducive to a multi-party democracy, and directly effects our ability to reverse the poor decisions of previous Parliaments.

It was unthinkable that Parliament would pass such exclusionary measures, but now that Pirate Party Australia has been confronted with this change, there is concern that future Parliaments may continue the trend of discouraging alternative representatives.

In response to this, Pirate Party Australia pledges to do all it can to restore candidate fees to a reasonable level, and to oppose legislation that would introduce unfair restrictions on candidates. The Party also supports a referendum to include protection against onerous or excessive requirements on candidates standing for election to the Federal Parliament in the Australian Constitution, similar to that which appears in the Canadian Constitution. In Figueroa v Canada (Attorney General), it was ruled that several sections of the Canada Elections Act were unconstitutional as they violated section 3 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which protects the right to play a meaningful role in the electoral process.

Pirate Party Australia recognises the need for similar protections in Australia.

Motion
To amend the Constitution of Pirate Party Australia to replace all variations of the Party's name with "Pirate Party Australia" or "the Party" where appropriate, and to amend Article 1 (Name and Principles and Constitution) to the following:


 * 1 Name, Principles and Constitution


 * The name of the party will be "Pirate Party Australia", also known as "the Pirate Party". Pirate Party Australia may be referred to as "PPAU" internally. From hereinafter in this document, Pirate Party Australia shall be referred to as either "Pirate Party Australia" or "the Party". The principles and objects of Pirate Party Australia are stated in Part I, and are fundamental to the purpose of the party. All party documents, members and policies are subject and subordinate to this constitution.

All instances of "the Pirate Party Australia" shall be replaced with "Pirate Party Australia" and all instances of "the PPAU" or "PPAU" with "the Party" or "Party", depending on grammatical context.

Background
There has been some confusion among members and the public over our name. We are regularly referenced as the "Australian Pirate Party," "PPA," "the Pirate Party of Australia," "APP," "AUPP" and any number of variations. It would be good to clear this up constitutionally, bringing our naming regulations in line with with current practice and our name and abbreviation which have been registered with the AEC. Consistency, guaranteed by this constitutional amendment, would reduce confusion and also improve the grammatical structure of our constitution.

Motion
To amend Part 1 (Principles and Objects of the Party) of the Constitution of Pirate Party Australia to remove improper capitalisation so that it reads:


 * The basic tenets of this movement are free culture, civil liberty and intellectual rights reform.

As opposed to the current text which reads:


 * The basic tenets of this movement are Free Culture, Civil Liberty and Intellectual Rights Reform.

Background
A political party should be a professional organisation. The closer to perfection our documents are, the more professional we as a party will appear. Grammatical conventions should be adhered to, particularly in fundamental documents such as the Party Constitution.