Pirate Party Australia is pleased to announce that its Western Australian members have voted to preselect former WA Senate candidate Michelle Allen as its candidate for the Canning by-election.
Michelle Allen has lived around the Canning electorate for most of her life. Michelle is currently working as a Software Development Manager for a Perth based company where she has over a decade of experience in all areas of Information Technology. She has a long history of advocating for equality, human rights and copyright reform in Australia. Michelle believes all Australians should be treated equally, regardless of race, gender, sexuality, social status or belief, and has campaigned to ensure that everyone in Australia is given a fair go.
“This is a chance for us to show both the current government, and the so-called opposition, how unhappy we are with their constant efforts to quash our digital liberties and basic human rights,” said Canning candidate Michelle Allen, “We will show them we won’t stand by while they simply kowtow to the interests of their corporate donors while pushing policies that benefit their mates or appeal to fear rather than the well considered evidence based policies that the country needs to progress.”
This is the Pirate Party’s second run in a House of Representatives seat. Melanie Thomas came 4th in a field of 11 candidates in the 2014 Griffith by-election. Pirate Party Australia also ran candidates for the Senate in a number of states in the 2013 Federal election, as well as in the 2014 WA special Senate election. Co-incidentally, the date of the Canning by-election is the same day as “Talk Like a Pirate Day” which Pirate Party Australia hopes will be another reason for voters to “Vote like a Pirate”.
“While we know that this is quite a different situation to Griffith, we hope that when voters see our evidence based, common sense policies they will consider supporting the Pirate Party. In my experience, once people see what we stand for, and see that we are serious about becoming a viable political alternative to the major parties, neither of which represent the interests of the average Australian, voting Pirate just makes sense,” continued Michelle.
While the Pirate Party was founded with a focus on digital rights, civil liberties, privacy and copyright reform, the party has since expanded its policy set to a wide array of science based, evidence driven policies in areas that concern many Australians. These policies include, but are not limited to, support for marriage equality, better education outcomes and support for science, a sensible and humane approach to asylum seekers, drug law reforms, comprehensive support for renewable energy, and a comprehensive tax reform & welfare policy that both massively simplifies the tax system but maintains fairness and progressiveness. The full Pirate Party policy platform can be found at https://pirateparty.org.au/wiki/Platform.
Pirate Party Australia is a federally registered political party founded in late 2008, and contested its first Federal Election in 2013. Pirate Party Australia is part of a worldwide movement that began in Sweden in 2006, and has since spread to more than 40 different countries. Pirate Parties have been elected to all levels government — local, state, national and supranational — with 44 state seats in Germany, three seats in the Icelandic Parliament, and a member of the European Parliament.
Candidate Page: https://pirateparty.org.au/candidates/
I note that the above article, whilst stating “Michelle Allen has lived around the Canning electorate for most of her life.”, does not state whether the candidate lives in the electorate.
I also note that, apparently, no contact email address for the candidate, is published in this article or the other article on the web site, announcing the candidacy.
Contact details for general and media enquiries are available here: https://pirateparty.org.au/contact/
The comment from “Mozart” dated 29 August 2015, does not deal with the two matters raised in my post dated 26 August 2015.
I also note that the web page at
https://pirateparty.org.au/candidates/
does not either provide as much information about the candidate, as above, or, include a “This web page last updated on “” comment, , or, regular, timestamped updates, and so, that web page does not appear otherwise than to give the impression that it was published when the candidate was named, then abandoned.
If the candidacy is genuine, which it should be, given the published policies of the Pirate Party, then the web site should be more informative, and, more proactive, regarding the candidacy.
Apart from the article on the web site home page, dated 02 September, announcing that the party is seeking crowdfunding of the campaign, I have not seen any material published, relating to the party or the candidate, since the candidacy was announced.
In a local newspaper, in the last week, have been articles about other candidates, including candidates that I expect would have less support than the Pirate Party candidate, but, no article was seen, about the Pirate Party candidate.
The party has this web site, but, the web site potential is not being exploited to assist the candidacy, and, the cost of regularly updating the web site to show what the candidate has been doing in the campaign, and, where the candidate has been going, should hbe minimal, relative to the expensive full page advertisements in local newspapers, by rival candidates with millions of dollars behind them.
Given that the candidate is stated to be an IT professional, I had expected to see more of an online presence, for the candidate, and, more being proactive and interactive, online, than I have seen, especially, given the published policy platform of the party, and, what has been happening, both at the electorate level and at the federal level.
Oh, and, with the apparent inactivity regarding the candidacy, you might want to consider that early voting started on 01 September, so, voting has commenced, so, if the candidacy is genuine, you might want to do something about it.
Small business employs more than half the nation yet in practical terms are ignored by standing politicians.
It has been my experience all sides of politics cower to senior federal public servants. As a community we need to send a clear message to all standing candidates, your not doing a good job. The community have had enough of the entitled. Regardless of your political view, vote to send politicians and senior federal public servants a clear message,