The results of Pirate Party Australia’s July 2017 National Congress are in!

The Pirate Party held its National Congress in Melbourne on July 29—30 for the purposes of amending the Party Constitution, amending and adopting policies and deciding leadership positions, and as an opportunity for members of the Party to socialise in person. The results of the now-concluded week-long voting period can be announced. The Party had a turnout of approximately 14% from a pool of 1,355 participants.

Thank you to everyone who ran for positions and congratulations to those who were elected.
A reminder that election to the National Council is but one of many ways to contribute to the party. We are always looking for people to help on the press team, design team, in policy development, social media, writing submissions, research and so on, or just be an ongoing voice in the party.

Constitutional amendments

Amendments to the constitution require a quorum of 20% of members. As this quorum was not met all constitutional amendments have lapsed. The results have been included below for your convenience:

• CAP-0: Repeal section 4.2.2: Associate Membership – lapsed 95.81% in favour
• CAP-1: Removal of Registered Officer – lapsed 97.63% in favour
• CAP-2: Defining roles on the National Council – lapsed 98.84% in favour
• CAP-3: Modification of Constitutional Amendment Proposals – lapsed 97.74% in favour
• CAP-4: Rename Party Secretary and Deputy Party Secretary – lapsed 97.75% in favour
• CAP-5: NSW Association Requirements – lapsed 94.58% in favour

Note: Discussion on these amendments (including those defeated on the floor at Congress) will be found in the minutes once they have been completed.

Policy motions

The results of the motions relating to policy are as follows:

• PM-1: Transport Policy — carried 95.83% in favour.
• PM-2: Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and prohibition of racial discrimination — carried 86.47% in favour.

Other motions

• Financial Report: Accept the annual financial report as presented at congress – carried 100.00% in favour.

National Council elections

The National Council election results are as follows:

• President: Emily Sievers
• Deputy President: Unfilled
• Secretary: Tom Randle (uncontested)
• Deputy Secretary: Simon Gnieslaw (uncontested)
• Treasurer: Mark Gibbons (uncontested)
• Deputy Treasurer: Simon Frew (uncontested)
• Registered Officer: Alex Jago (uncontested)
• Councillor (1): John August (uncontested)
• Councillor (2): Miles Whiticker (uncontested)

Officer elections

Elections for Officer positions are as follows:

• Dispute Resolution Committee: Fletcher Boyd (uncontested)
• Policy Development Officer: Jesse Hermans (uncontested)

* Note: the Dispute Resolution Committee comprises of three members, elected for two-year terms. These terms are staggered. There was one vacancy this year. Hayden Dwyer was elected last congress and retains his position. Miles has resigned from the committee and will be replaced at a later date.

Next Congress location

The next National Congress will be held in Brisbane in July 2018.

Raw results

The full breakdown of results can be found on the Party’s voting server, including raw JSON data.

The software used is Oyster, a free and open source voting system.