Category: Party News

Yesterday Pirate Party Australia met its campaign funding target of $10,000 entirely through crowdfunding, in preparation for the WA Senate election on 5 April.

Following the announcement that fresh elections would be taking place, the Pirate Party launched the fundraiser using Pozible, a crowdfunding website similar to Kickstarter, and has reached the $10,000 goal in just under two weeks. Supporters of the Pirate Party are still able to contribute to the fundraiser via Pozible, and all money will go directly towards purchasing campaign materials for the election.

“This is a fantastic show of support for Pirate Party Australia,” said Fletcher Boyd, lead candidate for the Senate in WA. “We are very thankful to our supporters for providing us with the funds to seriously give this election a go. Despite lacking wealthy sponsors, celebrity candidates, or a massive membership base, we have an enormous amount of grassroots enthusiasm as demonstrated by how quickly we were able to reach our goal.”

The Pirate Party would like to thank all those who contributed, especially those who contributed more than $250 to the campaign — Mitchell Carr, Adam Thomas, Matthew Schmidt, Dennis Au, Georg Sinn and Mark Walkom.

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Pirate Party Australia is pleased to announce that it will contest the Western Australian Senate Election on 5 April, 2014, and has completed preselection of its candidates. Western Australian members of the Pirate Party voted to field Fletcher Boyd and Michelle Allen, in that order.

“2014 is the year Western Australia can take a stand,” said Fletcher Boyd, lead candidate for Pirate Party Australia. “This election offers our state the opportunity to say ‘no’ to the human rights violations being committed in our name. To say ‘no’ to reactionary legislation designed to placate, and not to solve. To vote instead for policies based on scientific evidence, dedication to transparency, and protection of human rights.”

“Pirate Party Australia offers Western Australians a chance to take this stand. As a candidate I will uphold the Pirate Party’s beliefs in equality and freedom, beliefs the majority of our politicians do not seem to share.”

The Pirate Party’s policies cover a broad range of issues. Apart from the Party’s core policies of intellectual property reform, protection of personal privacy, increased governmental transparency, and opposition to censorship, the Party has developed policies on asylum seekers and refugees, energy, the environment, welfare, taxation and foreign affairs[1]. Pirate Party Australia supports a fibre-to-the-premises broadband network[2] and the introduction of an Australian Bill of Rights[3].

The Party is yet to decide its preference allocations, but will be using the same democratic process it pioneered at the Federal Election in September 2013[4]. In accordance with this process, all members from Western Australia will vote to determine the order in which the Pirate Party’s preference are to be distributed. This will include any preference swapping arrangements proposed by other parties.

In order to raise funds to contest this election, including the $2,000 nomination deposits required for each candidate, the Pirate Party has turned to crowdfunding for its election campaign. More than $7,000 of the $10,000 target has been met in just over a week[5].

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Current results for the Griffith by-election indicate that the Pirate Party’s candidate, Melanie Thomas, has secured a very credible fourth place, behind the Liberal Nationals, Labor, and Greens, finishing ahead of all other minor and micro parties[1]. This was Pirate Party Australia’s first attempt at contesting a House of Representatives seat.

“It is encouraging that despite the Labor and Liberal Parties dominating the political arena, an increasing number of voters are willing to break out of the major party duopoly and put their support behind an alternative voice like the Pirate Party,” Ms Thomas commented. “Those voters are sending a powerful message that Australians need someone to stand up for civil and digital liberties, and to protect our country from a range of threats such as warrantless dragnet surveillance, mistreatment of refugees, climate change, governmental secrecy, corruption and cronyism.”

“As more and more Australians see that the Pirate Party is a party backed by a serious platform of evidenced-based policies, we firmly believe that positive inroads can and will be made to stop major parties taking the voting public for granted. We are a party that practices what it preaches and we have shown what a party based on transparency, democracy, and participation can achieve.”

As per the preliminary count as at Sunday evening, Pirate Party Australia has achieved the greatest swing toward any party in the by-election. The current swing of +1.54% to the Pirate Party in Griffith is three times greater than the Party’s result in Queensland for the Senate at the last federal election in September 2013[2]. It also represents a doubling of first preference votes when compared to the Party’s polling in Griffith for that same Senate election, where the Party received 0.7% of the vote[3].

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Pirate Party Australia’s Deputy President, Melanie Thomas, will compete in the Griffith by-election for the seat of former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in early February. The Australian Electoral Commission confirmed Thomas’ nomination this morning.

The Pirate Party, which competed its first Australian Federal Election in September 2013, stands for civil liberties, intellectual property reform, and increased transparency in government. The Party also has detailed policies on areas of vital importance for Australia, including education, taxation, welfare, asylum seekers, energy and marriage[1].

“Australian politics is in an appalling state at present. It has become mired in issues that shouldn’t be politicised: asylum seekers, climate change and same-sex marriage are just three major issues that have been taken by the current Government and distorted for political gain,” said Melanie Thomas. “Matters that are of major national importance are being kept secret from the public — the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement is being negotiated with disturbing secrecy, and the Government hides behind “national security” to avoid answering difficult questions about the extent of surveillance in Australia. We have a Government that is proving itself to be both reckless and self-serving.

“I intend to shine a light on these issues and bring balanced values back to the political table. A vote for the Pirate Party is a vote for a compassionate, progressive and independent Australia. It is a firm statement from the electorate that they want Government to be accountable and honest and that policies steeped with rhetoric are not good enough. The Pirate Party’s policies are grounded firmly on evidence and the Party is dedicated to democracy and transparency.”

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