Category: Press Release

Press releases

Data retention goes back underground as campaign turns up the heat

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Australian Greens, Pirate Party Australia combined press release

Australian Greens communications spokesperson Senator Scott Ludlam will table a petition in the Senate tomorrow circulated by Pirate Party Australia and comprising 1447 signatures raising serious concerns about proposed changes to national security laws.

The signatories have presented objections to the proposals under discussion by the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence and Security Inquiry into potential reforms of National Security Legislation (#natsecinquiry).

“98.9 per cent of the five and a half thousand submissions received by the Committee are opposed to the unnecessary and dangerously vague data retention proposal and other draconian ideas suggested by the Attorney General’s Department,” said Senator Ludlam.

Pirate Party Secretary Brendan Molloy said, “The petitioners object to penalties for failing to provide computer passwords and near unrestricted interception of communications, as well as the appallingly short window of time provided by the Committee to make a submission, of which the Pirate Party campaigned for an extension.”

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Pirate Party Outraged by Gene Patent Case Outcome

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Pirate Party Australia is outraged that a legal challenge to the BRCA1 gene patent has failed[1][2].

“This ruling is a slap in the face for all of those who will suffer or know somebody who will suffer from breast cancer within their lifetime. It is utterly disgraceful that we live in a nation where private companies can own the genetic material within our bodies,” said Brendan Molloy, Secretary of Pirate Party Australia.

More than two years ago, Pirate Party Australia issued a statement welcoming the legal challenge[3], with the hope that the case would be a catalyst for laws to expressly forbid patents on genetic materials.

By permitting a patent on BRCA1, discoveries are now effectively given the same protections as inventions. The effect this will have on adequately treating cancer sufferers is abysmal, and also opens the door for hampering future research as private companies secure patents and charge extortionate license fees.

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Parliament Dismantling Democratic Institutions

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Pirate Party Australia condemns the Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Improving Electoral Procedure) Bill 2012, the second reading of which was today debated in the Senate[1].

The particular parts the Pirate Party objects to are the amendments to paragraph 170(3)(a) and 170(3)(b) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, which would double the cost of fielding Senate and House of Representatives candidates. If the bill passes, Senate candidates will cost $2,000, while House of Representatives candidates will cost $1,000.

The purpose of the price increase is to “discourage…those candidates and groups whose chances are very slim, thereby avoiding unwieldy ballot papers that tend to be difficult to read and are likely to give rise to higher levels of informality,” according to a Parliamentary Library document[2].

“The two particular amendments, masterfully hidden among fairly reasonable amendments, are devastating to the ability of minority parties such as ourselves to compete in fair and democratic elections,”commented Mozart Olbrycht-Palmer, Deputy Secretary of Pirate Party Australia. “The justification for increasing the cost of candidates is laughable — democracy is not about discouraging candidates from competing elections, and it is not about the convenience of being able to print smaller ballot papers.”

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Pirate Party Slams Liberal Party Comments on Refugees

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Pirate Party Australia is appalled by reports that should the Coalition form Government following the next federal election, they would provide ASIO with what was described by the Age’s Daniel Flitton as “unfettered powers to brand refugees a security risk to Australia”[1].

The Coalition would remove any form of appeal process to challenge ASIO’s determinations, flying in the face of fundamental human rights that a nation like Australia should strive to uphold. Warren Entsch, chief opposition whip, expressed that in his opinion ASIO rulings should not be reviewable, stating that “we rely on them absolutely”.

“Both major Parties seem intent on assaulting human and civil rights by granting draconian new powers to ASIO,” said Simon Frew, Deputy President of Pirate Party Australia.

“The ALP have the National Security Inquiry, where they want to give ASIO the power to dig through personal communication records without a warrant, hack computers of people suspected of no crime and demand passwords off anyone on a mere suspicion. The Liberal Party want to place ASIO above the Law by granting them absolute power over refugees. There is nothing liberal about abandoning the rule of law to set secret police onto people fleeing persecution.”

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Pirate Party applauds Berners-Lee’s anti-retention comments

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Pirate Party Australia applauds comments made by Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, warning of the potential pitfalls of data retention.

This week Berners-Lee raised concerns that data retention would needlessly compromise Internet users’ privacy while failing to actually assist in reducing serious crime.[1] His comments come as a result of proposals contained within the Attorney-General’s National Security Inquiry discussion paper which has been met with widespread criticism.

“Data retention is a serious threat to personal privacy,” said Mozart Olbrycht-Palmer, Deputy Secretary of Pirate Party Australia. “While the Attorney-General, other parliamentarians, law enforcement and intelligence agencies champion its necessity to protect the community, they consistently fail to acknowledge the potential ramifications of placing an entire nation under constant surveillance.”

“As Mr Berners-Lee rightly points out: people often feel more comfortable seeking help anonymously online than from friends and family. Compromising the ability for people to maintain anonymity is a slippery slope away from protecting the community.”

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