Hi Pirates,

National Congress was last weekend and tonight the member ballots are going out!

Summary

• All proposals were approved on the floor (some with small amendments) and proceed to member vote.
• Seven out of nine National Council positions were filled – more on a by-election soon.
• Both Dispute Resolution Committee positions were filled.
• Minutes are here: https://pirateparty.org.au/wiki/Pirate_Congress_2022/Minutes

Voting

By the time you receive this email, you should have already received two others detailing your credential and password for the voting system. (These are not the same thing.)

You will need the credential to access the “voting booth”, and then the password to finalise casting your vote. The link in either email will work to get to the booth.

Earlier tonight we sent another email with a broken link (containing the infamous 127.0.0.1) — please disregard that one.

You will be asked to vote Aye, Nay or Abstain on each of the five proposals.

Details of all five proposals can be found here: https://pirateparty.org.au/wiki/Pirate_Congress_2022/Motions

Voting closes at 23:59 (Perth time) on Sunday 7th August.

FAQ

These ballots are for Full Members of the party only. If you have received this email but not a ballot email, it’s likely that you don’t currently have active party membership. Contact [email protected] if you have questions about membership, or [email protected] if you have questions about the voting process.

Kind Regards,
Alex Jago
Secretary
Pirate Party Australia

G’day Pirates,

I hereby invite you to Pirate Party Australia’s 2022 Annual National Congress!

The National Congress is an opportunity for members to propose and debate new policies and constitutional amendments, hear nominations for Party Officials, and meet Pirates from around Australia.

It is the paramount decision-making body of Pirate Party Australia.

Date: Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th of July, 2022

As befits a digital-rights party, Congress is held entirely online! You can attend from anywhere by video call and text chat.

Watch parties and Friday night meetups are a distinct possibility! If you’d like to meet up with your local pirates, drop me an email at [email protected] With any luck, I’ll be able to put you and a mate or two in touch! Better yet, make a post on the forums for more visibility.

I urge everyone – this means you – to consider running for National Council. As always – we’re a party for everyone and we want people from all walks of life in our leadership team.

Details of the National Congress, including the agenda, new policies, nominations, constitutional amendments and details on how to participate online are available on the Wiki:  Pirate Congress 2022

The National Congress is followed by a seven day online voting period to ratify the substantive motions passed at Congress. This voting is open to all Full Members, who will be emailed ballot information. Ensure your party membership is up-to-date!

There are a number of dates and deadlines and procedures to follow if you wish to submit items to the National Congress or declare candidacy for positions.

Constitutional Amendments:

• The deadline for amendment proposals is Saturday 25th June 2022 09:00 am (AEST)
• Email your proposals to [email protected]

Policies and Policy Amendments:

• It would be appreciated if policy proposals could be submitted at least 10 days before National Congress so that they can be allowed for in the agenda.
• Email your proposals to [email protected]

Nominations:

• Positions up for election are all nine National Councillors, the Policy Development Officer, and two positions on the Dispute Resolution Committee.
• Nominations can be accepted up until the relevant agenda item at National Congress.
• Nominations for electable positions can be made by following the instructions here: Pirate Congress 2022/Nominations

We thank you for your continued support!

Please feel free to discuss National Congress or any other matters in our discussion forums at https://discuss.pirateparty.org.au/ or on our Discord.

Yours sincerely,

Alex Jago
Secretary
Pirate Party Australia

The election has been called for the 21st of May… and campaign season steps up another level.

As part of Fusion, Pirates will be on the ballot in New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia, with other Fusion candidates running in Victoria too.

How can you help? Well, there’s two key things it takes to fight an election: time and money.

Volunteer for the campaign!

Can you help out on the big day? Can you help out beforehand? Can you write, or design, or script?
Polling places with volunteers get double the number of votes as compared to those without.

Donate to the campaign

It costs $2000 to be on the ballot. Per candidate. We’ve got enough in the bank to pay for nominations, but to run a good campaign beyond that, we need to have shirts, signs, flyers and digital ads. All of this costs money and we’ll need it in a hurry.

Please donate $20 to your local Pirate-Fusion candidate today.

• Brandon Selic – north Queensland
• Roger Whatling – south Queensland
• Adam Woodings – Western Australia
• David Kennedy – South Australia
• John August – NSW (Bennelong)
• Kammy Cordner-Hunt – Victoria

All donations to candidates are tax-deductible.

Last but not least, check your voter enrolment as well!
https://check.aec.gov.au/

Preselection part two!

Hi Pirates,

Since our last round of preselections, we’ve had one more serious EOI. So this Sunday afternoon, we’ll hold one last preselection meeting to find out what our prospective candidate is all about!

Date: Sunday, 3rd April
Time: 3pm AEST (2:30pm ACST; 1pm AWST)
Location: online:  in PirateIRC / Discord and streamed online on YouTube
Voting: A 6 day online voting period will open following the meeting, closing at midnight Perth time, Saturday 9th April.

For more information, refer to the Pirate wiki page.

Kind Regards,

Alex Jago 
Secretary
Pirate Party Australia