Pirate Party disturbed by Manning conviction

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Pirate Party Australia finds the guilty verdicts handed down in the case of prominent whistleblower, US Pfc Bradley Manning, to be deeply disturbing. Fortunately for the former US Army Private, Mr Manning was found not guilty of aiding the enemy, a bittersweet victory for both himself and journalistic integrity[1].

Mr Manning provided a wealth of classified material, including the infamous ‘Collateral Murder’ video portraying the murder of 11 unarmed civilians in Baghdad, including two Reuters’ journalists, in 2007[2]. The release of this video, among other material, elevated WikiLeaks from relative obscurity to one of the most well known and controversal journalistic organisations in the world today.

Pirate Party Australia is of the opinion that, in light of the war crimes exposed, the revelations of government corruption, and the evidence of a deliberate, systematic misinformation campaign targeted at the public, Bradley Manning should have been acquitted of all charges. Mr Manning has been held in conditions that have been publicly condemned by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture for three years before finally being sentenced. His treatment has been described by the Rapporteur as “cruel, inhuman and degrading” and prejudicial to the presumption of innocence[3].

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Pirate Party unveils asylum seeker policy

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Pirate Party Australia is pleased to announce its policy on asylum seekers that calls on all members of the region to share responsibility for the handling of refugees. The policy incorporates advice from leading experts including the Refugee Council of Australia and Julian Burnside, QC[1] and represents Pirate Party Australia’s commitment to evidence-based policies.

The policy was proposed at the National Congress this year, and its passing was almost directly followed by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ condemnation of the Rudd Government’s plan for settling asylum seekers in Papua New Guinea[2].

Under the Pirate Party’s policy, Australia would lead a capacity building initiative to upgrade facilities across the region, encourage regional partners to sign the refugee convention, and create a shared processing arrangement. Asylum seekers arriving anywhere in the region will be subject to a single process, removing specific incentives to risk travelling all the way to Australia. A transparent allocation process would ensure each nation takes on a share of asylum seekers, reducing disputes and allowing information to be pooled.

“We currently spend over $1 billion annually on detention facilities, which could be diverted into actually solving the issue and making our region take collective responsibility for asylum seekers,” said Joe Miles, lead Victorian Senate candidate. “The hardline stance recently taken by the Australian Labor Party fails to take any responsibility for the root causes — people are seeking asylum here because we were one of the few countries accepting refugees. Settlement in Papua New Guinea, a nation with a crime rate so high that the Australian Government itself warns travellers, a nation that refuses to legalise homosexuality, is not a solution.”[3][4][5]

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Pirate Congress 2013 Results

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

Pirate Party Australia held its National Congress on July 13–14 for the purposes of amending the Party Constitution, amending and adopting policies, deciding leadership positions and preselection candidates, 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 31% member turnout, and all motions passed.

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Pirate Party leads the way with transparent preferencing

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In April, Pirate Party Australia’s members voted in favour of deciding the Party’s Senate preferences transparently and democratically. To initiate this process, an email from the Party was recently sent out to request other parties make a case for Pirate preferences.

“Pirate Party Australia is changing the game this election by making our preferences completely transparent,” said David W. Campbell, President of Pirate Party Australia and Senate candidate for NSW. “This ensures democratic participation in our preferences and accountability from not just our party, but for all parties seeking our preferences. We are the only party on the Australian political landscape with such a selection process, including full disclosure to Australian voters before they vote.”

“Australian political parties continue to base preferences on back-room deals conducted by their controlling elite. Pirate Party Australia will stand as the only example of a transparent and democratically managed party from top to bottom this election. The Australian people deserve and want better, and we are the Party delivering on that.”

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Telstra sells Australia out to US intelligence

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Following revelations that in 2001 telecommunications giant Telstra signed a deal to give the FBI and US Department of Justice surveillance access to monitor submarine cables linking Australia to the United States, Pirate Party Australia demands greater protections of privacy and data sovereignty for our nations’ citizens.

According to the documents released, call data, subscriber information and IP addresses are collected for all voice and data traffic traversing the US[1].

“If what the media is saying is true, why is an Australian company colluding with the United States Government to spy on Internet traffic of Australians citizens? This is entirely unacceptable and must stop immediately,” said Brendan Molloy, Lead Candidate for the Senate in NSW.

“The Government must answer why they have been complicit in the spying on of Australian citizens, as this began when Telstra was still partially Government owned.”

Recently there has been a plethora of scandals relating to the overreach of United States’ surveillance programs which have targeted not just citizens of the United States’ but also of its allies[2]. This is the last in an ever growing parade of covert privacy intrusions, blanket surveillance and breaches of confidence.

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