With Julia Gillard calling the election for August 21 it is with some regret that we must announce we will not be able to contest this election as a Party. Our application to register is before the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), however a Party cannot be registered once an election has been called.
This does not mean that you won’t hear from us this election. We’ll continue to highlight important issues that have been largely neglected by other political parties, and to lobby and campaign for a better policy direction with respect to transparent governance, the Internet and civil liberties. We will continue to work to grow the Party, build a stronger base and be better placed to campaign for the next federal election. You may even see us at a state election. As with any start-up organisation, we are still finding ourselves, and our first National Congress occurs on July 31 in Sydney, where our members will formally adopt our first statement of platform, and our first manifesto — and discuss the future of the Party, the future of the democracy in Australia, and how we plan to make it better.