Canning by-election 2015 preselection meeting logs

Meeting Log This page contains a transcript or log of a meeting that occurred on 2015-08-23. It should be used for reference only and does not need to be edited.

Logs

poedgirl is the preselection candidate, Michelle Allen.

[17:00] <poedgirl> Well, it's 5pm
[17:01] <DanielJ> so it is!
[17:02] <Fletcher> So, could people make a noise so we know who's here?
[17:02] <poedgirl> I'm here
[17:02] <DanielJ> \o/
[17:02] <Henry> this guy
[17:02] <Dan_au> .
[17:02] <BenjaminD> here :)
[17:03] <Fletcher> Also a reminder that while only WA members can vote everyone else is still welcome to participate in the meeting
[17:04] <rikeus> here
[17:04] <Fletcher> For those that aren't aware we have one nomination for the election, Michelle Allen
[17:04] <Fletcher> {sorry, just got a keybard so I'm not typing on my tablet anore}
[17:05] <Brendan> anore
[17:05] <Henry> amore
[17:05] <Frew> o/
[17:05] <Fletcher> eeting will be pretty simple,
[17:06] <Fletcher> -_-
[17:06] <Fletcher> someone else can do this
[17:06] <Brendan> eating*
[17:06] <poedgirl> lol
[17:06] <Henry> raise fork to face
[17:06] <Fletcher> tl;dr poedgirl gets some time to talk then we can all ask questions
[17:07] <Brendan> or can cut straight to questions if she has nothing to add to her profile.
[17:07] <poedgirl> I don't really have much to add.
[17:07] <Brendan> are you excited?
[17:07] <DanielJ> Just to point out, even though she is uncontested for the ballot, being the sole nomination, we still have an approval voting process, ballots for which will go out this evening
[17:07] <poedgirl> I am very excited to represent the party
[17:08] <DanielJ> again :-)
[17:08] <poedgirl> Yes, again
[17:08] <poedgirl> Had a lot of fun last year in the WA Senate election, I just had to do it again
[17:08] <rikeus> questions then?
[17:08] <Frew> fire away
[17:08] <Henry> What's your plan to run a strong campaign?
[17:09] <rikeus> How do you intend to appeal to the traditionally conservative electorate of Canning?
[17:11] <poedgirl> Bah, hadn't really thought of these ones yet.
[17:11] <Brendan> strategy is traditionally handled by the election committee as a whole, rikeus, which you are welcome to take part in as well.
[17:11] <Brendan> also Henry.
[17:11] <Fletcher> Can you explain our tax policy concisely? It's one of the more technical areas of our platform and is sometimes difficult to convey to voters/media.
[17:11] <BenjaminD> Do you have any doubt within yourself that you're the right person ? :)
[17:11] <poedgirl> Lets see, well, I intend to focus on the core beliefs of the party and while Canning may be conservative in some areas, there are many other areas that are leaning towards progressive thinking lately.
[17:12] <poedgirl> Armadale and Kelmscott would be two areas that have a high progressive population.
[17:13] <poedgirl> I haven't really looked much at the tax policy. I do know we have a policy for tax reform, but that's about it.
[17:13] <poedgirl> As for BenjaminD, I have no doubt at all.
[17:13] <Mozart> Nobody can explain the tax policy except Mark.
[17:14] <BenjaminD> poedgirl: From what i know Armadale and Kelmscott are quite troublesome areas, do you believe you could make the changes that are required of the area ?
[17:14] <BenjaminD> can be*
[17:14] <poedgirl> They are lower socio economic areas, and I feel that our policies will help a lot of the people in those areas.
[17:15] <Fletcher> What policy do you believe would be our strongest talking point in the electorate?
[17:16] <poedgirl> I'm really not sure what single policy would be the strongest. I know the tax reform will help out a lot in the electorate.
[17:17] <BenjaminD> I believe education would also be another big one in the area ?
[17:18] <poedgirl> The focus on life skills in our education policy would be a big one to capitalise on in the area.
[17:18] <poedgirl> I know a lot of high-school students do have trouble there.
[17:19] <Henry> Keeping in mind that you just admitted an inability to clearly articulate our policies, why should we vote for your approval?
[17:19] <DanielJ> Anyone in the area that can try jump on board the election committee and provide insights into the area will be greatly appreciated, i know for those ofus on the east coast it can be hard to get a handle on the profile of the regions just relying on things like profiles written by antony green etc or lookiung at the AEC voting stats.
[17:19] <Fletcher> How much of our platform are you familiar with? It's one thing to say a policy would help but ideally you'd be able to back that statement up
[17:19] <Fletcher> (Apologies Henry, hadn't read your Q)
[17:20] <poedgirl> I am familiar with the basic outlines of our policies. Of course, before I do any media activity, I will thoroughly familiarise myself with all of them.
[17:20] <Henry> You've been a candidate before. Why didn't you do it then?
[17:21] <Frew> We'll do some media training too
[17:21] <Mozart> The policies have changed substantially since 2013.
[17:21] <poedgirl> When I was a candidate last time, I didn't have any media exposure and wasn't expecting any. The policies have also changed quite a bit since then.
[17:21] <BenjaminD> You also said that the tax reform would be a big part of the campaign, but you said you hadn't really looked at the tax policy ? My apologies if i misunderstood :)
[17:22] <poedgirl> I have read the basic outlines of the tax policy.
[17:22] <Brendan> you don't have to memorise the specifics of the policy to convey the approach to the voter.
[17:23] <Brendan> but you do have to memorise the specifics of the concept of negative income tax.
[17:24] --> luke_wa ([email protected]) has joined #PPAU
[17:25] <BenjaminD> I know the area quite well and believe our policies would be fantastic for canning , do you believe you could put our policies across the right way?
[17:26] <poedgirl> I really do. I know that the area is known for being a welfare haven and so many of our policies would be able to help with it.
[17:27] <Fletcher> Could you expand on the phrase "welfare haven"?
[17:28] <poedgirl> From my understanding, a fairly high percentage of the residents are on long term welfare or are underemployed.
[17:28] <Henry> Where does your understanding come from?
[17:28] <BenjaminD> do you think there may be an underlying issue ?
[17:29] --> Mouse ([email protected]) has joined #PPAU
[17:30] <poedgirl> My understanding comes from spending a lot of time in the area. I'm not personally sure of any single underlying issue, I'm sure it would be a combination of many issues.
[17:30] <-- rikeus ([email protected]) has quit (Ping timeout: 260 seconds)
[17:32] <BenjaminD> I have no other questions :)
[17:33] <-- Mouse ([email protected]) has left #PPAU
[17:33] <Henry> How can we be sure that you will have the courage and knowledge to represent the party and answer the hard questions in front of the nation on our behalf?
[17:34] <DanielJ> Considering the national attention that will be on this by-election and the high stakes for the major parties, are you ready for the attention that may be cast upon you and happy to undergo the scrutiny, media attention as well as the possible dirty tricks from other parties that may come with it?
[17:35] <poedgirl> I'm definitely ready for the scrutiny and media attention. I will of course study the policies in detail so I can answer any questions that come my way.
[17:37] <Mozart> What are the other five points in your six point plan?
[17:37] <Henry> Do you have any other commitments that might limit the time you can devote to the study and training required to conduct your duties effectively?
[17:37] <Brendan> stop the votes
[17:37] <poedgirl> I have a six point plan?
[17:38] <Fletcher> Given that this is a public meeting how would you respond to queries from the media relating to your knowledge of our platform at the time of nomination?
[17:38] <Frew> lol
[17:38] <poedgirl> I do have a full-time job, but I can take time off from that if I need to in order to conduct any duties of the campaign.
[17:40] <BenjaminD> Do you have much knowledge of the canning area ?
[17:40] <Brendan> poedgirl: six-point plan is a reference to the shit Liberal party campaign in 2013
[17:40] <Brendan> western sydney candidate couldn't articulate more than one point on it.
[17:40] <Brendan> and got caught out more than once.
[17:40] <poedgirl> Fletcher, I'd state that I do know the outlines of our policies and fully intend to study them more.
[17:40] <Frew> parking in a handicapped zone
[17:41] <Brendan> different candidate, Frew
[17:41] <Brendan> iirc
[17:41] <Brendan> although they were all doing it.
[17:41] <Frew> thought it was the same one
[17:41] <Frew> he was a trainwreck
[17:42] <Brendan> poedgirl: outline one policy.
[17:42] <Henry> Do you realise how that statement would reflect on the party?
[17:42] <DanielJ> it was funny, he kept mentioning that 6 point plan like it was a shield to hide behind, but then couldnt get past 1 point... but when asked AGIAN by the media another day after his fail he STILL couldnt articulate beyond the one point.
[17:42] <Mozart> Given the short notice, I am not convinced poedgirl's seeming lack of in depth knowledge is a significant concern.
[17:42] <Brendan> poedgirl: like, outline any policy you want.
[17:42] <Brendan> just to demonstrate you get the party.
[17:42] <Brendan> (I am watching the questions getting unproductive and circling) 
[17:44] <poedgirl> Well, one area of policy I do know well would be access to high speed internet.
[17:44] <poedgirl> We support a full fibre to the premises infrastructure.
[17:45] <Brendan> what's our position on health, education and tax, in simple phrasing?
[17:45] <poedgirl> I know this policy would also help greatly in the area as they are one of the places that will be stuck with the Multi Technology Mix
[17:45] <Brendan> (as simple as what you jsut said, but on those three) 
[17:47] <poedgirl> We support universal access to healthcare, providing more useful life skills in education and a reverse taxation system.
[17:47] <Brendan> I would phrase the taxation part as "universal basic income implemented as a negative income tax" but otherwise the gist is there.
[17:48] <Henry> I've got nothing further
[17:48] <Brendan> those are what are going to be asked quite a bit.
[17:49] <Brendan> but again, that's an issue for media and strategy training.
[17:49] <DanielJ> We probably also need to think about wrapping this up as i know people have committments at 6pm western time.  (and any issues there is our (executive) fault since we had to push the meeting back from 3pm to 5pm at short notice)
[17:49] <Brendan> poedgirl: are you confident you can learn the content enough that you'll have disturbing dreams where you explain it to people you hate?
[17:49] <poedgirl> Brendan, I am confident.
[17:50] <Brendan> that's good. Are you patient?
[17:50] <poedgirl> I am
[17:51] --> dcrafti ([email protected]) has joined #PPAU
[17:51] <DanielJ> that'll bethe key, reading this https://pirateparty.org.au/wiki/Platform muchly muchly ... i'll also dig up and revive the bullet point verisons we made available to people handing out HTVs at the last election (nd do the same here too) - ditto re updating the policy points on the HTVs
[17:51] <stbernard> Title: Platform - Pirate Party Australia Wiki (at pirateparty.org.au)
[17:51] <lukejohn> What's your plan for handling questions about potentially offensive comments you may of made online in the past?
[17:51] <-- dcrafti ([email protected]) has quit (Changing host)
[17:51] --> dcrafti (webchat@PirateParty/AU/RegisteredOfficer) has joined #PPAU
[17:52] <poedgirl> I didn't really have a plan for that.
[17:53] <Henry> i was hacked
[17:53] <Brendan> well, how will you handle it now that it has been raised as a potential issue?
[17:54] <Dan_au> "I was hacked" is never a good excuse, people see through it. Better to be upfront and explain any errors of judgemnet.
[17:54] <poedgirl> I'd probably just explain that I have grown since those times and would never make any comments like them any more.
[17:54] <Henry> I was being a tool but Dan is absolutely right. Candour is cool.
[17:55] <Brendan> 2 minutes until wrap up
[17:55] <Brendan> (I have to email around the logs) 
[17:55] <dcrafti> Is there anything potentially offensive that you still do believe?
[17:55] <poedgirl> Not that I can think of.
[17:55] <DanielJ> exactly, i think going forward people are just going to need to own their past online activities.
[17:56] <Brendan> poedgirl: do you believe anything that contradicts the party platform?
[17:56] <poedgirl> I do not.