Pirate Party Australia

Last updated

Pirate Party Australia
PresidentMiles Whiticker [1]
Secretary Alex Jago
Founded2008;16 years ago (2008)
Registered17 January 2013;11 years ago (2013-01-17)
Membership (2015)approx. 1,300
Ideology Pirate politics
E-democracy
Environmentalism
Secularism
Non-interventionism
Welfarism
National affiliation Fusion Party [2] [3]
Colours Black and blue
Website
www.pirateparty.org.au

Pirate Party Australia is a political party in Australia that had traditionally represented civil liberty issues, but had also expanded into more traditional areas of policy. [4] It was a Pirate Party which was based on the Pirate Party of Sweden, and continued to develop a comprehensive policy platform since its formation based on the Pirate ethos. [5]

Contents

The party voluntarily deregistered on 28 April 2021. [6] It later merged with other parties to become the Fusion Party. [7]

History

The Pirate Party was founded in 2008 by Rodney Serkowski with the launch of a website and a wiki, and a request for contributions. [8] In 2009, the first National Council of the Party was elected. Pirate Party Australia was formally registered as a political party by the Australian Electoral Commission on 17 January 2013. [9] [10]

In late 2009, the party announced its intention to contest the 2010 federal election [11] and recruited the 500 members necessary for registration. The party was expected to mainly compete with the Australian Greens and the Reason Party. [12]

Due to registration requirements, the party was not able to contest the 2010 federal election [13] but it registered in January 2013, enabling it to contest the 2013 federal election. [14]

Platform and policy

The Pirate Party's platform was developed collaboratively and democratically, and hosted on a wiki on the Party's website. [15] All policies were required to meet the principles and objectives as set out in the Party's constitution and be supported by a two-thirds majority vote of all full members of the Pirate Party at a relevant meeting. [16] [17] Policies will also only be adopted after the completion of an online seven-day voting period, where all full members may take part. [18]

When founded in 2009, the Pirate Party's platform started off limited to a series of core policies: civil and digital liberties (opposition to internet censorship), government transparency, personal privacy, and copyright and patent reform. By 2013, the platform and policies of the Pirate Party have expanded significantly into a comprehensive policy set that competes with the major parties and larger minor parties in detail and breadth.

Most policy is adopted and debated at a National Congress, which meets annually in July. [19] The meeting is hosted physically, but also simultaneously broadcast live via a web stream with interaction tools, allowing participation for all members and the public regardless of physical proximity from the meeting. Another type of conference called a Policy Meeting can also be hosted specifically for the adoption and debate of policy and platform amendments, which did happen once in April 2013. [20]

In July 2012, the platform saw a very minor revision, introducing protection of quotation rights, unrestricted format shifting, the policy specifically geared towards supporting 3D printing, mandatory privacy breach disclosure, protection for whistleblowers, political donations and transparency treaty-making. [21]

Since 2013, the Party set off to rapidly expand its platform and policy set, expanding into more traditional areas of political discourse such as education, the environment, energy, welfare, taxation and asylum seeker policy.

In April 2013, a Policy Meeting was hosted in order to deliberate on significant amendments to the platform and policy set. For the first time in the Pirate Party's history, the meeting resolved to introduce platform amendments outside traditional Pirate political areas and introduce detailed policy texts to complement the platform, including: clean energy, a moratorium on coal seam gas extraction, taxation reform, welfare reform, drug reform, marriage reform, the introduction of a bill of rights, and improving the electoral process. [22]

The National Congress in July 2013 saw the introduction of further policies, including: civil liberties, cultural participation, education, democratic institution reform, animal welfare, asylum seekers and refugees and foreign policy and treaty-making. The welfare policy was updated to include support for the NDIS and other minor changes. [23]

2014 saw fewer amendments than the overhauls of the previous years, introducing policy amendments relating to constitutional reform, copyright, education, energy, the environment and climate change, privacy law, and tax and welfare. [24]

In February 2015, Pirate Party Australia resigned from Pirate Parties International due to serious disagreement with the direction and management of the organisation. [25] In the same month, Pirate Party UK also resigned [26] and in March the Belgian Pirate Party suspended its membership within PPI. [27]

In 2016, the party announced its support for a universal basic income. [28]

The Pirate Party has a strong focus on evidence-based policy development, listing just under 200 references on their platform as of July 2015. [29]

Euthanasia

At the request of Exit International, Pirate Party Australia member David Campbell [30] conducted a series of information sessions as part of Exit International's workshop for seniors who wanted to know how to by-pass the Australian Internet Filter so that they can access information on safe euthanasia techniques. [31]

Pirate Party Australia has adopted Euthanasia rights into their party policy platform. [32]

Elections

Australian Capital Territory General Election, 2012

In 2012, members of the Pirate Party's ACT branch ran as independent candidates in the Australian Capital Territory elections. [33] [34] The Pirate Party endorsed three ungrouped candidates in the election, each of whom received 0.4-0.5% of the primary vote. [35]

Australian Federal Election, 2013

The Pirate Party was approached by Glenn Druery to be a member of the Minor Party Alliance, but chose to eschew membership of the alliance due to the membership requirement of preferencing far-right parties highly, and instead chose to base preferences upon a democratic vote of its members along policy lines. [36] Democratically deciding their Senate preferences is now standard practice for Pirate Party Australia. It did so in the 2014 Western Australia Senate Rerun. [37]

Pirate Party Australia ran eight candidates for the Senate in the 2013 Federal Election: two candidates each in the states of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania. [38] The best result was in Tasmania with a 0.6% primary vote. The party was unique in its approach to preference deals with other parties in that they are professing to eschew the secret deals that typify preference negotiations and instead are conducting all such activities openly and transparently and putting all decisions to a membership vote. [39] [40]

Griffith by-election, 2014

Melanie Thomas ran for the Pirate Party at the 2014 Griffith by-election and finished fourth out of 11 candidates with a 1.5% primary vote.

WA Senate Special Election, 2014

In the 2013 Senate election, Pirate Party Australia did not run candidates in WA. However, due to certain issues with the results of that election, there was a special WA rerun election, where the party did run two candidates. The party preferenced Scott Ludlam of the Australian Greens as their next highest preference.

Pirate Party Australia ran two candidates on the Pirate Party ticket in the special election: Fletcher Boyd and Michelle Allen. Pirate Party Australia received 0.49% [41] of the first preference group ticket votes.

Canning by-election, 2015

Michelle Allen contested the 2015 Canning by-election as the Pirate Party candidate and won 775 first preference votes or 0.92% of the total.

2016 federal election

In the 2016 federal election Pirate Party Australia fielded two senate candidates in each of New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, [42] and a candidate for the House of Representatives in the Division of Bennelong. [43]

2019 federal election

In the 2019 federal election Pirate Party Australia fielded two senate candidates in each of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia. [44]

See also

Related Research Articles

The electoral system of Australia comprises the laws and processes used for the election of members of the Australian Parliament and is governed primarily by the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918. The system presently has a number of distinctive features including compulsory enrolment; compulsory voting; majority-preferential instant-runoff voting in single-member seats to elect the lower house, the House of Representatives; and the use of the single transferable vote proportional representation system to elect the upper house, the Senate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australia First Party</span> Political party in Australia

The Australia First Party (AFP), officially known as the Australia First Party (NSW) Incorporated, is an Australian nationalist political party founded in 1996 by Graeme Campbell, a former member of the Australian Labor Party. The policies of the party have been described as nationalist, anti-multicultural and economically protectionist, advocating for strict immigration controls, the prioritization of Australian citizens in employment, and the promotion of Australian culture and values. The party's logo includes the Southern Cross of the Eureka Flag.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Electoral Commission</span>

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is the independent statutory authority and agency of the Australian Government responsible for the management of federal Australian elections, by-elections and referendums.

Elections in Australia take place periodically to elect the legislature of the Commonwealth of Australia, as well as for each Australian state and territory and for local government councils. Elections in all jurisdictions follow similar principles, although there are minor variations between them. The elections for the Australian Parliament are held under the federal electoral system, which is uniform throughout the country, and the elections for state and territory Parliaments are held under the electoral system of each state and territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Libertarian Party (Australia)</span> Australian political party

The Libertarian Party, formerly known as the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), is an Australian political party founded in Canberra in 2001. The party espouses smaller government and supports policies that are based on classical liberal, libertarian principles, such as lower taxes, opposing restrictions on civil liberties, decentralisation, uranium mining, and the relaxation of smoking laws.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918</span> Australian suffrage law

The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 is an Act of the Australian Parliament which continues to be the core legislation governing the conduct of elections in Australia, having been amended on numerous occasions since 1918. The Act was introduced by the Nationalist Party of Billy Hughes, the main purpose of which was to replace first-past-the-post voting with instant-runoff voting for the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Labor Party opposed the introduction of preferential voting. The Act has been amended on several occasions since.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Non-Custodial Parents Party (Equal Parenting)</span> Political party in Australia

The Non-Custodial Parents Party was a minor political party in Australia registered between 1999 and 2020. It supported less government control of many aspects of daily family life, focusing on reform of family law and child support.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 Australian federal election</span> Election for the 44th Parliament of Australia

The 2013 Australian federal election to elect the members of the 44th Parliament of Australia took place on Saturday 7 September 2013. The centre-right Liberal/National Coalition opposition led by Opposition leader Tony Abbott of the Liberal Party of Australia and Coalition partner the National Party of Australia, led by Warren Truss, defeated the incumbent centre-left Labor Party government of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in a landslide. It was also the third time in history that a party won 90 or more seats at an Australian election. Labor had been in government for six years since being elected in the 2007 election. This election marked the end of the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd Labor government and the start of the 9 year long Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Liberal-National Coalition government. Abbott was sworn in by the Governor-General, Quentin Bryce, as Australia's new Prime Minister on 18 September 2013, along with the Abbott Ministry. The 44th Parliament of Australia opened on 12 November 2013, with the members of the House of Representatives and territory senators sworn in. The state senators were sworn in by the next Governor-General Peter Cosgrove on 7 July 2014, with their six-year terms commencing on 1 July.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Secular Party of Australia</span> Political party in Australia

The Secular Party of Australia is a minor Australian political party, founded in January 2006 and registered as a federal political party in 2010. It aims to promote secular humanist ethical principles and the separation of church and state in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable Australia Party</span> Political party in Australia

The Sustainable Australia Party is an Australian political party that was formed in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Australian federal election</span> Election for the 45th Parliament of Australia

The 2016 Australian federal election was a double dissolution election held on Saturday 2 July to elect all 226 members of the 45th Parliament of Australia, after an extended eight-week official campaign period. It was the first double dissolution election since the 1987 election and the first under a new voting system for the Senate that replaced group voting tickets with optional preferential voting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rise Up Australia Party</span> Political party in Australia

The Rise Up Australia Party (RUAP) was a far-right political party in Australia. The party's policy platform was focused on nationalist and Christian conservative issues, such as opposing Islamic immigration and religious freedom for Australian Muslims and opposition to same-sex marriage in Australia. The party was launched in 2011 and was led by Pentecostal minister Danny Nalliah until its dissolution in June 2019. Its slogan was "Keep Australia Australian". Nalliah is the president of Catch the Fire Ministries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party</span> Political party in Australia

The Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party was a political party in Australia from 2013 to 2017. Ricky Muir held a seat for the party in the Australian Senate from 2013 to 2016. The party voluntarily de-registered with the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) on 8 February 2017.

On 5 April 2014, an Australian Senate special election in Western Australia was held. The special election was held six months after the 2013 Australian federal election. The result of that 2013 election for the Australian Senate in Western Australia was voided on 20 February 2014 by the High Court of Australia, sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns, because 1,375 ballot papers were lost during an official recount in November 2013. The High Court ruled that because the number of lost ballots exceeded the margin for the two remaining Senate seats, the only acceptable remedy was to void the results and hold a special election.

Section 13 of the Constitution of Australia provides for three aspects of the terms of members of the Australian Senate: the timing of elections, the commencement date of their terms and for the Senate to allocate long (six-year) and short (three-year) terms following a double dissolution of the Parliament of Australia. While members of the House of Representatives and territory senators have a maximum three-year term, state senators have a fixed six-year term, subject only to the parliament being dissolved by a double dissolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Equality Party (Marriage)</span> Political party in Australia

The Australian Equality Party (Marriage) (also AEP; formerly Australian Equality Party) was an Australian political party founded by Jason Tuazon-McCheyne. The AEP had a platform that promoted equality and human rights, particularly in relation to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (GLBTIQ) community. The party's goal was to get AEP Leader, Jason Tuazon-McCheyne, elected to the Senate at the 2016 Federal Election. The party was deregistered voluntarily on 26 March 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CountryMinded</span> Australian political party

CountryMinded was an Australian political party formed in 2014 that claimed to represent the interests of regional Australians whose livelihoods depend either directly or indirectly on agricultural production. The party was founded by a group of people looking for accountable regional representation, including two brothers from New South Wales, David and Peter Mailler as the Country Party of Australia, and changed its name to CountryMinded in September 2015. In 2018, the party merged with the Australian Democrats.

The Australian Sex Party was an Australian political party founded in 2009 in response to concerns over the purported increasing influence of religion in Australian politics. The party was born out of an adult-industry lobby group, the Eros Association. Its leader, Fiona Patten, was formerly the association's CEO.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Great Australian Party</span> Australian political party

The Great Australian Party (GAP) is a right-wing political party in Australia. The party was formally registered by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) on 7 April 2019 and is associated with former senator Rod Culleton who had been elected in the 2016 Australian federal election as a senator for Western Australia, but subsequently found to have been ineligible and was disqualified.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fusion Party (Australia)</span> Australian political party

Fusion: Science, Pirate, Secular, Climate Emergency, commonly known as Fusion Party Australia or simply Fusion, is a political party in Australia. It was created by the merging of the Science Party, Pirate Party, Secular Party, Vote Planet, and Climate Change Justice Party.

References

  1. "National Council – Pirate Party Australia".
  2. "Pirate Emergency Congress 2021/Motions".
  3. "Our Party". Fusion Party Australia.
  4. Spandas Lui (12 May 2010). "Pirate Party to become formal political party". IDG Communications. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
  5. "FAQ". Pirate Party Australia. Archived from the original on 1 August 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  6. "Pirate Party Australia Voluntary Deregistration" (PDF).
  7. "Our Party". fusionparty.org.au. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  8. "History - Pirate Party Australia". Pirate Party Australia. 29 July 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  9. "Application for registration approved - Pirate Party Australia" . Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  10. AEC [@AusElectoralCom] (21 January 2013). "The Pirate Party Australia was officially registered on 17 January 2013" (Tweet) via Twitter.
  11. "Pirate Party to contest next Federal election". iTNews. 29 September 2009. Retrieved 29 September 2009.
  12. John Ozimek (2 October 2009). "Australian Pirate Party sets sail". The Register . Retrieved 12 October 2009.
  13. "Pirate Party Australia: Moving Forward". Pirate Party Australia. 17 July 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  14. "Pirate Party Australia Successfully Registers for Federal Elections". Pirate Party Australia. 21 January 2013. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  15. "Platform - Pirate Party Australia". Pirate Party Australia. 11 August 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  16. "Pirate Party Australia Constitution, Article 5.2(3)". Pirate Party Australia. 30 July 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  17. "Pirate Party Australia Constitution, Article 6(3)". Pirate Party Australia. 30 July 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  18. "Pirate Party Australia Constitution, Article 6.4". Pirate Party Australia. 30 July 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  19. "Pirate Party Australia Constitution, Article 6.1(2)". Pirate Party Australia. 30 July 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  20. "Pirate Party Australia Constitution, Article 6.3". Pirate Party Australia. 30 July 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  21. "Pirate Congress 2012 Results". Pirate Party Australia. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  22. "Policy and Preselection Meeting 2013 Results". Pirate Party Australia. 17 April 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  23. "Pirate Congress 2013 Results". Pirate Party Australia. 26 July 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  24. "Pirate Congress 2014 Results". Pirate Party Australia. 29 July 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  25. "Pirate Party Australia resigns from PPI". 11 February 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  26. "PPUK leaves PPI". 25 February 2015. Archived from the original on 10 January 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  27. "PPBE suspends their PPI membership". 4 March 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  28. "Pirate Party proposes a basic income for all". Pirate Party Australia. 14 June 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  29. "Platform - Pirate Party Australia". Pirate Party Australia. 11 August 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  30. "Beating The Filter Masterclass Photos". ZDNet Australia. 13 April 2010. Archived from the original on 14 April 2010. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
  31. Bella Counihan (4 May 2010). "Government tries to net votes in Howard's domain". The Sydney Morning Herald . Fairfax Digital . Retrieved 17 May 2010.
  32. "Pirate Party Australia: Policies/Civil Liberties: Enshrine freedom over the body in law".
  33. "Pirate Party ACT will be contesting the 2012 ACT elections as independents". Archived from the original on 24 November 2012. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  34. "Pirate Party to run Independent Candidates in Upcoming ACT Election". 17 July 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  35. "Elections ACT". Archived from the original on 27 November 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  36. Preferencing Statement for Federal Election 2013
  37. Preferencing Statement for WA Senate Election 2014
  38. "Pirate Party announces Senate candidates". 8 August 2013. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  39. "Pirate Party leads the way with transparent preferencing". 18 July 2013. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  40. "Party profile: The Pirate Party, SBS, World News Australia Radio" . Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  41. AEC Virtual Tally Room - First Preference by Group - WA
  42. "Senate Candidates - AEC Tally Room". Australian Electoral Commission. 9 August 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  43. "House of Representatives Candidates - AEC Tally Room". Australian Electoral Commission. 8 August 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  44. "Senate Candidates - AEC Tally Room". Australian Electoral Commission. 27 June 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2021.