news The Pirate Party has announced its candidates for the 2016 Federal Election, following a pre-selection process.
The party – which says it seeks to build a “vibrant digital society in Australia, underpinned by freedom of culture and speech, personal privacy, institutional transparency, creativity and enterprise” – will be contesting seats in the Senate in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, as well as the House of Representatives seat of Bennelong.
Further, it will will receive its own column on the Senate ballot, since there are two candidates for each state they are contesting.
The campaign will be using the slogan “Transparency, Liberty and Digital Rights” or TLDR (Too Long; Didn’t Read in ‘Netspeak) and will be focused on providing an alternative narrative to terror, corruption and surveillance being peddled by the major Parties.
The Pirate Party’s candidates have been announced as follows:
- New South Wales: Sam Kearns, Darren McIntosh. Additionally, John August will contest the House of Representatives seat of Bennelong in northern Sydney.
- Queensland: Brandon Selic, Isaac Pursehouse
- Victoria: Lachlan Simpson, Richard Burleigh.
“I am honoured to be representing the Pirate Party in the Queensland Senate election,” said Brandon Selic. “The election campaign will be fought on our strong stance on human rights and civil liberties, our defence of a free Internet and our support for a universal basic income.”
In a statement, the party said that all members were entitled to nominate themselves, and all members were entitled to vote on the preselection of candidates in their state.
For its election campaign, the Party will be relying on media content generated by members – “from memes to policy statements”, it said.
NSW Senate candidate Sam Kearns has also recently re-launched the Pirate Party Podcast.
“We don’t have the business backing of a major Party, or the pulling power of a high-profile candidate, so we are relying on the combined efforts of our members and supporters,” said Selic.
“Being a Party of digital natives, we can share and spread our message online immediately, with the best content organically reaching the biggest audiences. This is our biggest edge over other Parties who are stuck in the past and rely on traditional forms of communication,” Selic added.
Second Senate candidate for Queensland, Isaac Pursehouse, said: “With the lack of support from the major parties for what I feel is important to modern day Australia, I am privileged to promote and uphold the full inclusion of all Individuals in our society regardless of how they or society identify themselves.”
“I want to provide society with the Civil & Digital liberties they deserve and what the Pirate Party stands for, I will be defending in the Senate,” he concluded.
Great party. Terrible name. “Pirate” is the propaganda of Village Roadshow et al.
That was the point with the original Pirate Party in Europe. They fought for the online rights, and were directly against the misuse of the word by Village Roadshow et al.
That’s exactly why the party came to be, as well as the movement, in defence of the The Pirate Bay when it was under legal attack by copyright companies, which is its namesake.
Make Murdoch walk the plank.
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