Pirate Party crowdfunds to field candidates in WA Senate campaign

Pirate Party Australia is using Pozible, a crowdfunding website, to raise $10,000 in order to wage a strong campaign and field candidates in the upcoming WA Senate election[1].

“Crowdfunding is a model that has worked well for us in the past, raising over $1,000 in about one hour to have a freedom of information request fulfilled,” said Simon Frew, President of Pirate Party Australia. “Our election campaigns have been very low-cost so far, and there is plenty of support for us out there. We’re confident we can reach the goal of $10,000 for this campaign.”

The Pirate Party has launched its democratic preselection processes, which will conclude this weekend. All Western Australian members will decide who will be the candidates, and in which order they will appear on the ballot. The Party is also progressing its preference discussions and preparing to continue with its transparent, democratic preference model where the resulting preference order and deals are voted upon and determined by the relevant body of members (in this case, the WA membership).

In light of the Party’s results in the 2013 Federal Election and the Griffith By-Election earlier this month, where the Pirate Party achieved 0.31% (national average across all states and territories) and 1.5% respectively, the Western Australian Senate Election will be the first indication of how much electoral support the Pirate Party has in the state of Western Australia. The election will be even more interesting given rising distrust of opaque and undemocratic preference deals, which the Pirate Party has deliberately avoided.

The Pirate Party has an extensive platform for such a young minor party, covering issues beyond its core of intellectual property reform, increased transparency, protection of privacy, civil liberties, and opposition to censorship. The Party has detailed policies on education, tax, welfare, energy, the environment and asylum seekers among others[2].

“All our policies have been based firmly on evidence. We have read over studies, examined reports, consulted with experts, and even begun to model parts of our policies that require public funding to inform policy development,” Mr Frew continued. “Our policies are developed transparently, with participation from interested members, and put to a vote of the entire membership. So far all new policies have received enormous support, both from the members of the Pirate Party and the public. We are bringing something more than an ideology to this election: we are bringing policies that the best available evidence says will work. This would be a routine election with the same tired rhetoric being put on display if it were not for the Pirate Party bringing new ideas to the table.”

The crowdfunding campaign will run for a maximum of 60 days, but would preferably conclude sooner. The Pirate Party encourages everyone who wants an alternative voice at this election to donate (a little or a lot) to help run a successful election campaign in WA. Pirate Party Australia is entirely staffed by volunteers, and all money raised using the Pozible crowdfunding campaign will go directly towards election materials.

[1] http://pozible.com/pirateswa2014

[2] https://pirateparty.org.au/wiki/Platform