We are pleased to announce that Dr. Binoy Kampmark, a noted scholar and expert on Australia’s international relations, will now be Julian Assange’s primary running mate in the Federal Senate election for Victoria.

Dr. Binoy Kampmark replaces Leslie Cannold.

The WikiLeaks Party is happy to accept the resignation of Leslie Cannold from its Victorian Senate ticket. We thank her and those who have chosen to leave with her for the significant assistance they have provided to date. We wish them well in their future activities and are grateful for their statements of ongoing support for Julian Assange and the WikiLeaks publishing organization.

Our six Senate candidates – Julian Assange and Binoy Kampmark in Victoria; Kellie Tranter and Alison Broinowski in NSW; and Gerry Georgatos and Suresh Rajan in WA – continue to form a strong ticket in the three states in which we are standing.

We give below some background to other events this week as there has been considerable misreportage.

A clerical error was made in our GVT (preference list) for NSW. Fortunately this error is unlikely to have any electoral impact. However we have announced that there will be an independent review into this error so that a more rigorous process can be implemented in the future. We will also issue “how to vote below the line” cards in NSW, so that this error in our preferences is not passed on to voters.

The WLP has not in any way aligned itself with the policies or agendas of the far right. The WikiLeaks Party policies, the work of the WL publishing organisation, and the personal achievements of the WikiLeaks Party candidates make this abundantly clear.

There has been a lot of chatter and misinformation spread about this issue, as various parties look for electoral advantage. This includes misinformation from Christine Milne, leader of the Greens, who has stated incorrectly that we made ‘administrative errors’ in ‘three states’. We did not. The ‘administrative error’ occurred only in NSW. In Julian Assange’s state of Victoria, the submitted GVT was entirely correct.

Milne also claimed that in WA, Senator Scott Ludlam was placed at the bottom of our preferences. This is not true. In all three states in which we have candidates, WLP have placed the Greens 1st among the major parties, so Milne’s comments must be seen as ungracious and part of a hostile attempt to divert voters from the WikiLeaks Party.

A confusion has arisen about our preferences in WA because the National Party there, unlike in other states, is an independent small party and is not part of the Coalition. In the last election it received just 3.4% of the vote while the Greens received 14% of the vote. Our WA candidate, Gerry Georgatos, interpreted the Party’s instruction to “place the Greens above the majors” in this light. Gerry Georgatos is a strong campaigner on Aboriginal issues, having completed a PhD on Aboriginal deaths in custody. The fact that this year the National Party’s candidate in WA , David Wirrpanda, is an Aboriginal Australian for the first time in history, was something that Gerry Georgatos states he felt was worthy of acknowledgement. It is Gerry Georgatos’ analysis that the extreme difference in vote means that Mr. Wirrpanda cannot be a meaningful threat to Senator Ludlam. The party’s admiration for the work that Scott Ludlam has personally done in the Australian Senate is unbroken. However, the WikiLeaks party is not a front group for any other party, including the Greens. While the major parties and the Greens have significant problems, we believe there are good individuals engaged in all sides in politics.

The most admirable goal of the left is justice and the most admirable goal of the right is freedom. The WLP is both a party of the left and the right in that we represent the struggle for both justice and freedom.

In common with the left, we oppose privilege for international big business and the war industry, and we support social and economic justice for all. We also believe that where there is a natural monopoly in areas of public infrastructure, those areas should not be subject of profiteering by private companies.

In common with the right, we believe in the self-determination and freedom of individuals and communities. We oppose intrusions of the state into the private lives of citizens, their families and communities and we advocate a streamlining of government bureaucracy and red-tape.

The best way to achieve the admirable values of both the left and the right is through transparency and accountability of government. The WikiLeaks Party is independent of any other political grouping and intends to remain that way. We are the party to bring Transparency, Accountability and Justice to the Australian Parliament.