Topical
My name is John August, Treasurer of Pirate Party Australia; I've stood for the last Federal election as a NSW Senate Candidate.
A top-level look at the current tensions in politics in Australia, and a plug for the Pirate Party.
Understanding the political world around me has been an adventure, perhaps even a struggle. There are problems I see, that Pirate Party Australia sees, which I've tried to make sense of, and I'll now outline a few of them, in particular a few ways how politics and political debate has gone off the rails in Australia. Yes, I hope that you'll want to support us. But regardless, I hope you'll find what I say to be worthwhile.
We have had recent votes on two secular issues, which I thought I'd review for my web page. These were the vote on the 11th May 2017 on the "Abortion Law Reform (Miscellaneous Acts Amendment) Bill 2016" and on the 16th November 2017 on the "Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2017".
This article emerges from my attempt to make sense of both development around the Ryde area, but also development more generally and the record of the current state Liberal Government. So, while there's a focus on Ryde, I expect there will be a good deal of material relevant to people in NSW generally. For sure, the issues we struggle with would be shared by many throughout the rest of NSW.
I gave this presentation on the 7/2/19 at Ryde-Eastwood Leagues Club.I am not presently planning to stand for the next NSW State election, butI do hope that I can nevertheless make a worthwhile contribution. If anyonewants to support me standing as an independent, let me know!
While I'm not standing for the By-Election in Bennelong, I still feel the inclination to stick my oar in. Perhaps you'll find what I have to say of interest.
Both others in the pirate party and myself wanted me to contest this by-election, but we could not get our resources together in time. We wanted to be sure that we would do a better job this time. And we were unable to get enough people to commit. Still, I'm hopeful that - with a bit of notice - I'll be contesting the next election as a pirate party candidate.
If you can get past the emotions you might feel, the history of Abbott and Turnbull - and the lies, half-truths and distortions can be fascinating to behold. It shines a spotlight on how ideas are developed and debated ...
Having lived through the election as a candidate for the Pirate Party, and having been seeped in rationality for many years, I think I've developed some interesting perspectives on the past election and how we've arrived here. It prompted me to write this commentary.
The their June 15th issue, the Northern District Times were kind enough to cover my candidacy, and the image with this article is an extract.
Writing a letter to the editor in the June 22nd issue, Jason Bolster writes :