Australia’s pirate party gains enough members to take part in elections

The recently established branch of the Pirate Party in Australia has now gathered enough members to participate in elections. The party will fight against censorship on the internet and the prosecution of file sharers.

The Australian Pirate Party was founded mainly in response to efforts by Minister of Communications Stephen Conroy to force Australian providers to block a list of websites drawn up by the government. According to the minister, the plan was intended to prevent the spread of child pornography, but when the list leaked at the beginning of this year, only about half of the sites contained child pornography. The rest was a motley collection of poker sites, adult porn sites, wikipedia pages, and even a dentist’s site.

After heavy protests, the government backed down a bit, but the plan gave the Pirate Party the wind in its sails. The party now has more than five hundred members, so that it can register and participate in elections, so reports The Registry. The party will elect an official board in the coming week, for which candidates can register until October 5.

According to spokesperson Brandon Malloy, the Pirate Party is definitely not a single-issue party of file sharers eager to legalize their hobby. According to him, it is much more important that the party wants to strengthen democratic fundamental rights in the country. “We are here with the intention of changing the Australian political landscape forever, by supporting freer copyright law and protecting our civil rights, especially against the censorship of Minister Conroy, who is not welcome in Australia.”