I doubt he would actually get into senate, the ranks and file,would just use his evasion of litigation as volatile ammunition to make sure his stay in politics is a quick one
Rank and file of what precisely?
Julian Assange to run for Australian Senate
21–30 of 119 posts
Re: Julian Assange to run for Australian Senate
#22So far as I can make out ... he can't stand. Australian Constitution, s16: "The qualification of a senator shall be the same as those of a member of the House of Representatives." s34(i): "... must be an elector entitled to vote at the election of members of the House of Representatives, or a person qualified to become such an elector ..." Australians are allowed to be overseas electors only if they intend to return…
Going straight to the source, it's actually in the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, section 94, found here: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/cea1918233...
Thanks, I didn't dig down that far.
When did he leave Australia? He might run afoul of s95(1B):
"An application that is made after the elector ceased to reside in Australia must be made within 3 years after the day on which the elector ceased to reside in Australia."
Re: Julian Assange to run for Australian Senate
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's no guarantee that winning a senate seat would allow him to exit the UK. That said it would add considerable political pressure...
There's no guarantee he'd actually win ether :-(
Single-issue candidates irk me, so I'm ok with that.
Honestly, I miss the Australian Democrats. They were boring, sensible centrists. And it was great.
Re: Julian Assange to run for Australian Senate
#24Nice idea. Become a Senator and try for diplomatic immunity. Walk out of the Ecuadorian Embassy and wave goodbye to the police who have been waiting for him for the last umpteen months. The legal wrangling could become quite complicated if he succeeded. If the voters in Oz realise how annoyed the UK government would be if he did this then that would help his odds even more. For US residents I'll point out that Senate…
Annoying the English is a national pastime.
Re: Julian Assange to run for Australian Senate
#25Summary: Weak my mom says I'm cool hit-piece by AAP, Australian Associated Press.
AAP is 90% owned by News Ltd and Fairfax, the two major publishers in the country, who promote it as a national organization but have a massive commercial interest in the media status quo. The media status quo is threatened by Assange, who has been extremely vocal about the failures of journalism and would presumably seek to re-regulate this area to encourage alternative media.
As mass media is a strong ally of big business and established political groups, he fights really tremendously big economic and political forces (his words, Cypherpunks, 2012).
I for one wish him the best of luck. It's time to move over, old guard. Let's get some socially and technically-informed discussion back in to Australian politics before it gets any more irrelevant.
Re: Julian Assange to run for Australian Senate
#26Don't Australia have extradition treaty agreements with the U.S.?
I imagine it's probably a bit tricky to extradite a sitting member of the federal Parliament...
Several IRA terrorists have been elected to the UK parliament whole in prison. Doesn't mean they were out of prison, they still had to stay in prison
Re: Julian Assange to run for Australian Senate
#27Nice idea. Become a Senator and try for diplomatic immunity. Walk out of the Ecuadorian Embassy and wave goodbye to the police who have been waiting for him for the last umpteen months. The legal wrangling could become quite complicated if he succeeded. If the voters in Oz realise how annoyed the UK government would be if he did this then that would help his odds even more. For US residents I'll point out that Senate…
Why do you think the UK wouldn't be able to arrest him if he was an Australian senator? Some IRA terrorists were elected to the UK parliament while in prison. They still had to stay in prison. (the UK changed their laws to prevent anyone running for election if they are currently in prison)
Re: Julian Assange to run for Australian Senate
#28Don't Australia have extradition treaty agreements with the U.S.?
I imagine it's probably a bit tricky to extradite a sitting member of the federal Parliament...
A suspected criminal is a suspected criminal; I don't know what the tradition is in Oz, but wouldn't they vote (present a majority) to nullify any diplomatic immunity?
I know about cases in parliamentary democracies where someone's immunity has been nullified - assuming they have it in Australia - but only in domestic disputes, not international.
Re: Julian Assange to run for Australian Senate
#29Summary: Weak my mom says I'm cool hit-piece by AAP, Australian Associated Press. AAP is 90% owned by News Ltd and Fairfax, the two major publishers in the country, who promote it as a national organization but have a massive commercial interest in the media status quo. The media status quo is threatened by Assange, who has been extremely vocal about the failures of journalism and would presumably seek to re-regulate…
I've not bothered reading the SMH (and by extension, The Age) online for a long time. The online version is weak, lazy journalism, incredibly (to my mind) even worse than The Daily Telegraph.
Check out www.smh.com.au now... More than a third of the articles are about celebrities, or are vapid commentary on meaningless issues. There's a bit of content, but nothing really groundbreaking. And today is a day when there is easy news, as an election was announced by the Australian PM.
The SMH used to be great. Not any more. Old media is indeed dying.
Re: Julian Assange to run for Australian Senate
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's no guarantee he'd actually win ether :-(
Single-issue candidates irk me, so I'm ok with that. Honestly, I miss the Australian Democrats. They were boring, sensible centrists. And it was great.
I'm what you would call a Sydney Anglican - characterised by a largely conservative worldview. The only party I can see that is worth voting for, ironically, is The Greens.