DARREN CHURCHILL
ACT Democrats President
Democrats to fight on. Rebuild, re-register and reorganise!
The ACT Democrats are vowing to keep fighting the good fight after last Saturday’s election. Despite a poor showing at the ballot-box the party has committed to continue to work toward 2012.
Democrats president, Darren Churchill said “As of midnight last Saturday, we can re-register as the Australian Democrats.”
“The lack of a party column in this year’s election is what, I think, hurt us badly. We were ungrouped, so our vote reflected a typical ungrouped party’s vote. It’s now time to ensure that this doesn’t happen again.”
Under Section 99 of the ACT Electoral Act which states that:
“(1) If the registration of a registered party (the cancelled party) is
cancelled-
(a) the cancelled party; or
(b) another political party that has a name that so nearly resembles
the name of the cancelled party that it is likely to be confused
with or mistaken for the cancelled party;
is ineligible for registration until after the next general election after
the cancellation.
(2) In this section:
name includes an abbreviation of the name”
the ACT Democrats were prevented from re-registering under their own name after losing registration in September last year.
“Now we are in a new Electoral cycle and it’s time to prepare for re-registration.” Mr Churchill announced.
“We still think there are some serious flaws in the Electoral Act which need to be addressed to make elections fairer for minor parties and independents. We hope that the new Assembly will look address these matters. I am happy to consult with any of the new MLA’s on what needs to be done to make future elections more democratic.”
The counting to determine the final composition of the new assembly is still being finalised.
“We do know that it will be some combination of Labor, Liberal and Green. None of them will have a majority – and to that end we should be glad of the result, even though there will be no Democrats in this Assembly” said Mr Churchill. “As always, the Democrats will be keeping a close eye on the new Assembly to make sure that election promises are not broken and that new, unproven Assembly acts as a true representative of all Canberrans.”
“The ACT Democrats campaigned strongly on issues of sustainable planning, transport, affordable housing, community consultation, and government accountability (keeping the bastards honest). These issues must not be abandoned now that the election is over. We will continue to push for action on the things we have campaigned for.”
“The Democrats will also now focus on continuing to build our membership base, forging strong links with the new Assembly, and networking with community groups. The Democratic process doesn’t stop just because the election is over. We continue our fight to keep the new bastards honest!” Mr Churchill concluded.
Mr Churchill is available for comment (details below):
Darren Churchill
ACT Democrats President
Candidate for Ginninderra
darren.churchill@act.democrats.org.au
Tel: 0412 196 473
Darren Churchill: Australian Democrats Campaigns 
Leave a Reply