VIDEO: Senator On-Line_Gotta Be Free_VOTE 1 IN THE SENATE

Senator On-Line_Gotta Be Free_VOTE 1 IN THE SENATE

Senator On-Line (SOL) is NOT a traditional political party

"The People" will tell Senator On-Line how to vote on EACH and EVERY Bill, online.

Online Democracy!

EVERYONE, whether a long time Liberal or Labor supporter, a passionate Green or a kind heart from the Carer's Alliance – SOL CAN BE YOUR PARTY TOO - YOUR PARTY IN THE SENATE

SOL enables you to have a say and Be Heard On-Line Every Time.

www.youtube.com/senatoronline - 15/11/2007

The King Makers, Channel Nine, Sunday

VIDEO:
The King Makers

SOL is the third minority party featured in this footage

Mark Grieve and Kirstine Lumb

Kevin Collins calls himself a "King Maker".

He's the reason Barnaby Joyce was elected to the Senate, giving the coalition its majority there in the last election. Kevin is from the Australian Fishing and Lifestyle party, a group that can no longer be dismissed as fringe dwellers with no political sway.

In this election minor parties have pounced on the opportunity to have their issues heard, and major parties are jostling for their support. In the coming weeks, the granting of preferences will give these often single-issue parties huge power.

Mary Lou Carter is from the Carers Alliance. She sees the role of minor parties in the senate as an assurance of the diversity of democracy.

"Politics and democracy are two very different notions. Democracy is the voice of the people. Politics, however, is about those who are in power wanting to maintain that power. By having diversity in the senate that absolute power is dilute," Carter says.

Another minor party that takes the notion of participatory democracy to another level is Senator On-line. This organisation doesn’t have any policies per se, they are more interested in letting the general public vote on each bill that passes through the senate, by conducting polls on line.

Senate candidate Pat Reilly questions whether much current legislation would have been passed if the broader public had the opportunity to be heard.

"Would the work choices situation be quite the way it is at the moment if the people of Australia had been able to see what was involved in the first instance, and then to voice their opinion on masse?" Reilly asks.

What all these parties claim to have in common, is the phrase that Don Chip was famous for coining many years ago … "We are here to keep the bastards honest".

Mark Grieve and Kirstine Lumb, Sunday - 4/11/07

Net party to hand power to masses, The Canberra Times

Michael Ruffles

The internet is striking back. While politicians from major and minor parties are invading YouTube, Facebook and MySpace in pursuit of votes, one party is aiming to take the Net to Parliament. Senator On-Line is a new political party promising registered members a vote on every Bill through secure online polling.

They want the public to elect a senator or two, or three who will do what they are told. Party founder Berge der Sarkissian envisages an elected senator would provide informed opinion and analysis of Bills, but follow the will of the people. ''My view, and where the party is coming from, is that we think there should be a spot in the Senate, the house of review, which represents the clear voice of the public,'' Mr der Sarkissian said.

'That can be done with the internet, but unfortunately politicians don't like to give away some of their control.' The party's website, www.senatoronline.com.au, would be the place where entire Bills, analyses and voter reactions could be posted and discussed. While some issues stir public opinion, like industrial relations, other Bills like the renewal of fishing licences are routine.

Mr der Sarkissian said unless a minimum of 100,000 votes were achieved on a Bill, the senator would abstain. Registered users would have to be on the electoral roll to have their say on issues, one of the important security measures the party would take to ensure it would not be hijacked by minority groups or lobbyists. Senator On-Line has candidates in each of the mainland states, and the party is serious about getting elected but knows success may not come at this election.

'I think that's a big call having only recently established the party, but certainly our aim is eventually to get a senator elected so the voice of the majority can clearly be heard without influence from the vocal minority or lobby groups,' Mr der Sarkissian said. Even on the internet, the natural modern-day home of all obscure political views and conspiracy theories, it is the major parties seeking to dominate in this year's campaign. Mr der Sarkissian had researched other attempts at online politics but found no examples where parties handed ''power to the people'' in the same way Senator On-Line planned to.

Michael Ruffles, The Canberra Times - 25/10/07

Online party hopes to click with voters, The Sydney Morning Herald

Asher Moses

Australia's first completely online political party hopes to give unprecedented power to the people by throwing open all of its decisions to a web-based vote.

The party, Senator On-Line (SOL), is running for a place in the Senate and plans to allow anyone on the electoral roll to vote, via its website, on every piece of legislation that passes through Parliament.

Party founder Berge Der Sarkissian said the positions of his senators would be based solely on the results of the online polls.

The Independent Mayor of Willoughby and sometime Elvis impersonator, Pat Reilly, will run as the party's main candidate for NSW. He has been in local government for 30 years, 10 of those as mayor.

Mr Der Sarkissian, 52, echoed the views of vocal Senate clerk Harry Evans when describing his reasons for starting the party, saying the Senate was failing in its role of checking and scrutinising government activities.

Many senators simply followed party lines and on many issues, such as the overruled euthanasia legislation in the North Territory, the majority view was sidelined by vocal minority or lobby groups, he said.

"What we're trying to do is bring in a few senators to make it more of a house of review, rather than a house of rubber stamps," Mr Der Sarkissian said.

He said the party, which has 512 members and was approved by the Australian Electoral Commission in August this year, would nominate two candidates for each mainland state so it "can have an above-the-line position on the ballot papers".

Mayor Reilly said elected party representatives did not always follow through on their pre-election promises, so checks and balances such as those promised by SOL were important.

He said, like the late Democrats founder Don Chipp, his goal was to "keep the bastards honest".

"Everybody in Australia has the opportunity to turn around and put their view online so you can get a real record of whether the majority of the populous wants a particular bill to go through or if they don't, and that's not necessarily always the case [today]," Major Reilly said.

But the ABC's election analyst, Antony Green, said Senator On-Line was "utterly impractical".

"What Harry Evans is talking about is the Senate is not giving enough consideration to legislation - now just opening up legislation to a lot of people doesn't give you extra consideration," he said.

Mr Der Sarkissian acknowledged the calibre of candidates wasn't as important for a party that based its views on online poll results, but said recognisable names like Mayor Reilly "give us a bit of a profile and a bit of credibility".

Candidates for other states would be announced within the next week and a half, he said, and each candidate was required to give a written undertaking ensuring they will vote in accordance with the view of the majority, as expressed in the online polls.

The party's website, www.senatoronline.org.au, would include information and views both for and against pieces of legislation that were before Parliament. Users could debate each bill via the website and the SOL senators would then present those views in Parliament.

Mr Der Sarkissian, a retired former finance industry executive who lives in Sydney's northern beaches, said each user would be validated as they registered to ensure they were on the Australian electoral role.

"Once the person is registered then that person can only vote once on each bill or issue," he said.

In 2002, Mr Der Sarkissian was banned by ASIC from holding a shares dealing licence for two years, after he was found to have made multiple applications for Telstra shares.

He freely admits this on his personal website, saying: "I regret the decision I made, I remain embarrassed about it and I am sorry for it."

IMAGE: Willoughby Mayor Pat Reilly, Senator On-Line's NSW candidate, is a keen Elvis impersonator. A rockin image can be found at http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/online-party-hopes-to-click-with-voters/2007/10/18/1192300920221.html

Asher Moses, The Sydney Morning Herald - 18/10/07

Online party, Power to the people, mX

Rebecca Beisler

Australia’s looming federal election will be the first to have an internet-based political party running at the polls.

The party, Senator On-Line, will conduct an online poll on every bill put before Parliament.

Party founder Berge Der Sarkissian claims it will be more accessible, transparent and engaging with cyber-savvy voters.

The party will conduct a poll on its website for every piece of legislation that comes to the Senate and its senators will then vote according to the majority view.

’The party will offer every person on the Australian Electoral Roll with access to the internet the opportunity to vote on Senate bills and important issues that affect them and the wider community,’ said Der Sarkissian.

’Tallying votes and determining the clear majority voice will then automatically be the SOL party view.’

Der Sarkissian said the party had ditched traditional political method to give power to voters.

’The internet is accessible, it’s fair and informative,’ he said.

’People use the internet as a form of communication with friends with Facebook and MySpace and a form of entertainment on YouTube.

’What we’re doing is giving people the chance to have their voice heard on issues that interest them.’

Der Sarkissian said it was the first time a political party had given its voting power over to an online poll.

Information on each Bill and the issues debated in the Senate will be on the party site www.senatoronline.org.au

’It will be a democratic party operating in its purest and most effective form,’ Der Sarkissian said.

He said SOL was not aligned to any other political party.

Rebecca Beisler, mX - 11/10/07

New party pushes online votes, The Australian

Patricia Karvelas

THE first exclusively internet-based political party will today launch a bid for a place in the Senate, even though its founder admits the party has no positions.

Founder Berge Der Sarkissian says the Senator On-Line party would make the `often-detached political process' much more accessible, transparent and engaging.

Under his plan, all Australians would be able to vote online for -- or against -- every piece of legislation that comes before the Senate.

The new party will run two candidates in each state.

He said the party would offer every person on the Australian Electoral Roll with access to the internet, the opportunity to vote on Senate bills and important issues that affect them and the wider community. The votes will be tallied to determine the majority voice, which will then automatically become the SOL party view.

`The internet is becoming the most powerful democratic tool there is. SOL is taking it one step further, with senators voting in accordance with the clear majority view of Australians,' Mr Sarkissian said.

`We are just for the voice of the majority to be represented in parliament. It's not a traditional party per se. We stand for people to be easily informed.

`We don't have any positions until we see bills. We won't have any positions -- we will let people decide what our view is.'

He said he would make sure that each person on the electoral roll received only one vote so that there could be no stacking of votes on any issue.

`Each voter only gets one log-in to vote,' he said. `SOL is not aligned to any other political party -- it is neither Liberal nor Labor.

`SOL challenges the traditional Australian political process by offering voters an easy and highly effective way to stay directly involved, now and beyond election time.'

Voters also will be able to access expert opinions (both for and against) each bill and current issues on the site.

Patricia Karvelas, The Australian - 10/10/07

SOL launches pre-election website
SOL launches pre-election website.
Senator On-Line - 18/09/07

Australian Electoral Commission approves Senator On-Line
Australian Electoral Commission approves Senator On-Line.
AEC - 31/08/07