This is the constitution for the Queensland political party named "The Flux Party Queensland", sometimes referred to as "Flux QLD" or "The Party" in this document.
The registered abbreviation for the party at the time of registration is “Flux QLD”. Flux QLD is a state party associated with the federal party "VOTEFLUX.ORG | Upgrade Democracy!" with the abbreviation "Flux".
The term "Flux AUS" is used to refer to the federal Flux Party, not the state party.
The Flux Party Queensland (Flux QLD) is hereby established as an organization.
The canonical version of the constitution is stored in the repository at https://github.com/voteflux/flux/ under the file name ’CONSTITUTION.QLD.md’
Clauses should be referred to by line number and most recent commit hash.
Flux QLD intends to defer some of the responsibilities for running the party to the federal Flux party, and this is indicated in this document.
This document is ratified when the federal Flux constitution is updated to reflect this fact. This will be recorded under the section titled "State and Territory Branches". At the time of writing this link will take an observer to said ratification: https://github.com/voteflux/flux/blob/master/CONSTITUTION.md#state-and-territory-branches
The primary objective of Flux QLD is to promote the election of endorsed candidates to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland.
Promotion and endorsement of candidates will be contextually appropriate.
Further objectives:
- To provide every Queensland voter with real democratic potential.
- To use elected candidates as a gateway for electors to directly influence the Legislative Assembly using an internal voting system.
- To provide the framework and means for minor parties and independents to participate productively without winning a seat.
- To facilitate a culture of engagement through empowering specialists and passionate voters;
- To stimulate the creation of new policy options.
Flux QLD also adopts objectives of the federal Flux party where possible.
The Flux Party Queensland is associated with THE FLUX FOUNDATION LIMITED (the Company) (ACN: 617 344 304). Foundation directors are the "members", Nathan Spataro, Max Kaye, Daithi O Gliasain.
Flux QLD’s membership criterion is:
- Flux Queensland must maintain a list of at least 500 members who are electors.
Queensland electors are eligible for membership:
- (i) provided they have not been convicted of a disqualifying electoral offense within the previous ten years.
- (ii) Flux QLD membership will terminate should any member be convicted of a disqualifying electoral offense.
Queensland electors may join Flux QLD by joining the federal Flux party. Membership applications are submitted through Flux AUS's website, at https://voteflux.org; members may opt out of inclusion of state or federal membership through the website membership portal. Membership to Flux QLD is automatic for qualified applicants registering for Flux AUS. Each member is required to provide their name, address, and date of birth such that it matches the electoral roll. Email address is a required contact detail for party correspondence. Phone number is optional. Membership is free, there is only one category of membership, and members are always referred to as 'members'.
Elected candidates that are members of Flux QLD are not permitted to be members of other political parties. Should a Flux candidate find themselves a member of a secondary party, they must immediately resign, so as to retain only one party affiliation.
Members may be expelled from the party when it is agreed upon unanimously by the Leadership, or when they have been convicted of a disqualifying electoral offense, as defined in the Electoral Act 1992, ins 2002 No. 8 s 5(1). Members may be suspended from the party only in the case it is agreed upon unanimously by the Leadership.
Official Roles of the Flux QLD party are:
- Leader
- Deputy Leader
- Secretary
- Registered Officer
- Deputy Registered Officer
- Party Agent
- Steering Committee Chair
These roles form a group known as ‘The Leadership’. The Leader and Deputy Leader of Flux QLD are to be identical to the persons fulfilling the respective roles for Flux AUS.
Any member of Flux may put themselves forward for the role of Secretary, Registered Officer, Deputy Registered Officer, and Agent. The Leadership group is responsible for putting forward a preferential list for the Official Roles. The Secretary, and Deputy Registered Officer are ratified by the party Leader, or Deputy Leader in the Leaders absence. The Secretary for Flux QLD is responsible for ratifying the position of Registered Officer and registered Party Agent for Flux QLD. (The Registered Officer ratifies the Deputy Registered Officer's Role). Members fulfilling the positions of Secretary, Registered Officer, Deputy Registered Officer and Party Agent are by default, also members of the Flux QLD ‘Steering Committee’.
The Steering Committee will be comprised of a minimum of three members who are also members of Flux QLD, and a maximum of seven persons. Steering Committee positions are created and persons are promoted to the roles by quorum of The Leadership. Steering Committee members sign a letter of appointment detailing the roles, responsibilities and terms of appointment which is signed off on by the appropriate member of The Leadership.
Initially the roles will be filled as per the below:
- Leader: Nathan Spataro
- Deputy Leader: Max Kaye
- Secretary: Riley Kinnunen
- Registered Officer: Daryl Killin
- Deputy Registered Officer: open - nominations for 2018
- Party Agent: as per constitution (line 148), Party Agent role is being fulfilled by Flux QLD Steer Co. Nominations are open for 2018.
- Steering Committee Chair: nominations for 2018
- Invited Board Member: Brent Abel
Members may occupy more than one position, not all roles must be filled by Flux QLD members, though three unique persons from Flux QLD must be named. When the party's application to the Electoral Commission Queensland (ECQ) is successful this constitution comes into effect and is adopted by the party.
The Flux Party Queensland is composed of individual Flux members who form the following bodies "The Leadership", the Flux QLD Steering Committee and working groups. Typical working groups include Campaign Management, Fund-raising & Finance, Public Awareness and Engagement. The secretary performs head of operations role, the steering committee chair performs head of implementation role, the party agent acts as treasurer. The membership, terms of reference and duration of any other roles or working groups is established by the Steering Committee by quorum.
The Flux Party Queensland is comprised of individual Flux members who form the following bodies; "The Leadership", the Flux QLD Steering Committee, and working groups.
The Leader and Deputy Leader of Flux QLD are identical to the Leader and Deputy Leader of the federal Flux party at all times. Provided they do not change before Flux QLD registration is successful the positions will be filled by:
- Leader: Nathan Spataro
- Deputy Leader: Max Kaye
The conditions and rules surrounding the position of Leader are identical to that of the federal Flux party, as noted in their constitution in the section titled "The Leader". An update to this position in the federal constitution is enacted in this party also. The initial term of the Leader is equal to the remaining time for the Leader in the federal party.
This section is identical to the current federal Flux constitution titled "Deputy Leader". The Deputy Leader of Flux QLD is identical at all times to the Deputy Leader of the federal Flux party.
The Secretary is responsible for the day-to-day running of The Party. The Secretary is responsible for the carrying out administration, and for the conduct of correspondence for Flux QLD. The Secretary is responsible for making application to register the party, for motioning the commencement of The Flux Party Queensland secretarial role and making application to change the party’s registered officer, and notifying the commission of the party agent’s appointment.
Both the Leader and Deputy Leader may act on the Secretary's behalf, and accept joint responsibility for carrying out the administration and correspondence of the party.
Email correspondence to The Secretary is to be sent to secretary.qld@voteflux.org which will distribute email to The Secretary and those entitled to act on behalf of The Secretary.
- The Registered officers are the commission’s first point of contact for matters related to the party’s registration, other than those concerning disclosure and funding.
- It is the Registered Officer who nominates the party’s endorsed candidates at State and local government elections.
- The Registered Officers are responsible for making application to change the party’s registration details other than a change of registered officer.
- The Registered Officers are responsible for giving quarterly reports (last day of March, June, September and December) about the party’s constitution, and notifying the commission in connection with, and keeping documents related to, preselection ballots.
- The Registered Officers together can request that the commission cancel the party’s registration.
- Registered Officers cannot resign, they must be replaced by application of the party secretary.
- The Registered Officer signs off (and notifies the Electoral Commission Queensland) on the appointment of the Deputy Registered Officer, who's nomination is vetted in a majority vote by a quorum of Steering Committee members.
Email to the registered officers can be sent to leadership.qld@votflux.org, mailing address for the registered officers is consistent with the Electoral Commission records.
- Flux QLD must appoint an agent for the commission’s Register of Agents. The agent is responsible for giving financial disclosure reports for the party and making election funding claims for the party.
In the event that an agent’s appointment is no longer in effect the obligations of an agent rest on each member of the party’s executive committee.
Email to the party agent can be sent to leadership.qld@votflux.org, mailing address for the Party Agent is consistent with the Electoral Commission records.
The Steering Committee is comprised of The Secretary, The Registered Officer, Deputy Registered Officer, Party Agent, Steering Committee Chair, and Committee Members by appointment. At least three of these positions must be held by members of Flux QLD.
The Steering Committee, through individual adoption of party responsibilities, and together through working groups will jointly perform the functions of the party. There is to be one state branch, and state matters are to be addressed and handled by the Steering Committee.
At the time of registration, the Steering Committee consists of:
Daryl Killin, (Registered Officer), Riley Kinnunen (Secretary), Brendan Rizzoli (Deputy Registered Officer) Chris Schneider (Party Agent), Aaron Whittaker (Steering Committee Chair), Brent Abel (Member).
- The Steering Committee Chair facilitates information flow regarding the operations and affairs of the Party's aims and objectives. They are responsible for relaying communication top-down and bottom-up regarding the opportunities and challenges facing the Party.
- The Steering Committee Chair is responsible for the performance of The Steering Committee.
- The Steering Committee Chair is elected by majority vote of Steering Committee Members, the appointment is signed off by the Secretary.
Quorum for decision making is achieved when The Leader or Deputy Leader in consultation with one other member of the Flux QLD Steering Committee are present, or when 2/3 of the Flux QLD Steering Committee are present.
Resolutions are passed when The Party Leadership is in unanimous agreement (Leader, Deputy Leader, and one Flux QLD Steer Co Member), or 2/3 of Flux QLD Steer Co quorum are in agreement.
The Leader may imbue any member with special authority for specific purposes, in which case decisions made by the delegate are treated as though they were made by the Leader.
Complaints or disputes from or between members are to be taken up with the Steering Committee within one month of receipt of the complaint. Complaints regarding Steering Committee members, breach of The Flux Party Queensland Charter, or Flux Code of Conduct are to be addressed to the party secretary. Complaints regarding the Secretary are to be addressed to the Flux QLD Steering Committee Chair. Complaints regarding candidates are to be taken up with the Registered Officer. All formal complaints must be raised immediately with The Leadership. The Steering Committee Chair is responsible for individual and group bi-annual performance reviews.
The Steering Committee in consultation with The Leadership will determine the merits of any complaints about a member, or members of the Flux QLD Steering Committee or Leadership. Should a complaint be found to have merit The Leadership or a Steering Committee consensus are to determine the measures necessary to address it. The Flux QLD Steering Committee in agreement with The Leadership can dismiss any complaint as frivolous or vexatious. Where conflict emerges within the Leadership or between the Leadership and Steering Committee, both will be jointly responsible for initiating best practice conflict resolution procedures.
The party is required to hold Annual General Meetings (AGMs) once per financial year at a time of the Leadership's choosing. These AGMs may be chaired by the secretary of the federal Flux Party or the secretary of Flux QLD.
This rules around AGMs (except those above) are identical in an ongoing basis to the section titled "Annual General Meeting" in the federal Flux constitution.
At the time of writing this was:
An AGM is to be chaired by the secretary and follow an agenda. The agenda is open for any member to add an item. Members will be notified by email at least 1 week before the AGM. The Leadership is required to be present where possible, and the meeting will be live streamed to members. Members may request to be invited to the AGM. Only members who are invited by the Leadership may participate. The AGM does not have to occur in one physical place; an online AGM is acceptable.
Party meetings may be called by the Leadership as per the section on decision making. While a quorum is required, members are not required to be notified.
Handling of assets is the responsibility of the Leadership and they must always act within the interests of the party. At their discretion other party members may handle assets. The Leader and Deputy Leader are entitled to handle assets. When handling financial instruments of the Flux QLD party, the Leadership must disclose the transaction to the Flux QLD Party Agent.
The Leadership are responsible for managing the party's finances, and the Flux AUS party Leader and Deputy Leader are jointly accountable to the Flux QLD Party Agent for assisting with financial disclosure.
A quorum can authorize spending of funds. Funds will be used only for the purposes of furthering the objectives of the party. There is no restriction on what funds may be spent on, except that which is prohibited under Australian Law.
Amendments to this constitution can be made with the support of at least 66% of a quorum, or at the discretion of the Party Leader upon notifying the Flux QLD Secretary.
Constitutional amendments are to be submitted via pull request to the relevant Github repository, and the Secretary and Registered Officers are to notify the Electoral Commission Queensland.
Endorsed candidates are chosen by The Leader or by 100% agreement of The Flux QLD Steering Committee, though any candidates chosen by The Steering Committee are able to be vetoed by joint agreement of the Leader and Deputy Leader.
The party is aware of the model procedures for preselection ballots ((EA92, s 71)(Electoral Regulation 2013, Schedule 1 )). At this time The Flux Party Queensland will not use a preselection process, and hence, does not need to include preselection procedures in the constitution. Preselection amendments are to be approved by the Steering Committee and reflected in the constitutional iteration committed by September 30th, 2020; the quarterly report to the Electoral Commission Queensland will reflect these changes.
Flux QLD will use an internal voting system to:
- Facilitate all Queensland electors to participate in the democratic process. Once a Flux QLD candidate is elected;
- Facilitate members participating in the democratic process.
- Facilitate minor parties and independents' productive participation without winning a seat.
The parameters and design choices of the system are left to the Leader, and not within the scope of this document. There is no requirement that the voting system for members is the same as the voting system for minor parties. This voting system may be provided by the federal Flux party's voting system, though in this case participation for Queensland specific issues is restricted to Queensland electors.