"Our government refused to listen to us" - WikiLeak's Castro
Sam Castro, the co-founder of the WikiLeaks Australian Citizens Alliance, spoke with the VOR's John Robles about Julian Assange's Australian Senate bid, internal Australian politics and the rules and current condition of Australian government policies, the public's support of Mr. Assange and the soon-to-be-official WikiLeaks Party and what has happened to Australia and the Australian people since the United States of America pulled Australia into the endless "War on Terror". Her viewpoint from the inside of Australia is both refreshing and informative as she details everything from surveillance to foreign policy.
Hello! This is John Robles, I’m speaking with Sam Castro. She is the co-founder of the WikiLeaks Australian Citizens Alliance.
Robles: Hello Sam! How are you this evening? Or it is morning for you, I believe.
Castro: I’m great, thank you. Yes, it is mid morning.
Robles: We’ve heard the news that Julian has officially registered. Your next step, I guess is registering the party, or what is your next step if you could?
Castro: Sure! So, just to clarify, Julian has officially reconfirmed his enrollment on Australian Electoral Commission’s roll which basically means that he is now eligible to run for the Senate. In Australia the rule is that, if you are going to run for a political position, you have to be eligible to be a voter. So, he’s just re-enrolled onto the roll in Victoria which means he is now eligible to stand for the Senate.
Robles: Has he registered as a candidate yet? Can he start campaigning?
Castro: No, the rules in Australia are; you need to register as a candidate once the writs for the election have been issued. And that probably won’t happen until a few months down the track and that will be done by the Prime Minister when the Parliament is dissolved.
So, nobody can officially register as a candidate running until that is done. But he is now eligible and the next step is choosing and the formation of the WikiLeaks Party which is also obviously, as it is in most countries, a process, which we are very close to formulating.
Robles: Can you do campaigning starting now or is it early? What are the rules in Australia?
Castro: It is an interesting situation because the Prime Minister recently announced that the election will be on the 14th of September. So, she’s announced her intent to call an election. Officially the campaign for any political party has not officially begun until the Prime Minister dissolves the Parliament and takes the writs to the Governor General. So, there is much speculation in the media in Australia about the fact that this is the longest unofficial election campaign in the history of campaigns in Australia.
So the hardcore election campaign has not begun because the election has not been officially called. But obviously everybody in this country of all persuasions of the political fence have already begun gearing up. And our focus is on helping to convene the WikiLeaks Party, so that we can take membership, and then formally register the party with the Australian Electoral Commission at which point Julian will be then formally endorsed as a lead candidate. So, it is a bit of a complicated situation that’s never before occurred in the history of campaigns in this country.
Robles: I see. Can you tell our listeners a little bit about the reaction by the Australian populists and the men on the street to Julian’s situation and the fact that he is going to be running?
Castro: It is funny you say that I was out, just the other night and overheard some young “gen” wives and they’d all just run into each other, and I heard one of them say “Hey, Julian Assange is running for Senate. How cool is that!” That’s generally the reaction that I’ve received from all walks of life. And in fact, from people that are disenfranchised on both sides of the political parties in this country.
Julian has a great deal of support in Australia both for his current situation in relation with WikiLeaks and also in relation to running for Senate. The reason for that; I think is that many Australians feel disenfranchised by the two main parties, that we are deeply concerned as a citizenry about our militarized relationship with the United States of America and the behavior of our Government around our citizens, such as Julian and many others in fact, a long list of people who have effectively been abandoned by the Government when they are in trouble overseas.
So, there are a lot of components within Australian society that are very unhappy with the domination of the two main political parties and are really looking for something that reflects a more democratic and direct process of participation for the citizens.
Reminder
Robles: What would your party do to bring about changes, to bring about more transparency in Government and make it a Government that is more of the people? It sounds like the Government has completely disconnected itself from the populace. Would you agree with that?
Castro: I think that’s a fairly accurate description of most Western governments’ relationships with their citizenry, and certainly here in Australia. Really this goes back to the Howard Government, particularly since 9\11 and the whole war on terror, the state of continuous war.
It was actually the ten year anniversary here yesterday of mass protests across Australia to prevent us from going to war in Iraq. And unfortunately, what we saw take place was hundreds of thousands of people come out on the streets and then our government refused to listen to us. And that was very debilitating and deflating for many people in Australia who did not want to enter into an illegal war.
And we’ve seen increasingly over the last ten years the slow erosion of our civil liberties, the desire for our Government to engage private corporations and public resources to surveil, to repress and suppress. We’ve also seen policies that contravene our international citizenry in relation to human rights.
So, there are many things that are severely concerning people in this country, not to mention that we are a nation that is currently relying on mining. But we also are very much aware that the practices that are being employed are potentially devastating to our environment. So, there are many trigger points for people in this country at the moment where we feel that the current Government and also the opposition are pretty much the same and not representing the truth of the people.
So, my own standing, and I want to make clear again that I speak from the perspective of the WikiLeaks Australian Citizens Alliance, although we are deeply engaged and involved in the formation of the new WikiLeaks Party, we are not the party.
But I would say that the WikiLeaks Party is definitely interested in protecting the rights of the citizenry and privacy of the individual, and bringing transparency to our Government. And repeatedly, we have had it demonstrated to us that the government is clearly not willing to reveal particular behavior to the citizenry.
So, I think that the WikiLeaks Party has an opportunity to represent the issues that actually really concern people around our own participation in our democracy and civil rights. And I think that in the development of the WikiLeaks Party, as it goes along they will be employing very innovative ways of membership being able to participate in the formation of policies that actually reflect the people.
Robles: People have characterized Australia as being a lapdog to the US. Would you agree with that statement?
Castro: I personally do agree with that statement. There are many people who support the work of WikiLeaks and who would also echo the same response. This has become increasingly from our engagement in American wars, from our foreign policy that is determined to protect its relationship with the United States, over its citizenry.
We have, currently, legislation and draft papers on the table in this country that reflect the kind of cyber crime and national surveillance concepts that are being introduced in not only America but across Western countries, which we see as designed to target civilian population and activists.
Robles: You were listening to an interview with Samantha Castro – the co-founder of the WikiLeaks Australian Citizens Alliance. You can find part 2 on our website at english.ruvr.ru
END Part 1
Part 2 coming soon
Source http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_02_15/Our-government-refused-to-listen-to-us-WikiLeaks-Castro/
Hello! This is John Robles, I’m speaking with Sam Castro. She is the co-founder of the WikiLeaks Australian Citizens Alliance.
Robles: Hello Sam! How are you this evening? Or it is morning for you, I believe.
Castro: I’m great, thank you. Yes, it is mid morning.
Robles: We’ve heard the news that Julian has officially registered. Your next step, I guess is registering the party, or what is your next step if you could?
Castro: Sure! So, just to clarify, Julian has officially reconfirmed his enrollment on Australian Electoral Commission’s roll which basically means that he is now eligible to run for the Senate. In Australia the rule is that, if you are going to run for a political position, you have to be eligible to be a voter. So, he’s just re-enrolled onto the roll in Victoria which means he is now eligible to stand for the Senate.
Robles: Has he registered as a candidate yet? Can he start campaigning?
Castro: No, the rules in Australia are; you need to register as a candidate once the writs for the election have been issued. And that probably won’t happen until a few months down the track and that will be done by the Prime Minister when the Parliament is dissolved.
So, nobody can officially register as a candidate running until that is done. But he is now eligible and the next step is choosing and the formation of the WikiLeaks Party which is also obviously, as it is in most countries, a process, which we are very close to formulating.
Robles: Can you do campaigning starting now or is it early? What are the rules in Australia?
Castro: It is an interesting situation because the Prime Minister recently announced that the election will be on the 14th of September. So, she’s announced her intent to call an election. Officially the campaign for any political party has not officially begun until the Prime Minister dissolves the Parliament and takes the writs to the Governor General. So, there is much speculation in the media in Australia about the fact that this is the longest unofficial election campaign in the history of campaigns in Australia.
So the hardcore election campaign has not begun because the election has not been officially called. But obviously everybody in this country of all persuasions of the political fence have already begun gearing up. And our focus is on helping to convene the WikiLeaks Party, so that we can take membership, and then formally register the party with the Australian Electoral Commission at which point Julian will be then formally endorsed as a lead candidate. So, it is a bit of a complicated situation that’s never before occurred in the history of campaigns in this country.
Robles: I see. Can you tell our listeners a little bit about the reaction by the Australian populists and the men on the street to Julian’s situation and the fact that he is going to be running?
Castro: It is funny you say that I was out, just the other night and overheard some young “gen” wives and they’d all just run into each other, and I heard one of them say “Hey, Julian Assange is running for Senate. How cool is that!” That’s generally the reaction that I’ve received from all walks of life. And in fact, from people that are disenfranchised on both sides of the political parties in this country.
Julian has a great deal of support in Australia both for his current situation in relation with WikiLeaks and also in relation to running for Senate. The reason for that; I think is that many Australians feel disenfranchised by the two main parties, that we are deeply concerned as a citizenry about our militarized relationship with the United States of America and the behavior of our Government around our citizens, such as Julian and many others in fact, a long list of people who have effectively been abandoned by the Government when they are in trouble overseas.
So, there are a lot of components within Australian society that are very unhappy with the domination of the two main political parties and are really looking for something that reflects a more democratic and direct process of participation for the citizens.
Reminder
Robles: What would your party do to bring about changes, to bring about more transparency in Government and make it a Government that is more of the people? It sounds like the Government has completely disconnected itself from the populace. Would you agree with that?
Castro: I think that’s a fairly accurate description of most Western governments’ relationships with their citizenry, and certainly here in Australia. Really this goes back to the Howard Government, particularly since 9\11 and the whole war on terror, the state of continuous war.
It was actually the ten year anniversary here yesterday of mass protests across Australia to prevent us from going to war in Iraq. And unfortunately, what we saw take place was hundreds of thousands of people come out on the streets and then our government refused to listen to us. And that was very debilitating and deflating for many people in Australia who did not want to enter into an illegal war.
And we’ve seen increasingly over the last ten years the slow erosion of our civil liberties, the desire for our Government to engage private corporations and public resources to surveil, to repress and suppress. We’ve also seen policies that contravene our international citizenry in relation to human rights.
So, there are many things that are severely concerning people in this country, not to mention that we are a nation that is currently relying on mining. But we also are very much aware that the practices that are being employed are potentially devastating to our environment. So, there are many trigger points for people in this country at the moment where we feel that the current Government and also the opposition are pretty much the same and not representing the truth of the people.
So, my own standing, and I want to make clear again that I speak from the perspective of the WikiLeaks Australian Citizens Alliance, although we are deeply engaged and involved in the formation of the new WikiLeaks Party, we are not the party.
But I would say that the WikiLeaks Party is definitely interested in protecting the rights of the citizenry and privacy of the individual, and bringing transparency to our Government. And repeatedly, we have had it demonstrated to us that the government is clearly not willing to reveal particular behavior to the citizenry.
So, I think that the WikiLeaks Party has an opportunity to represent the issues that actually really concern people around our own participation in our democracy and civil rights. And I think that in the development of the WikiLeaks Party, as it goes along they will be employing very innovative ways of membership being able to participate in the formation of policies that actually reflect the people.
Robles: People have characterized Australia as being a lapdog to the US. Would you agree with that statement?
Castro: I personally do agree with that statement. There are many people who support the work of WikiLeaks and who would also echo the same response. This has become increasingly from our engagement in American wars, from our foreign policy that is determined to protect its relationship with the United States, over its citizenry.
We have, currently, legislation and draft papers on the table in this country that reflect the kind of cyber crime and national surveillance concepts that are being introduced in not only America but across Western countries, which we see as designed to target civilian population and activists.
Robles: You were listening to an interview with Samantha Castro – the co-founder of the WikiLeaks Australian Citizens Alliance. You can find part 2 on our website at english.ruvr.ru
END Part 1
Part 2 coming soon
Source http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_02_15/Our-government-refused-to-listen-to-us-WikiLeaks-Castro/
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