Earlier this year, AJP WA celebrated the re-registration of the party with the WA Electoral Commission.

Why is this important?

Party registration allows AJP candidates to run at the next State Election, for both the upper and lower houses. Even if a candidate doesn’t win, if we can get more than 4% of first preference votes in a seat in the next election, we become eligible to have election expenses reimbursed: Getting this would be a huge boost for AJP WA and free up donations for other uses.   

A significant number of the smaller parties in WA failed to re-register. Right now, there are only six other political parties registered in WA: Liberals, Australian Christians, The Greens, The Nationals, Labor, and Legalise Cannabis. This gives us a much better chance at getting an AJP candidate into the WA parliament.

Why was re-registration challenging?

For re-registration to happen, we needed 500 or more paid up members. But this was not all! Every AJP member’s details in our system had to exactly match their electoral roll details, including their address. Furthermore, we had to have a signed declaration for each member. To not only ensure we had enough members, but also check all these details, get them right, and pull together the final submission to the Electoral Commission was a massive effort, made possible by many wonderful volunteers. Re-registration also required a $2,000 application fee to be paid to the WA Electoral Commission; this is one way in which your donations are used by the AJP. 

What happened next? 

We put the party in Party! A party was held to celebrate and thank all the members and volunteers who helped make it happen. Held on 22nd July at The Globe, in Perth, the party was attended by 41 members. With great vegan food, vegan wine, take home vegan chocolate and a fun interactive quiz, it was a fabulous night.  

What can I do to help?

As well as becoming a member yourself and encouraging others to join too, make sure the address and other details you gave AJP exactly match those in the electoral roll, and update both whenever you move!  

You can check your electoral roll details here https://check.aec.gov.au/, where there are also links to update them if you have moved.  

To check/update the address or other details you have supplied to AJP, send a message with using the AJP WA website contact form. 

If you are a brand-new member, or have renewed but have changed your electoral address, should re-sign the declaration form. A link to this form is given in the automatic email you will receive from the Secretary after signing up or renewing. 

What is next for Party registration?

Re-registration happens every year! Every June, we need above 500 registered members and at least 500 signed declaration forms on hand, all with correct address and name details! To make re-registration easier in the future, anyone new or renewing by the new website is automatically signed up for auto-renewal; they must opt out if they do not want it.  If you joined up prior to the new website, you would not have auto-renew unless you selected it. If you are in this situation, wait until you receive your next reminder email to renew. Then when you sign up on the website, auto-renew will be automatic.

Sources

https://www.elections.wa.gov.au/candidates-and-parties/registered-political-parties/applications-and-notices (accessed 19-10-2023)
https://www.elections.wa.gov.au/candidates-and-parties/registered-political-parties/registering-political-party (accessed 29-08-2023)
https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp2122/Quick_Guides/ElectionFundingStates (accessed 29-08-2023)
“Registering a Political Party in Western Australia Guidelines”, WAEC, (accessed 29-08-2023 via https://www.elections.wa.gov.au/candidates-and-parties/forms-and-guides)