MEDIA RELEASE: Self Broadcast Campaign - Australian First for DLP

Democratic Labor Party candidate, Peter Kavanagh, appears to be the first in Australia and among the first anywhere in the world to use YouTube as a campaign and communication tool in a state or national election. Mr Kavanagh has published the YouTube videos on his campaign blog.

"The use of YouTube for the first time in a political campaign in Australia signals the opening of a new channel of communication in political debate. For decades small parties have complained they did not have the money to access media. Tools like YouTube and weblogs make getting messages across to a large audience much easier," Peter Kavanagh said.

"There is an enormous amount of political video material on YouTube, mostly relating to American politics; however, it all appears to have originally been designed for broadcast on television. It's advertising, or just snippets of television programming. There are a couple of American politicians, already elected, who have used YouTube to publish video campaign material on their websites. I don't believe any other politicians or candidates have done this in Australia yet."

"I haven't made any attempt to show-off video-making expertise, because it will be plain to everyone that I don't have any. But I should say that the videos cost the Democratic Labor Party nothing to make, and nothing to publish. That is, in itself, an interesting thing to think about."

"Major political parties in Victoria will be spending many millions of dollars on carefully crafted messages. The rest of us will just have to use our imaginations and the free media. For smaller parties, this technology provides opportunities. For major parties this technology presents dangers - their candidates will come under pressure to speak for themselves. This is precisely what the spin doctors employed by major parties do not want."

“This DLP initiative is the first small step in a process with the potential to revolutionise election campaigns throughout Australia,” Mr Kavanagh claimed.

DLP policies

http://www.dlpforwestvic.org/

About the Democratic Labor Party

Peter Kavanagh talks about the Democratic Labor Party's history and values.





http://www.dlpforwestvic.org/

MEDIA RELEASE: DLP chooses candidate for Western Victoria in 2006

A barrister-turned-secondary-school-teacher will be the Democratic Labor Party's candidate in Western Victoria for the state elections in 2006.

John Mulholland, Secretary of the DLP, said he believed the party had a good chance of winning at least one of the Upper House seats in the Victorian Parliament in the 2006 elections.

"Peter Kavanagh has been preselected as the candidate for Western Victoria in the 2006 state elections. Peter is the DLP's spokesperson on rural and regional affairs. He's a tremendous candidate and I think he has a very good chance of winning a seat in the Upper House in 2006," Mr Mulholland said.

The Upper House electorate of Western Victoria stretches from the outer Melbourne suburbs of Melton and parts of Werribee and Lara to the South Australian border. It includes the cities and towns of the Bellarine Peninsula, Geelong, Ballarat, Warrnambool, Portland, Colac, Horsham, Hamilton, Ararat, Avoca and Port Fairy.

"If you live in this part of Victoria you will have the opportunity to vote for Peter Kavanagh at next year’s state election," Mr Mulholland said.

"Upper House elections in Victoria will be conducted under a system of proportional representation for the first time. Candidates will be required to obtain one sixth of the vote--with no preferences--to win, or, with preferences, a candidate may win a seat with fewer, perhaps far fewer, votes."

"At the last Senate election the DLP outvoted the Australian Democrats and Family First--which won a seat on preferences. The DLP accomplished this with almost no money and no publicity."

"In the Upper House elections in 2006, winning a seat is a realistic possibility. Voters should remember that under our preferential system of voting they do not 'waste' their vote even if the candidate who gets your first preference does not win," Mr Mulholland said.

Peter Kavanagh is a secondary school teacher of languages, and has worked as a barrister and university lecturer.

FOR COMMENT CONTACT PETER KAVANAGH ON TELEPHONE m. 0413 847 413