This is the constitution for the political party known as "The Flux Party - Victoria", (“Flux Victoria” or “the Party").
Flux Victoria is hereby established as an organization.
The canonical version of the constitution is stored in the repository at https://github.com/voteflux/flux/
Clauses should be referred to by line number and most recent commit hash.
The primary objective of Flux Victoria is to promote the election of endorsed candidates to the Victorian Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly. Promotion and endorsement of candidates will be contextually appropriate.
- To support the ends and goals of the federal party “VOTEFLUX.ORG | Upgrade Democracy!” (“Flux AUS”);
- To provide every Victorian voter with real democratic potential;
- To use elected parliamentarians as a gateway for members to directly influence parliament within Victorian law, 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 criticism through empowering specialists and passionate voters; and
- To stimulate the creation of new policy options.
The purposes of this document is to meet the requirements of registration under the Electoral Act 2002 (Vic), and to provide guidance to new and prospective members of the Party as to the operation of the Party. Except to the extent required by law, nothing in this document is intended to be binding on any person.
Flux Victoria's membership criteria are:
- Maintain a list of at least 500 members who are on the Australian electoral roll, and whose address registered for this purpose is within Victoria.
All Victorian residents who are eligible voters are eligible for membership with the Party. There is no cost for membership. Each member is required to provide their name and address such that it matches those on the electoral roll. Members must also provide methods of contact, including an email address. Flux Victoria also requires that the members request membership with Flux AUS (though there is no requirement to maintain this membership). A phone number is optional.
Membership applications are to be submitted through the Flux AUS website, at https://voteflux.org. Members may resign or revoke their membership through the resignation feature on the member's membership details page.
After at least one parliamentarian has been elected to either Flux AUS or Flux Victoria, an additional requirement to maintain membership will come into force. Once per year members will need to confirm their details are up to date. They will be prompted to do so through an email notification.
There are no obligations outside of maintaining membership.
Parliamentarians who are members of Flux Victoria are not permitted to be members of other political parties except for Flux AUS. In a case where a parliamentarian does find themselves a member of another party, they must immediately resign from that other party.
Members may be expelled from the Party only in the case it is agreed upon unanimously by the Leadership.
There is a group called the Leadership. It is not required that members of the Leadership are members of Flux Victoria.
The Leadership consists of two roles: The Leader and the Deputy Leader. The Leader and Deputy Leader of Flux Victoria are identical to the Leader and Deputy Leader (respectively) of Flux AUS at all times. What constitutes a decision of the Leadership is defined by the Flux AUS constitution, as may be updated from time to time.
Pursuant to the rules for decision making (under “Administration”) the Leadership have the ultimate decision making power for Flux Victoria.
However, the Leadership do not have general responsibility for any aspect of Flux Victoria, and it is the intention of the Party that the Leadership will only exercise that power as necessary to protect the interests of Flux Victoria and Flux AUS.
There is a group called the Office Bearers. Only members can be Office Bearers. Each Office Bearer has an Official Role. The Office Bearers have responsibility for the day to day operation of Flux Victoria, in a manner consistent with their Official Role description:
The Secretary has overall responsibility for the day-to-day running of the Party. They also have the responsibility for the carrying out of the administration, and for the conduct of the correspondence, of the Party not otherwise carried out by another Office Bearer.
The Registered Officer is responsible for liaising and corresponding with the Victorian Electoral Commission and any other government body concerning the registration of the Party.
The Deputy Registered Officer is responsible for the Registered Officer’s duties when the Registered Officer is unable to fill them.
The Treasurer is responsible for the handling and distribution of funds held by Flux Victoria.
The Membership Coordinator is responsible for liaising with existing Flux Victoria members.
The Foundation Liaison is responsible for liaising with Flux AUS, other branches of Flux, and associated entities.
The Media Coordinator is responsible for social media management, as well as having overall responsibility for traditional media campaigns.
Committee Members have no default responsibilities; however, as with any Office Bearer, they may be delegated responsibility or tasks by a decision of the Party (see “Administration”, below). Without limiting the responsibilities a Committee Member may be delegated, it is foreshadowed that the following areas are to be the responsibility of Committee Members:
- Management of specific social media accounts or advertising campaigns.
- Membership recruitment;
- Fundraising; and
- Liaising with other political parties or entities with similar interests to Flux Victoria.
Except for Committee Members, each role must be filled by exactly one member. There may be any number of Committee Members.
A member may hold any number of Official Roles.
Initially the roles will be filled as per the below:
- Secretary: Stephen Waddell
- Registered Officer: Scott Millington
- Deputy Registered Officer: Stephen Waddell
- Treasurer: Stephen Waddell
- Membership Coordinator: Ben Ballingall
- Foundation Liaison: Ben Ballingall
- Digital & Social Media Coordinator: Warwick Humphrey
- Committee Members: Ben Rose
If and when the Party's application to the VEC is successful, this constitution comes into effect and is adopted by the Party.
The Steering Committee has primary responsibility for the overall direction of Flux Victoria. To be eligible for appointment to the Steering Committee, a person must be an Office Bearer or be part of the Leadership.
When this constitution comes into effect, the Steering Committee will come into existence comprised of all Office Bearers and the Leadership.
Decisions will comprise of two types:
- Routine; and
- Tactical.
Routine decisions are those that need to be made on a regular basis, are of minor consequence, and are consistent with the vision of Flux Victoria. Examples of routine decisions include:
- “Reposting” a story on social media;
- Calling a party meeting;
- Confirming minor details or clarifications with the Victorian Electoral Commission;
- Appling small amounts of petty cash for advertising material; and
- Responding to membership enquiries.
Routine decisions can be made by any Office Bearer who reasonably believes it is in the interests of Flux Victoria to do so, and when it is within the scope of their Official Role or delegated authority to make that decision.
Tactical decisions are those that alter the direction of the Party, alter the distribution of power within the Party, or are likely to have serious consequences for the Party. Examples of tactical decisions include:
- Appointing members to Official Roles or the Steering Committee;
- Creating alliances (formal or informal) with other political parties;
- Calling an AGM;
- Endorsement of candidates;
- The expenditure of large sums of money; and
- Determining whether a decision to be made or previously made should be regarded as routine or tactical.
Tactical decision can me made in two ways:
- At a party meeting, a decision may be made by agreement of more than 50% of all Steering Committee members in attendance; or
- Decisions may be made by the Leadership. This decision making power may be delegated in whole or part to Office Bearers. Nothing in this delegation removes the power from the Leadership, and the delegation may be removed at any time. The Secretary (or all available members of SteerCo) must be notified at the earliest possible convenience of the Leadership, and the decision is not effective until this notification is made. The Secretary must notify all present members at the next party meeting.
A decision of the Steering Committee prevails only to the extent it is consistent with all decisions of the Leadership.
The Party is required to hold Annual General Meetings (AGMs) once per calendar year.
An AGM is to be chaired by the Secretary and follow an agenda. Members will be notified by email at least 1 week before the AGM of the agenda, and may suggest amendments to the agenda.
All Office Bearers and the Leadership are required to be present, but the non-attendance by any person will not render the AGM invalid. Members may request to be invited to the AGM. Only members who are so invited may participate. Participants at the AGM do not have to be present in one physical location, so long as they are able to participate effectively (normally using technological solutions).
The meeting will be livestreamed such that it is available to all members, whether or not they are participating in the AGM.
Party meetings may be called. A reasonable attempt must be made to notify and invite the Steering Committee to the meeting, and provide them with sufficient details to attend the meeting. Any A quorum of the Steering Committee may be set; if so the party meeting may only proceed if the quorum attend. It is not required that members generally are notified.
Handling of assets is the responsibility of the Treasurer. At the discretion of the Treasurer, other Office Bearers may handle assets. The Leadership may also handle assets, but must inform the Treasurer, and must do so as soon as reasonably practical.
The Treasurer is responsible for managing the Party's finances. Funds should be used only for the purposes of furthering the objectives of the Party; however, there is no other restriction on what funds may be spent on (except as prohibited by relevant law).
The Registered Officer is responsible for collating and submitting required documents to the VEC, and for keeping relevant party records as required by law.
Amendments to this constitution can be made only by a decision at a party meeting with a quorum at least 80% of the Steering Committee. The decision to alter must be passed unanimously.
The Leadership have the power to alter the Constitution unilaterally.
Endorsed candidates are chosen by the Leadership or at a party meeting with a quorum of at least 80% of the Steering Committee. The decision to endorse must be passed with a 66% majority.
The Leadership hold veto power over any candidate chosen.
Flux Victoria is committed to implementing an internal voting system to facilitate members participating in the parliamentary process, and in the decision making of the Party.
It is a requirement that this issue be raised at every AGM until such a time as it is implemented.
The parameters and design choices of the system are left to the Leadership, and not within the scope of this document.