When Malcolm Turnbull called for innovation and disruption I don’t think he expected young Australians to disrupt the political system itself.
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With the launch of Regional Innovation Week at the end of the month, the Bega Valley will be seeing some brilliant minds visit to share their cognitive abilities with the Far South Coast.
One of the visitors will be Max Kaye (pictured), co-founder of his own political system and political party – the Flux Party.
Max Kaye and Nathan Spataro promise "democracy reimagined" with what they call a market-based online "ecosystem" that allows voters to exert direct control over their elected representatives.
“Flux is a gateway Australians can use, to participate directly in parliament, making the need for trust in elected officials a thing of the past,” the party’s website says.
The idea is looking to “dismantle political apathy by empowering the disenfranchised” and is hoping to motivate young people, from donkey-voters to politics-fanatics to “take responsibility for their society”.
The party has more than the 500 members it needs to stand Senate candidates in all states and has designed a system that uses tradeable "vote tokens".
It’s not surprising they’re thinking outside the box, as Bitcoin consultants they live and breathe alternatives to the norm.
"When a Flux candidate is elected they become a gateway for voters to directly influence parliament,” Kaye told the Sydney Morning Herald in February.
He said Flux candidates are not autonomous with their votes in parliament being determined wholly by Flux participants.
With the recent push for voting reform the pair are trying to revolutionise the system with an app, accessible from your computer or smartphone.
The party has been holding “meetups” around Australia this month and looks to be building momentum.
The party is unique in that it has no specific policies (although some may argue that position is hardly unique in today’s political climate).
The idea is the party will repay other minor parties that offer them preferences by allocating a proportional level of control over an elected Flux senator, minor parties can then trade “vote tokens” to ensure they have some influence in parliament.
With the Senate reforms they may have to be extra-innovative come election 2016.
