Thursday, May 21, 2009    Text size: 

Western Australia is one of the six states and two territories that make up Australia. It covers the western third of the Australian continent and its population of 2.1 million is 10 percent of the country.

"We will definitely run a candidate in WA at the federal election and will see whether we establish a WA branch," Patten confirmed to XBIZ in an email.

The Sex Party plans to evaluate support from how many new members join the Sex Party at Sexpo but Patten has said she has been approached by a number of disaffected Liberal and Labor members to launch the party in the state.

Patten said that both the major parties had ignored a number of important personal freedom and social justice issues that were adding to the pressure on her to establish the Sex Party in Western Australia.

“Legalizing nonviolent erotic DVDs and prostitution may not seem like a reason to set up a new party in W.A., but when you throw in gay marriage, legalized abortion and a few checks and balances on the power of the churches, then you are starting to develop a strong policy base which affects the voting tendencies of a lot of people," Patten said.

“Public opinion polls have consistently shown that people in the west have the most relaxed attitudes to issues like censorship, but politicians from Liberal and Labor continue to ignore these figures and instead have installed the moral values of their mates in the churches."

The Sex Party reports that it has enrolled nearly 2,000 members since last November and is on target to get 10,000 members by the end of the year. The party is targeting younger voters, small business and "those who are disillusioned with the political processes."

Patten has said that the party is already very active on social networking sites and that she had personally met with U.S. President Obama’s technical adviser when he was in Australia a few months ago.

“We are a social party at heart and are kicking off a series of Sex Party ‘sex parties’ where people meet to discuss our policies around the barbeque or the dinner table," Patten said. “Our name might turn a few heads but when people see our policies they realize that sex and gender issues affect almost all of the major portfolios in government.”

Patten is in Perth for Sexpo starting Wednesday.