RELEASE 15 JUNE 2001
HEMP Party to contest Aston By-election
The Help End Marijuana Prohibition (HEMP) Party has thrown its hat into the
ring of the by-election circus for the federal seat of Aston.
Nigel Freemarijuana, the controversial HEMP candidate who polled 1700
(2.3%) of the primary votes in the recent Ryan by-election, offered to fund
a candidate in Aston or run again himself. The offer has been taken up by
long time cannabis law reform activist and s11 veteran, Graeme Dunstan.
Graeme Dunstan (59) who describes his occupation as an itinerant "change
agent" was born and schooled in Essendon. He is a Duntroon drop out who
became a leader of the anti-war and counter culture student movement on the
University of NSW campus, and co-organiser of the Australian Union of
Students' 1973 Nimbin Aquarius Festival.
He has served as a community arts officer in local government and as a
festival consultant to the Victorian Tourism Commission when Don Dunstan
was its chairman. As such he was one of the founders of the Melbourne
International Comedy Festival.
In recent years Graeme has served as operations manager for the Nimbin HEMP
Embassy, a producer of the annual Nimbin "Let it Grow" Mardi Grass and
captain of the crusading Peacebus.com. Last time he was in Melbourne with
Peacebus.com, he was one of those on the receiving end of the police baton
charge at the s11/World Economic Forum.
"HEMP will be waging a guerilla theatre campaign in Aston to put cannabis
law reform on the Federal political agenda", Mr Dunstan said. "If everyone
in Aston who has ever smoked pot voted for us, we'd win hands down."
Before the HEMP Party decides its preferences, it will be surveying all the
other parties on their attitudes to cannabis and law reform.
"The ALP is notorious for its broken promises on cannabis law reform", Mr
Dunstan said. "HEMP preferences recently helped win the former blue ribbon
Liberal seat of Ryan for the ALP, but they snubbed us by placing us last on
their ticket."
"This time we want to talk to the Liberal Party, the traditional
scaremongers of prohibition, to see if there are any "small l" liberals as
concerned as we are about John Howard's dangerous ignorance and
inexperience on drug issues",
The HEMPsters will be a roadshow rolling around the streets and parks of
the suburbs of Aston in their colourful bus, shadowing the candidates of
the major parties and dogging them to make their attitudes to cannabis public.
The HEMP campaign for Aston will begin on 4 July outside the court house in
Byron Bay Northern NSW. There, Peacebus.com will bear witness to the trials
of Rusty Harris, a local folk hero and resistance fighter who was busted in
the cannabis sniffer dog operation in Byron Bay on 9 March.
Further information
Graeme Dunstan, HEMP candidate 0412 609 373 CV www.nrg.com/~graeme
Nigel Freemarijuana 07 3369 8701
Michael Balderstone President HEMP 02 6689 0326 a/h 02 6689 7525
Web site: www.peacebus.com
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