This week is the beginning of a new age,at least for me.
I am a founding member of the Pirate Party here in Australia and I've finally taken the plunge having decided that I want to do something to shape the future of our country.
I have put my name forward to stand for the Australian Senate and have been nominated for pre-selection.
This is has now been voted by the membership and I am pleased to announce that I am the successful candidate and will be standing.
Now the hard work begins.
As readers of my blog well know, I am an strong advocate of automation and robotics.
However I am also very aware of the downside of this disruptive technology.
More and more people (particularly lower skilled workers) will be displaced in the workforce as this trend continues and I want our country to be in the forefront to act on this and not spending years playing catch up when it really starts to bite.
As a consequence I will be supporting a Universal Basic Income policy, where every Australian has the right to a guaranteed income with no strings attached which they can use as they wish.
The Pirate Party Australia already has a policy here that has a lot of really good practical ideas on how to implement this and I would take that as a very good starting point to build on if elected.
