For immediate release

The Science Party has announced that it will field a candidate for the upcoming Bennelong by-election. Party leader Dr James Jansson will contest the seat on a platform of open and efficient government, housing affordability, and increased funding for science, technology and education.

“This is the most significant by-election in recent memory - it could change the face of government and have national consequences”, Dr Jansson said, “Australians are losing trust in professional politicians and the political machines of the major parties. The Science Party is built on a foundation of transparency and integrity, which I am personally committed to upholding if elected to parliament.”

Dr Jansson used the announcement of his nomination to call for an independent commission against corruption (ICAC) at a federal level. “New South Wales has seen first hand the impact that an effective anti-corruption watchdog can have on politics at a state level. Australians take a very dim view of politicians who use their office for personal gain, and the people of New South Wales are fortunate to have ICAC in place. It’s high time we had in place a similar mechanism at the national level to root out corruption and wrongdoing at the highest levels of government.”, Dr. Jansson said.

Dr Jansson also called for reforms to education and taxation “We need to prepare Australia for the rapidly changing economy of the future. To ensure we make the most of the current technological boom, we need to ensure that we are training all Australians to be problem solvers in a broad range of fields.”, Dr Jansson said.

“The tax system is one of the main reasons that housing prices are so high. The combination of the capital gains tax discount with negative gearing makes assets with low interest rates an effective tax dodge for people with high incomes. We will reverse the capital gains tax discount laws introduced by the Howard government in 1999 that have brought us to this unsustainable housing situation.”

Dr Jansson ran as the Science Party’s lead candidate for the senate in NSW at the 2016 federal election. He has a PhD in Mathematical Modelling of HIV and is a former teacher of mathematics and science. He is the CEO of Tapview, a financial technology startup providing micropayments for individual news articles and online video content, which he founded with fellow Science Party members in 2015. In 2016 Tapview received investment backing from H2 Ventures, valuing the then 5-month-old company at $1 million.

Contact:
Tom Byrt
Media Coordinator, Bennelong by-election
[email protected]