Democratic Alternative Information Service:
  Ross Garrad: Policies
  Electing a People's President:

Eligibility

A candidate for the Presidency of the Commonwealth of Australia

• must meet the normal requirements for election to Federal Parliament,
• must not have been a member of any political party during the twelve months preceding the opening of nominations
• must not have been a Member of Federal Parliament or of a state Parliament during the five years preceding the opening of nominations

The restrictions on membership of political parties and Parliament, while important in the practical sense, are even more important in a symbolic sense, as they will serve to reinforce in the popular consciousness that the Presidency is a unifying, non-partisan office whose occupant would preferably come from a field of endeavour other than politics.

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Ross Garrad, 5 November 1997