Letter of Complaint to Jo Booth (Internet Party secretary) 16/03/2019

This is my complaint to the Internet Party Secretary that occurred after Conversations with the Internet Party Executive starting 28/02/2019.

I believe Suzie has defrauded the Internet Party by soliciting funds using it’s name and imagery to give the impression that she is collecting for the Party and not passing those funds to the party. There is an image attached, you can see on the left that she names herself President, @InternetPartyNZ above a request for donations. Also note the purple colours and the Candidate in TV image which was used in the last election.

(It should be said that as the Internet Party doesn’t have a bitcoin address on it’s donate page perhaps the address 1JehB3FTrGkjc4AzJGNHsnbYdE75hRVmnU is in fact owned by the party in which case this accusation would be withdrawn.)

Secondly, I believe she has brought the Party into disrepute by using the deaths of 49 people in Christchurch to promote her website while using the Internet Party name and imagery. You can refer to the same screenshot as above. She uses the deaths of the people and media questions about why they weren’t on known to Intel and then pretends to have the answer by linking to a story she wrote previously.

In relation to the entire executive I wish to lodge an official complaint that they have contravened the objectives of the Internet Party NZ through inaction.

There are definate problems with the Party, the greatest of which is membership and the executive has done little to nothing about it. Pasted below are the objectives of the Internet Party. You will notice that nearly all of them refer to in New Zealand. You will also notice that in order to achieve these objectives the the Internet Party will strive to elect competent individuals to the New Zealand Parliament. None of this is happening.

I urge you to act but realise that if you do refer the complaint then it will be to the very people the complaint is against. Interesting situation. But not my problem.

Yours Faithfully, XXXX XXXXX. ————————————————————————————————————— The Objectives of the Internet Party are;

To promote and enhance New Zealand’s successful transition into a leader of the digital era; and

To promote and increase the value of digital commerce; and To promote and support a Bill of Digital Rights for all New Zealanders; and

To benefit New Zealand’s cultural and social development by enhancing New Zealand’s digital connectedness; and

To ensure that a just, equitable and transparent balance exists between personal online privacy and digital connectedness; and

To champion the freedom of access, use, and delivery of the internet and digital communications in New Zealand; and

To promote the New Zealand government adopting digital means of communicating and to advocate for the establishment of open and e-government solutions for all New Zealanders; and

Increase transparency and accountability within New Zealand’s security and intelligence agencies and organisations; and

To actively encourage the participation of young people in New Zealand’s democratic process.

To support the objectives in 3.1, the Internet Party will also maintain and promote economic, cultural, social, ethnic, age and gender diversity and equality within the membership, candidacy and organisational structure of the Internet Party.

To achieve the objectives in 3.1, the Internet Party will strive to elect competent individuals to the New Zealand Parliament.

To achieve the objectives in 3.1, the Internet Party may enter into arrangements, including component party arrangements, with other parties or organisations.

My complaint to Jo Booth, Internet Party Secretary 16/03/2019

Jo took so long to reply to my complaint that I wrote Suzie Dawson: Exile or Fraud. His reply came almost one month later.

Hi XXXX, I can confirm the bitcoin address <1JehB3FTrGkjc4AzJGNHsnbYdE75hRVmnU> listed on Suzie’s twitter profile is hers and does not belong to the Party.

The official bitcoin donate link is on https://Internet.org.nz/donate and lists other official ways you can donate to the operational expenses of the party.

I can confirm that Suzie Dawson has donated funds from her personal bitcoin to the Party, which have been used for infrastructure costs. These are listed on the Party returns.

Any funds she solicits on her personal twitter are her own, and it is her choice where she spends them – any she used as a candidate for the Internet Party have been reported in the party annual returns to the electoral commission. As far as I am aware, there have been no donation requests that have been approved by the Party using her bitcoin address, so any funds she gathers are hers and up to her to account for.

Rest assured, any official donation campaigns will link to the donate page listed above and those are the only addresses that have party authorisation. 
—
Any party specific campaign material also has official authorisation from the Party Secretary or the candidate themselves. Other articles, posts or links should be considered their own opinion and not necessarily that of the party. In short, if theres no “Authorised by …” statement, then its not an official statement of the Internet Party. 
——
I agree the party has membership challenges, but rest assured, the executive has discussed them. As we move towards the 2020 election we have ramped up to weekly meetings and aim to launch a campaign soon.

In terms of alleged lack of action, the key members of the executive have been working to make things happen, but without a full complement of executive and support staff, or funding, this is taking longer than hoped. I personally have found it difficult to afford to spent more than a few hours weekly on Internet Party things, and many of my team have needed more input than I’m am able to give voluntarily.

Thanks for your continued support of the Internet Party, I hope we can build to re-gain your confidence. 

Jo Booth
Interim Secretary, Internet Party

Reply to the Complaint 13/04/2019

Unfortunately, he failed to answer my first accusation which was,

I believe Suzie has defrauded the Internet Party by soliciting funds using it’s name and imagery to give the impression that she is collecting for the Party and not passing those funds to the party.

Initial complaint about Suzie Dawson’s conduct

He says it is her wallet, he says there is a wallet on the Internet Party website (There is but it is commented out in the code), he says (for some reason) that she has donated money to the Party, that any funds she solicits on her personal Twitter are her own, that any she used as a candidate were reported to the Electoral Commission, and that there appears to be no donation requests to the Party using her Bitcoin wallet.

What he doesn’t say though is whether he thinks she has been defrauding the Party by asking for donations in it’s name.

You might also notice that he almost completely fails to address my second accusation which is,

Secondly, I believe she has brought the Party into disrepute by using the deaths of 49 people in Christchurch to promote her website while using the Internet Party name and imagery.

Secondary complaint about Suzie Dawson’s conduct

There is no mention at all of this complaint in his reply unless it is the,“Any party specific campaign material….” part in which case for some reason the Secretary of the Internet Party seems to believe that the President can do anything in the President’s or Party’s name and, as long as the Secretary hasn’t authorised it, it is OK.

Using that line of logic, a Party accountant could steal funds from the Party accounts and, as long as the secretary had not authorised the theft, they could not only remain a member but they could remain the Party accountant because it had been done in their personal capacity.

Also, he never says whether he had dismissed the complaint or whether it had been passed on or dismissed. This is basic complaints procedure that is written in the Party Constitution(6.3).

You don’t actually say whether you have dismissed the complaint or passed it on. Also can I post the full reply on the net or do you consider it private between members and the secretary?

My reply on the 15/04/19

The Secretary never replied whether he considered our communications private between Secretary and Members which is rather interesting in hindsight because his last reply had Apple fonts embedded in it. I am somewhat suspicious that my communications with the Secretary have been shared, at least, with the President.

Hi XXXX,
It was brought to my attention Sunday that your allegations have already been published online.

I do not think the interests of the Party or the enthusiasm of the voluntary executive will be served by engaging in personal attacks on Suzie Dawson, and do not wish to engage in the complaint about alleged inaction by the Executive any further, as I have explained, they can only do what they are able.

So yes, I dismiss the complaint.

Jo Booth
Interim Secretary, Internet Party

The Secretary’s reply 16/04/2019

This is the start of a common theme by the Secretary where he has decided that I am personally attacking the Party President Suzie Dawson even though I have not known her in any personal capacity and all our conversations have been about matters pertaining to the Party.

Suzie Dawson continues to use Party Imagery and the Internet Party’s name to solicit funds on Twitter.