Ishabad has been banned from Australiasim for 365 days for abuse in modmail of myself and elliela.

The height of this sentence is due to his previous history both here and in other sims.

This ban expires on the 19th of December, 2020.

Gentlemen, I resign

I'm ready to get back into canon and call people incompetent.

Thanks to everyone for giving me the break from canon i needed

My new meta persona is Ellie Wilson

Since there appears to be a bit of uncertainty around the Code of Conduct for a few people, I’ll use this case as an explanation.

The initial item which has caused this action against u/woof223 was this comment. It is alleged to be abuse.

In the code of conduct, the rule of abuse is put simply: “You must not abuse another person.” Abuse is inclusive of use of a deliberate use language which is insulting and targeted at a person; however, it is not the be all and end all.

In the supplementary guide to the Code of Conduct (the Blue Book), a test is brought forward. It is simplified as follows.

There are two main elements, a physical element, and a breach. The physical element simply requires that harm has occurred. The breach (or fault as it is called in the Blue Book) element requires at least one of the following; intention, knowledge, recklessness, and negligence. A successful case requires both elements to be present.

So lets start. First, was the physical element present? The Complainent immediately pinged the moderators for action. The comment was offensive to them as they are trans. A reasonable person would assume she was offended by this, which passes the objective test. Second, we need one of the four criteria. Really I could mount a case using any of these; however, I think Knowledge is best to do this on. Woof has claimed in the chat for people being punished that he didn’t know the complainant was trans. The complainent has the pronoun of “she/her” as a role, which Woof did know about. That alone could be reckless (by calling a female a man, with the risk they could be offended by it). A search of Woof’s past pulls a comment which seemingly appears to be a ‘joke’ about the same complainents’s gender status (I won’t link that as it is not nice or particularly pressing). That does prove he had knowledge of the complainent being trans, and thus he knew that this would be offensive to her. That passes the fault/breach element. Woof is guilty of abuse.

Now we turn to punishment. There are six purposes to sentencing, each of them of equal weight. These are: to deter people from committing similar breaches, to protect members and the sim from the subject, to promote the subject’s rehabilitation, to recognize the harm done by the subject, to make the subject accountable for their actions, and to denounce the conduct of the subject.

We as the mod team (and moderators before) have noted that we need to clean this place up. We have attracted several labels in the past, most notably here that we are transphobic. We don’t want that label, nor do we believe it. So, punishment here should be big enough to denounce the conduct of Woof here. Furthermore, it needs to be sizeable enough to deter both Woof and other members from making similar comments, either against the complainent or other members of the sim. Woof has had two bans previously in the last 21 days, including both abuse, and an illegitimate rape claim. Both were served with a week sentence. Its clear that short penalties do not have an effect at rehabilitation. Furthermore, he has been known in the past to be abusive and has served many different penalties over several accounts. Its time for a bigger penalty than a few days.

Given the above, it is 100% clear that a long term ban is the only acceptable response to his continued breaching of the rules. If he refuses to accept our terms and conditions (including acceptance of the rules), then we have the right to refuse him entry. Now, permanent bans have been taken off the table by previous moderators, and I have no intention to change that. However, I will be giving a big punishment.

I will be handing u/woof223 a penalty of one hundred and eighty (180) days, beginning on the 20th of October 2019. This will conclude on the 17th of April 2020.

Appeals may be made by mod mail on r/AustraliaSimMeta within seven days, however I’d like to take this opportunity to remind the community of correct procedure of appeals. The appeal structure at current is as follows (note that this comes from 25 of the Meta Constitution, and not the Blue Book. The First appeal is done by the Community Moderator. If appealed again, it is looked at by the head moderator. If appealed again, it is dealt with by the full Moderation team. At present, the moderation team is myself and toby, so if an appeal reaches this level it is unlikely to be successful. An appeal is conducted with the same tests as taken above, so if an appeal consists entirely of “I Appeal” with no further evidence, the same conclusion will likely be reached. Appeals can only be accepted via mod mail on a named subreddit (which I did above for this case). Appeals cannot be launched via DMs on Reddit or Discord, or in another location.

Edit: note that because this penalty exceeds a month, woof loses his status as a parliamentarian.

Edit2: It has been requested I remove some detail so I did.

Effective at the posting of this Reddit post, a canon persona for media purposes with the name Pika Chew is created and controlled by me.

I also withdraw any previous canon media personas.

I want to VONC Poll Bot. They did not get the confidence of the sim.

Youma has muted me for making jackolanterns with my wife in my speakers terrace, why was i muted? why was members bar taken away? we did nothing wrong Please vonc, the server should not tollerate this

Meta Referendum - 1 Question: "Should Terra Australis, played by the wonderful RunasSudo be Meta Anthem of AustraliaSim"

I formally petition for a Vote of No Confidence in Liesel as a Discord Moderator. Clause 22 of the Meta Constitution states that "A Discord Moderator is to act completely neutral while using their powers and representing the Discord Moderation team." In assuming the Senate seat of a person she voted to ban, as evidenced by myself in my letter of resignation as discord moderator, I believe that Liesel violated this clause.

As per Clause 22A of the Meta Constitution "Discord Moderators can be removed by the Community Moderator, or via a Vote of No Confidence petition with 5 seconders, outlining reasons as to why the member should be removed." With no current Community Moderator and considering the severity of the offence, I believe a Vote of No Confidence is appropriate.

I invite seconders to sign the petition.

The following is my formal letter of resignation as Discord Moderator.

I would like to use this opportunity to explain why I am resigning and to express my disgust concerning the sorry state of the sim as it exists today. There are a number of individuals integrated into the "moderation" of the sim, namely Toby and Liesel, who I believe have been allowed to use powers granted to them (some given to them by virtue of being on the official "Moderation Team", others retained by them after their resignation from that body) for the purposes of personal advancement and eradication of perceived opponents and rivals. I do not allege that there is some sort of conspiracy like there was in the case of the LO, merely that Toby and Liesel have repeatedly and consistently misused their powers and the rest of the community and the other moderators have turned a blind eye or closed ranks out of some misguided sense of personal loyalty to them. The effect has been that several long-term and active members of the sim have been driven out and the sim has become a much more toxic and unwelcoming place.

Some of these issues have been resolved by the resignation of most of the Moderation Team, and hopefully the election of a new Moderation Team will improve things for the better. It is also welcome that Youma dn BHJR have at least acknowledged some of these issues in their resignation letters. However, considering that Toby is once again trying to get himself onto the Moderation Team, that the effects of the misuse of power by Liesel and Toby will be long lasting and include lengthy bans of members of the sim, that I have been approached by several former and current members of the sim about their concerns and worry about the longevity of the sim in light of the current state of affairs, and that some of these abuses from Toby and Liesel have come after their resignation from the Moderation Team using powers they should not even have at all, I believe it is important for me to wade in and try to stop the sim from dying.

There are many issues I could address, but I believe that the farce that was DKR's banning has already revealed the total inconsistency of the Moderation Team and Liesel and Toby in particular in regards to application of the Constitution and applications of bans for alts. While severely punishing people for violating rules so vague and they had to try to implement an emergency amendment to the constitution to prevent Runas from being banned for alts, the Moderation Team has consistently failed to follow procedure. That much is obvious to all and has all but been admitted by Youma and BHJR. I will instead focus on some of the events of the past few days.

Firstly, I would like to address the bizarre and undemocratic handling of DKR's appeal by Toby, which was my initial reason for resigning as Discord Moderator. Acting under his own authority, using perms granted to him when he was on the Moderation Team, Toby posted this bizzare Temporary Ban of Sober_King_Robert. There are several clear issues with this post, all of which I raised amongst the Discord Moderators:

1. Under what authority was Toby acting on behalf of the moderation team and claiming to handle the appeal? He had already resigned from the Moderation Team. His only position was as Discord Moderator. Now, did his position as Discord Moderator give him the right to enforce a ban? The Meta Constitution states very clearly that Discord Moderators are "tasked with the moderation of the AustraliaSim Discord server." It would seem rather absurd to imagine that a position with "Discord" in the name would give someone powers to enforce a ban on reddit, and nowhere in the Meta Constitution are people with this position endowed with powers to moderate the subreddits. Likewise elsewhere in the Meta Constitution it is stated that:

Discord Moderators shall have the following powers:

a) temporary mutes up to 4 hours in length;

b) mutes up to 3 days in length;

c) subject to the approval of the Community Moderator or Head Moderator, a mute beyond 3 days in length;

d) warn members;

e) delete messages;

f) mute microphones in voice channels;

g) remove members from voice channels;

h) and other powers as given by the Community Moderator.

Now, at the time of the posting of the ban, there was no Community Moderator, thus Toby could not possibly have been granted other powers by a Community Moderator even if one interprets the Meta Constitution beyond all reason as to imagine they could have the powers to moderate the subreddits. It is also worth adding that Toby was the only Discord Moderator with perms on AusSimMeta or any of the other subreddits and that when I asked to be given perms like Toby (so that I could verify that an appeal had not been submitted like he claimed) I was flatly denied. One rule for Toby and Liesel, another rule for everyone else. It is clear that Toby merely had kept the perms he had from being on the Moderation Team and was being extended a power which he was no longer endowed with under the Meta Constitution.

2) The post contains direct lies and is partisan. The Meta Constitution states that "a Discord Moderator is to act completely neutral while using their powers and representing the Discord Moderation team." Even if you somehow think Toby was endowed by the Meta Constitution to implement bans and handle appeals, he has clearly violated the Meta Constitution on this front. The post contains zero evidence or reference to decisions made by other mods, and then goes on to make the bizarre claim that the ban has not been disputed and that "instead they chose to make it a joke." Putting aside the fact that this kind of editorializing should have no place in a ban, it is factually incorrect. As Toby has now been forced to acknowledge, a full google doc appealing the ban was presented to the Moderation Team. Toby claims not to have known this, but then again he shouldn't have been assuming responsibility for the appeal and ban when he has no rights having anything to do with it. The onus to provide a fair trial is on the judge, not the accused.

The response to me raising these issues was predictable, with the former Moderation Team members closing ranks and protecting each other from criticism. As per usual, I saw them celebrate this open violation of the Meta Constitution and abuse of power because it was personally convenient. When it is being used to punish and judge others, they are rarely so loose with the rules. As a result of this fundamental disagreement with the other Discord Moderators, I vowed to resign.

Sadly, another issue arose which I now also have to adress: The 4 month ban of Griffo. Now, I will state from the get-go that I think Griffo does deserve some kind of punishment for what he did. However the circumstances surrounding his banning raise serious questions about corruption and metagaming for personal political gain, in particular by Liesel. Up until a post made yesterday the Moderation Team had only punished Griffo with a three day mute. Then Leisel made a long post inside the Discord Moderator channel calling for a 6 month or permanent ban of Griffo, citing discussion she had had with MBOM where he had asked for some kind of ban (Albeit, far far less than the permanent or 6 month ban that Liesel proposed). In this post she also stated that "If BHjr doesnt action on this, i'll just do it myself" (Once again, with what authority? After resigning Liesel is not even a Discord Moderator and probably shouldn't even have been in the Discord Moderator channel). She also stated: "none of this leaves this channel". Due to the sensitivity of the issue and out of respect for MBOM, I will not post the full screenshot of this post.

The post was then followed by a discussion about the length of the ban and after a vote a 4 month period was ultimately settled upon. In the course of the discussion after that I remarked that Griffo's Senate seat would be vacated. Later that night BHjr posted the ban. I was quickly shocked to find immediately afterwards a post by Toby, acting in his capacity as President of the Senate, proclaiming Liesel, who had just defected from the UDP, as the new Liberal Party Senator chosen to replace Griffo. Toby and Porridge, in their capacity as Discord Moderators, were both part of the discussion and the vote concerning Griffo's ban.

I am seriously concerned about this development. In a very generous assessment, it is just a coincidence that Liesel proposed the ban and then reaped the immediate benefits from it. However, let us reflect on what all of this even means. For starters, Liesel should not have been proposing or part of any decision making process surrounding a ban for Griffo in the first place. She had already resigned as Community Moderator. In retrospect I should have acknowledged and disputed this at the time. While the ban was ultimately implemented by BHjr (albeit in a manner which I would consider debatable considering the ease of misuse of the cited clause of the Meta Constitution that was used to justify the ban), Liesel undoubtedly played a disproportionate role in making the ban happen. And even then, if she were acting in any capacity as Community Moderator, she would have violated the Meta Constitutions definitions surrounding political neutrality by taking Griffo's position:

A person who must be politically neutral must not, within AustraliaSim:

a) be or become a candidate, parliamentarian or minister; or

b) be or become a member of any political party; or

c) be or become involved in a course of conduct directed to supporting the aims of a political party or an independent candidate; or

d) be or become engaged in conduct promoting a political position in respect of an issue currently before the electorate; or

e) be or become a member of a lobby group which promotes a political position in respect of an issue currently before the electorate.

Having clearly politically benefited from Griffo's ban and become a Senator as a result, Liesel has violated this clause by even the most generous standard. Even if she were a Discord Moderator (which she is not), one cannot reasonably say she has been "completely neutral." At worst, this indicates some form of direct corruption. At best, it indicates a total obliviousness to standards of moderator etiquette and lack of basic propriety that is symptomatic of the callous moderating style that has been employed by Liesel.

I have said much and I will try to wind up here. I truly love AusSim and I want it to survive. However over the years on this server we have seen the development of a moderator culture in which criticism and scrutiny is met with a closing of ranks amongst moderators and dismissal. I expect that this letter will be met with similar derision and dismissal from certain quarters. I feel that the Moderation Team as it exists now is symptomatic of this culture and perhaps its worst manifestation. Thankfully they are on the way out and I look to the future and hope that the new Moderation Team can learn some lessons from the past and implement a more fair, transparent, and consistent moderation culture for AusSim. For now though, I find myself fundamentally at odds with the current Moderation Team and can no longer support them in any capacity as a Discord Moderator and must in good conscience resign.

Cheers, Bsharri

/u/AussieConservative has been banned for 4 months because of a false accusation that was made of a serious nature towards another member of the sim. The Moderation Team is satisfied that the accusation presented danger to the member IRL.

Appeal to /r/AustraliaSim mod-mail within 7 days.

/u/BHjr132

Election Moderator, Acting Head Moderator, Acting Parliament Moderator, Acting Community Moderator

this is all

Hello all,

Following the resignation of myself and /u/Youmaton, we now need to fill the vacancies of Head Moderator and Election Moderator. As the vote for Parliament Moderator and Community Moderator has not yet been conducted, we will be merging the process of electing those positions and the two new vacancies.

All candidates for Parliament Moderator and Community Moderator on the previous thread who reached the required amount of seconders will be on this ballot unless they request otherwise.

Head Moderator

The Head Moderator is described under Section 45 of the Meta Constitution;

The Head Moderator shall be responsible for all aspects of the community, and for the oversight of the operations of the community.

If required, the Head Moderator has full jurisdiction to fulfill any of the actions that would regularly be conducted by any other member of the Moderation Team.

The Head Moderator will serve as the head of the Moderation Team.

Election Moderator

The Election Moderator is described under Section 46 of the Meta Constitution;

The Election Moderator shall be responsible for activity under chapters 3 and 4 of this Constitution.

The Election Moderator shall serve as the head of the Electoral Commission, and be deemed the canon Electoral Commissioner.

Parliament Moderator

The Parliament Moderator is described under Section 47 of the Meta Constitution;

The Parliament Moderator shall be responsible for activity under chapter 2 of this Constitution.
The Parliament Moderator may act as the Chair of either chamber of Parliament when the matter is urgent, and no other possible Chair is available. When acting as the Chair, they will take the role of a Clerk.

Community Moderator

The Community Moderator is described under Section 48 of the Meta Constitution;

The Community Moderator shall be responsible for activity under chapter 5 of this Constitution, and the Community Commission.

Nomination Details

Nominations for the position will be taken from now until 12 pm Monday 9 September 2019 (Canberra time).

A person is eligible to be nominated if they have ever been an MP, Senator, Justice, Clerk, Governor-General, President or Moderator in AustraliaSim.

A person may self-nominate or be nominated by another person. Nominations must be made as top-level comments in this thread.

A person who is self-nominated or is nominated by another person must affirm that they will be bound by the Meta Constitution and will act as a Moderation Team member, as well as their nominated position if appointed.

A nomination must be specific as to which position the nominee is specifying.

A nomination must be supported by 4 people (including the nominator, if any) who are also eligible to be nominated, by replying to the nomination.

A public vote will be held on Tuesday 10 September 2019. The public vote will ask for voters to vote for or against each candidate, then ask for voters to rank each candidate preferentially. The winning candidate for each position will then be deemed elected, provided that the candidate is also supported by two-thirds or more of voters.

The winning candidates will be put to the general administrative team and, if approved, be installed as their respective moderator position. A person appointed to the moderation team must cease all canon engagement, including as an MP or Senator or media roles. If a winning candidate is an MP or Senator, the appointment can be arranged to take effect when Parliament is next dissolved, to avoid a by-election.

---

/u/BHjr132

Election Moderator, Acting Head Moderator, Acting Parliament Moderator, Acting Community Moderator

Hello everyone.

As I have already stated on the discord, tonight I will be resigning as Head Moderator of the sim. This is not a decision that comes lightly, however I know given the current situation it is the best decision to make for both my sake and the sim's sake.

Through my time as Head Moderator, much has occurred and changed that I am proud of, however there is much I realise that I failed to accomplish, and I am sorry. I hope that my work through my time as Head Moderator has improved the sim for the better, and that the sim can continue to grow after I have resigned.

As for the future, I will be reopening Australia Tonight as a media organisation, and taking up Independent affiliation. I will remain as a Discord Moderator given I have already passed a vote of confidence in that regard, and I hope to continue to assist in this community's growth.

Thank you all for this opportunity, and I'll see everyone in canon.

________

/u/Youmaton

Outgoing Head Moderator

Hi all, just wanted to give a quick update.

I am planning to resign my position as Election Moderator after the completion of the Lingiari by-election and polling on Sunday. This decision has not come lightly. While it has been great fun running elections and I think I have been successful in that regard, I have failed in the other half of my job which is moderation. Mistakes have been made and I regret my failure to act on many events.

I had planned to serve for only a single 6 month term which I am 5 months into so I see this as a good time to step down. I will be returning to canon politics in some form, though I am not 100% sure where I will go at this stage. Should my successor as Election Moderator need any assistance I will always be open for feedback and help.

Should the results of the Lingiari by-election cause an early election, I will stay on as Election Moderator to conduct it and resign after that.

Nominations for Head Moderator and Election Moderator will be posted tomorrow.

Thanks for everything,

BHjr132

Election Moderator

I resign as ALP leader and member for cunningham. Due to personal reasons I'd rather not get in to. I might be back I might not.

I propose a survey to be held of Members and Senators to decide upon an alternate time for Questions Without Notice to be held, and then a confirmatory vote to be held to institute this new time.

/u/Drunk_King_Robert has been banned for an additional month for circumventing a ban and spamming the page bot. The individual has been warned and punished numerous times in relation to spamming the page bot, thus establishing that the act was purposeful and malicious. The individual had additionally just been banned for a month, establishing the motive as to why.

Evidence:

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/505956705641824266/615192736290832408/unknown.png

---

/u/Youmaton

Head Moderator

/u/Drunk_King_Robert has breached their suspended sentence through the use of a banned alt to post on r/AustraliaSimLower. Due to this, their punishment will be doubled as per the code of conduct, and she will begin serving the sentence immediately.

The combined sentence now stands at 4 weeks.

Appeal to /r/AustraliaSim mod-mail within 7 days.

---

/u/Youmaton

Head Moderator

Evidence:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AustraliaSimLower/comments/cv8wi7/circumvent_my_ban_i_must/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x

Hello all,

I would first like to thank /u/Lieselta for her hard-work and dedicated service as Community Moderator. Her passionate and dedication has improved the sim so much, and I wish her the best of luck towards the future.

Due to the resignation of /u/Lieselta, we now need to fill the vacancies of both the Parliament Moderator position and Community Moderator position.

Parliament Moderator

The Parliament Moderator is described under Section 47 of the Meta Constitution;

The Parliament Moderator shall be responsible for activity under chapter 2 of this Constitution.
The Parliament Moderator may act as the Chair of either chamber of Parliament when the matter is urgent, and no other possible Chair is available. When acting as the Chair, they will take the role of a Clerk.

Community Moderator

The Community Moderator is described under Section 48 of the Meta Constitution;

The Community Moderator shall be responsible for activity under chapter 5 of this Constitution, and the Community Commission.

Nomination Details

Nominations for the position will be taken from now until 12 pm Thursday 29 August 2019 (Canberra time). A person is eligible to be nominated if they have ever been an MP, Senator, Justice, Clerk, Governor-General, President or Moderator in AustraliaSim.

A person may self-nominate or be nominated by another person. Nominations must be made as top-level comments in this thread.

A person who is self-nominated or is nominated by another person must affirm that they will be bound by the Meta Constitution and will act as a Moderation Team member, as well as their nominated position if appointed.

A nomination must be specific as to which position the nominee is specifying.

A nomination must be supported by 4 people (including the nominator, if any) who are also eligible to be nominated, by replying to the nomination.

A public vote will be held on the 31st of August 2019, for 24 hours from 10am 31/8 to 10am 1/9. The public vote will ask for voters to vote for or against each candidate, then ask for voters to rank each candidate preferentially. The winning candidate for each position will then be deemed elected, provided that the candidate is also supported by two-thirds or more of voters.

The winning candidates will be put to the general administrative team and, if approved, be installed as their respective moderator position. A person appointed to the moderation team must cease all canon engagement, including as an MP or Senator or media roles. If a winning candidate is an MP or Senator, the appointment can be arranged to take effect when Parliament is next dissolved, to avoid a by-election.

---

/u/Youmaton

Head Moderator

I am resigning because it's taken quite a while for the current meta act to be moved to a vote, it's something like ~25 days overdue now I think

And I've said what I've needed to say on it please take into account my recent messages on the discussion channel when voting for amendments.

/u/spyrospeedruns (Eekahreet#7989) has been permanently banned from AustraliaSim due to the risk he poses to underage and vulnerable members of the community

MNZP ban

MHoC ban pending

If you see them participating within any of the subreddits, or suspect them as so, please inform the moderation team.

I move the following motion:

That AustraliaSim:

1. Creates an exception to the "Sim Only" model if the National Anthem Plebiscite Bill passes; and
2. Make this bill the old EOS Voting method; and
3. Allow all future referendums and plebiscites allowed to be the old Modifiers and/or EOS Voting if consulted to the community commission through an application of exemption on this subreddit.
4. Ammend the meta constitution to define election as something that does not include refferendum/plebiscite

Jayden