MORNINGTON—The Victorian branch of Democrats Abroad Australia (DAA-VIC) met this past weekend at Kirks on the Esplanade – a gorgeous coastal area on the Mornington Peninsula situated adjacent to Port Phillip Bay, to discuss current get-out-the-vote (GOTV) efforts, party reforms, advocacy efforts, and dissatisfaction with the current administration.

DAA-VIC members briefly discussed how the Democratic National Committee (DNC) has taken significant steps to unify its members before the 2018 mid-terms and the 2020 presidential election. From August 23-25, party leaders will convene in Chicago to adopt changes to the delegate process for the party’s convention. Democrats Abroad’s eight DNC members are expected to attend and will cast their votes on the re-designed plan. Moreover, chapter members were in agreement on the party’s strategy to not only criticize Republican policies on their obvious weaknesses, as was done in 2016 but to also emphasize to voters what the Democratic Party stands for.

With a little over 100 days until the U.S. General Election, chaos reigns within Republican ranks. In just the past few days, a Trump judicial nominee was withdrawn after a Republican senator discovered past racist writings by the nominee and openly opposed his appointment; politicians have questioned the patriotism of the president and the direction of the Republican party; and dozens of lawmakers are scratching their heads after the recent Trump-Putin summit conducted in complete privacy. DAA-VIC members conversed over these recent developments and were motivated more than ever to get out the vote for Americans residing abroad.

Since the age of Trump, Democrats are winning elections in red-state races that Republicans never thought possible. After a robust discussion about how the president continues to willfully ignore the U.S. intelligence community’s unanimous conclusion of Russian interference in the 2016 election, and how he refuses to hold Russia responsible for its blatant attack on American democracy, chapter members were clearly fired up in taking action.

“Politicians’ actions in my home state of North Carolina have been, shall we say, less than ideal. I assure you I’m 100 percent voting in November,” stated Elizabeth, a DAA-VIC member.

“I’ll make phone calls, contact my congress-members, write people -- I’m ready to do whatever it takes,” remarked Lucy, another attendee and long-time U.S. expat.

Melissa, a local member and proud organizer of the Women’s March in Melbourne, offered her thoughts: “I’m surprised and .frustrated to feel that I’m fighting for equal pay, representation and fundamental human rights where it feels we’ve taken a giant leap backwards in every way that matters and in a way our forefathers would be horrified by.”

The chapter’s vice chair, Marybeth Yarosh – who is currently on travel in the U.S. and Europe – spoke briefly after the Mornington meeting and strongly urged for chapter members to keep up the pressure and activism. “Although we live across the ocean from our voting districts, it’s easy to get complacent and feel powerless against repeated attacks on our rights as American citizens. But we’re reminded that we’re not alone. Our opinions matter, we have voices and we need to use them. Every moment that passes is an opportunity to let Republicans get away with destroying America’s values, or an opportunity to do something about it.” Yarosh went on to encourage all Victorian members to become more involved in whatever suits your preference. Democrats Abroad continues to push out meaningful “Tiny Actions” which take only moments to complete every week. The party also has several caucuses available to join for members to take even more actions for those wanting to step up in volunteering.

Members and all other Americans living in Victoria are reminded to check their voting eligibility status with their home jurisdictions if they have not done so already, and to ensure that absentee ballots are cast in their state’s primary as well as the election in November.

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Democrats Abroad is the official arm of the U.S. Democratic Party for Americans residing outside of U.S. states and territories. The Victoria chapter of Democrats Abroad Australia is an active group of members whose primary focus is exercising their right to vote from abroad and electing Democratic candidates, in addition to raising awareness of and advocating for issues that concern Americans living abroad.

May 28, 2018

MELBOURE—With enormous local interest in navigating the labyrinth of U.S. taxes from abroad, Democrats Abroad Australia’s Victoria (DAA-VIC) chapter was pleased to host a tax seminar Sunday evening with university lecturer and U.S. tax attorney, Karen Powell. A graduate of Stanford Law School, Ms. Powell has extensive experience in tax matters ranging from federal and state courts to regulatory tax matters, and nowadays exercises her tax expertise in academia.

Held at the Jika Jika Community Centre in Northcote, Sunday’s event drew over fifty attendees. Topics covered by Ms. Powell included the basics of understanding taxes, the historical perspective of U.S. taxation, the tax implications of dual U.S.-Australian citizens who file in both countries with the Internal Revenue Service and the Australian Taxation Office, the tax differences on the state level between the U.S. and Australia, the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (commonly known as FBAR), the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), and how individuals should calculate the risks involved in deciding to not comply with U.S. tax obligations.

Many questions were asked by attendees to the evening's key speaker. “The new tax law made sweeping changes to the U.S. tax code – the most significant since 1986,” Powell said. “But for individual expat filings, the overall structure generally remains unchanged. Although every expat should carefully consider their own unique situation, such as determining whether to claim the Foreign Tax Credit versus the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, it’s probably worth it to seek advice from a tax accounting professional who specializes in expat taxes.”

Ms. Powell also touched on the impact of the updated tax code for American small business owners. In its haste to include Territorial Taxation for Corporations in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed in 2017, Congress created two new “transition taxes” known as the Repatriation Tax and the Global Intangible Low-Tax Income (GILTI) Tax. While the likes of Google and Apple are able to sustain such revenue hits after hoarding billions of profits in overseas subsidiaries, American small business owners abroad are scrambling in fear over how to comply with the new law while surviving financially. Despite extensive lobbying from Democrats Abroad and other pro-expat interest groups, the GOP-led Congress chose to neglect fairer tax reforms for the estimated 9 million Americans living abroad.

Michael Ramos, who also serves on Democrats Abroad’s Taxation Task Force, was present at last night’s seminar. Praising Ms. Powell for her expertise on expat taxation, he offered take-action options for local Americans fed up with the latest changes to the tax code. “If you loved the unfair tax code and job-killing revenue measures for Americans living abroad beforehand, you’ll love the new hand-scribbled tax law passed solely by congressional Republicans. For years, so many overseas Americans have been subject to double-taxation, and many Americans have suffered financial discrimination so badly that they’re seriously considering renouncing their U.S. citizenship, if they haven’t already. To make matters worse, Republicans just hammered the final nail in the coffin for many overseas American business owners with the Repat and GILTI taxes,” Michael stated. “Fortunately, several members of Congress have shown great interest in assisting the Americans overseas community. Whether you’re retired in Melbourne or are doing a temporary study abroad, virtually all Democrats Abroad members want some sort of tax reform, so contacting your U.S. senators and representative demanding action is the best path we can take as their constituents.”

In response to attendees’ questions related to expat tax reform and voting absentee from Australia, DAA-VIC chair, Thomas Lopez, offered his thoughts. “I’m really glad Karen touched on the new tax law and how it hurts American small business owners overseas. Every American abroad who earns income locally should be demanding tax reform from our congressional officials.”

Lopez went on to state, “It all starts with voting. As overseas residents, we aren’t bombarded with TV commercials and daily reminders to vote like we experienced when living in the States. Voting from abroad doesn’t take much effort, and true tax reform that benefits ordinary working Americans – or the 99 percent of us who aren’t millionaires and billionaires – begins by electing Democrats.”

American citizens residing overseas hold a unique view on U.S. taxation. With the expat perspective in mind, Democrats Abroad has taken several actions to inform members of Congress of the unintended consequences of the FATCA, the damage caused by the recently-passed “transition taxes” creation, the urgent need to switch from the current practice of citizenship-based taxation to residence-based taxation, among numerous other tax initiatives.

Following on the success of the last year’s “Resistance Summer” campaign, the Democratic Party has unveiled its new “A Better Deal” campaign to fight the Trump-Republican agenda. The Democratic proposal includes rolling back the enormous GOP tax breaks and special-interest loopholes for the richest one percent, and instead invests that money in America’s teachers and other essential jobs. The current push for tax reform for Americans abroad is consistent with A Better Deal, and Democrats Abroad will continue to fight for a level playing field for tax fairness of U.S. citizens around the globe.

Yesterday’s tax seminar with Ms. Powell coincides with Democrats Abroad’s full representative body passing a resolution in support of abolishing citizenship-based taxation and moving to the more fairer residence-based taxation. The resolution also urges the Democratic National Committee to formally recognize the serious tax issues Americans abroad face, and calls on Congress to take action to rectify the current practice of unfair expat taxation. Although Sunday’s tax seminar was not video-recorded out of respect for privacy requests, DAA-VIC members can still review essential expat tax information from a Democrats Abroad-held webinar from 2017 by clicking here.

To learn more about Democrats Abroad’s tax advocacy efforts, or if you would like to sign up to receive e-mail updates from the DA Taxation Task Force, please click here.

DAA-VIC Vice Chair Marybeth Yarosh contributed to this article.

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Democrats Abroad is the official arm of the U.S. Democratic Party for Americans residing outside of U.S. states and territories. The Victoria chapter of Democrats Abroad Australia is an active and dedicated group of members whose primary focus is exercising their right to vote from abroad and electing Democratic candidates, in addition to raising awareness of and advocating for issues that concern Americans living abroad.

February 13, 2018

MELBOURE—With Texas and Illinois being only weeks away from holding the first primaries, this past weekend Victorian members of Democrats Abroad Australia (DAA) began the election season with one goal in mind: Democrats re-taking control of Congress. The Republican leadership of the current Congress has proven to be deeply unpopular, and the recently-passed Republican Tax Scam has only added fuel to the already-raging fire burning within Americans across the globe.

Meeting at the Pg.2 cafe in Richmond, DAA-Victoria members pounced on the momentum of recent Democratic victories on the state and federal level, and enthusiastically gathered to discuss several items to “take back Congress.” The agenda focused primarily on getting-out-the-vote (GOTV) efforts.

“Make no mistake, we’re in full campaign mode,” said DAA-Victoria Chair Thomas Lopez. “The time to ramp up efforts for overseas Americans with voter registration, in addition to pounding the phones with reminders for DA members to vote, starts right now.” Indeed, DAA members in Victoria are absentee voters from almost every state and the chair’s emphasis on reaching out to these voters had the unanimous backing of the members present.

During the meeting, Lopez stated, “With Presidents’ Day fast approaching, it’s hard to not think of the severe damage that the current president and the Republican agenda have inflicted on everyday citizens and America’s global reputation. Our members realize this which is why our get-out-the-vote mission will be our number one goal from now until Election Day. This essentially translates into a three-step process: getting Americans in Victoria registered to vote, getting them to request their ballots, and getting them to mail their ballots back.”

A remarkable amount of volunteerism was seen at the chapter’s GOTV meeting. Chris Stueckle, the former DAA national secretary with formal U.S. election officer training, offered her assistance to any member with absentee voting questions. New member Chelsea Deng contributed heavily to the discussion and indicated interest in helping the leadership with its online presence. With letters-to-the-editor already published, Kenn Feldman committed to continuing his efforts to get the Democratic message in print media.

A motion by former DAA national vice chair Dr. Ersie Burke to increase chapter efforts to meet with members in regional Victoria was seconded by Liz Maasen. A regional chapter meeting in the northern part of the state is likely on the horizon for the weekend before the Easter holiday. Once confirmed, details of the event will be made available on the DAA website, DAA-Victoria Facebook group, and via e-mail to all members from Chair Lopez.

DAA-Victoria member Bill Cook recently highlighted the importance of voting in the upcoming mid-term elections and spoke with Mr. Lopez about the best avenue for all

Americans abroad to request their ballots. His “progressive talk” podcast can be heard at the 00:07:35 mark here.

Chair Lopez also announced his recent appointment of chapter member Marybeth Yarosh as DAA-Victoria vice chair. “Marybeth has been intricately involved with our chapter for a while now. She has more than earned her spot with a leadership position and with this being an election year, I look forward to working with her in strategizing to help and encourage Victoria-based Americans to get their ballots sent in.”

Moreover, members were reminded to keep an eye out for attempts to fire or undermine the Trump-Russia investigative efforts of the U.S. Department of Justice Special Counsel Robert Mueller. If Mueller is fired because of “politics” and not, say, professional misbehavior, Democrats Abroad has called for the House of Representatives to begin impeachment hearings immediately. As a reminder from DA’s international executive committee, all members are discouraged from protesting or demonstrating directly in front U.S. embassies and consulates – under the name of Democrats Abroad – in the possible event of a Mueller firing. Instead, all members are strongly urged to contact their elected congressional officials demanding action.

The “Take Back Congress” initiative is the chapter’s highest priority for the time being; however, DAA-Victoria members should not neglect to vote in state and local races whenever possible. A list of key electoral dates for all members to review can be viewed here.

For the next Melbourne-based chapter meeting, members are encouraged to submit ideas for a new meeting venue. Any location recommendation should consider a reasonably quiet space for member discussion, an ideally wheelchair-accessible venue, and preferably a site with little to no cost associated with using it.

Vice-chair Yarosh contributed to this article.

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Democrats Abroad is the official arm of the U.S. Democratic Party for Americans residing outside of U.S. states and territories. The Victoria chapter of Democrats Abroad Australia is an active and dedicated group of members whose primary focus is exercising their right to vote from abroad and electing Democratic candidates, in addition to raising awareness of and advocating for issues that concern Americans living abroad.

22 January 2018

MELBOURE—One year ago, the day after the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, record numbers of protesters hit the streets of every country around the globe to demand long-overdue fair and equal treatment of women in society. In Washington, D.C. alone, it was estimated that the 2017 Women’s March was the largest protest demonstration in recorded U.S. history. Since then, the movement has only grown in intensity and drive. Amplified by the voices of millions of women who have come out publicly, sharing their experiences and demanding action from a nation that finally started listening. Despite these calls for gender equality, the White House and Republican lawmakers have – shockingly – rejected the American people’s overwhelming call for pro-women and pro-equality reforms.

As a result, yesterday in the highly-visible downtown area of Melbourne, members of Democrats Abroad Australia-Victoria (DAA-Vic.) joined with other Melburnians, union members, environmentalists, and other women activists to reiterate the message that overseas Americans refuse to be silenced on issues affecting women.

With chants booming through streets, the scene from Alexandra Gardens to Flinders Street Station was an impressive one. Among the vocal demonstrators were some expatriate Americans clearly dissatisfied with arguably the most anti-women’s rights president and Congress of the modern era. Participants of the second Global Women’s March called for a halt in ongoing sexual harassment, the need to respect the lifestyle of those identifying as LGBT women, a review of policies seen as biased against women, and an encouraging message for increased female candidates to all elected office positions.

DAA-Vic. member Melissa Goffin was a lead organizer of the Melbourne event. Major news outlets such as The Age, SBS, and The Guardian all took notice of Goffin’s dedicated involvement. Goffin and other organizers received additional planning assistance coming from fellow DAA-Vic. members Anne Webb and Brigette Relyea.

Recent online trends such as the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements continue to make waves on social media, in reference to the number of women who have had to endure unsolicited sexual advances, sexual harassment, and even rape at the hands of people who, in most cases, faced little or no punitive repercussions in response to their criminal behavior. “It’s a shame that in the twenty-first century we still have to fight for the respect and equality deserved between men and women. And sadly, not enough is being done to prevent or prosecute sexual assaults. Until these injustices are corrected, Democrats will continue to stay vocal in demanding reform from U.S. lawmakers,” stated Marybeth Yarosh, an active member of the DAA-Vic. chapter. Goffin added, “It’s a new era of feminism.”

Reports of the 2018 Women’s March in Melbourne range from 500 to 1,000, although these numbers are disputed by those who were in attendance. They argue the number was likely closer to 2,000 participants.

As 2018 is an election year in the United States, all DAA-Vic. members are reminded to immediately request ballots for all 2018 elections in which you are eligible to vote. Chair Lopez also announced that the next meeting of the Victoria Chapter will be announced within days after confirmation of venue location, date, and time. Items expected to be discussed include details on the chapter’s upcoming efforts for getting out the vote, or GOTV, in addition to notifying members of recent DA leadership changes.

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Democrats Abroad is the official arm of the U.S. Democratic Party for Americans residing outside of U.S. states and territories. The Victoria chapter of Democrats Abroad Australia is an active and dedicated group of members whose primary focus is exercising their right to vote from abroad and electing Democratic candidates, in addition to raising awareness of and advocating for issues that concern Americans living abroad.

MELBOURE—With the year winding down and Americans across the globe spending the holidays with their loved ones, the Victorian chapter of Democrats Abroad Australia (DAA) met for the final time last Saturday before the new year commenced. The chapter chair, Thomas Lopez, conducted a year-in-review and shared his vision for 2018.

The event was not without excitement and enthusiasm as native Californian and current U.S. expatriate in the Netherlands, Martha McDevitt-Pugh, paid a visit to Melbourne and eagerly joined the Victorian chapter to provide an update on several initiatives within the Democratic National Committee (DNC). McDevitt-Pugh is a trusted voice within key circles in the Democratic Party, and a titan among the advocates fighting for the civil rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons.

In addition to co-chairing DA’s Global LGBT Caucus and formerly chairing DA-Netherlands, McDevitt-Pugh was also elected by DA to be part of its eight-person delegation as members of the DNC. During her hour-and-a-half-long conversation with DAA-Victoria members, McDevitt-Pugh provided invaluable input to the chapter’s discussion and offered her thoughts on upcoming DA and DNC efforts.

During the roundtable discussion with McDevitt-Pugh, chapter members were given the opportunity to express concerns about both the direction of the DNC and their hopes for the direction the party will take them in the future. When asked by local member Terry Huddy if the DNC is making any changes in response to the 2016 presidential contest, McDevitt-Pugh was able to give insight on the shifting focus of the party through its new leadership elected in early 2017. Moving forward, the DNC will aim for strong Democratic candidates in every election. While the overall goal will be to present voters with the choice of Democratic candidates at every level, she highlighted the particular importance of electing Democratic governors in 2018 to fight for fair census redistricting and voter rights legislation.

“If you want something to happen in the world, you’ve got to step up,” urged McDevitt-Pugh. “In 2017, Germany, Malta, and Australia all finally recognized gay marriage—this isn’t an accident on any account, it was achieved because you and I and millions of others spoke out about the unfairness of LGBT discrimination,” she added.

At the most recent DNC meeting, McDevitt-Pugh spoke with U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and other key lawmakers about upcoming items on the congressional agenda. Carrying on the momentum of Doug Jones’ mid-December Alabama Senate victory, Democrats plan to continue running candidates in every possible race on the federal, state, and local levels in every U.S. zip code.

McDevitt-Pugh also spoke of her role as a DNC member in fighting for grant funding to assist DA with its overseas get-out-the-vote (GOTV) efforts. Local member Chris Stueckle stated, “I’m thankful that even in Australia I could genuinely help individuals having problems wanting to vote but not knowing how—like an overseas woman I knew who tried to vote in Michigan and was rejected, but only through DA assistance was it determined that she was, in fact, eligible to vote in Oklahoma. I would love to see DA having more resources to help overseas Americans with voting assistance.” According to McDevitt-Pugh, all eight of DA’s DNC members are pushing the party leadership for full grant funding to assist with overseas GOTV phone calls, online discussions and other uses of necessary technology which makes it easier for Americans abroad to learn about candidates, the direction of the party, voting, and corresponding with U.S. elected officials.

Chair Lopez summed up the importance of the guest visit. “I believe we all gained valuable insight on what the party is doing globally and domestically because of Martha’s heavy involvement and I applaud her for the tremendous efforts she’s put in over the years. Martha has never once wavered in her commitment to pushing for LGBT rights even when facing enormous political challenges and living over 5,000 miles away from her hometown. We should all be inspired to take more action after hearing Martha speak. I hope if she visits Melbourne again that she re-visits us,” he stated.

Having recently transferred DA membership from Japan to DAA-Victoria, Brigette Relyea expressed her deep appreciation for McDevitt-Pugh’s tireless work and perspective in creating the kind of change many Democrats felt was long overdue.

Both Lopez and McDevitt-Pugh strongly emphasized the point for all DAA-Victoria members to double-check their voter registration status in their home state and to request a ballot for upcoming primary elections. Members are now eligible to do so here (or here).

The chapter meeting also touched on the 2017 success of the DNC’s “Resistance Summer” initiative. McDevitt-Pugh stated that Democrats both stateside and overseas have pledged to fight to preserve the Obama legacy, reject harmful policies brought forth by Republican officials and the Trump Administration, and demand attention on those issues willfully ignored by conservative policymakers such as U.S. mass shootings and the expiration of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Moreover, in a move supported by all in the party, the DNC’s Unity Reform Commission recently proposed major changes to the party’s internal structure. The report from the DNC meeting, held in Las Vegas in October, can be viewed here.

As 2018 promises to usher in more chaos within the White House and likely more unpopular measures brought forth in the Republican-led Congress, DA members can be sure of at least three special elections for congressional races happening where members can be involved in GOTV efforts.

The chair announced the next meeting of the Victoria Chapter to be tentatively set for mid-February 2018. The exact date, time, and location will be posted on the DAA-Victoria web site once confirmed.

Marybeth Yaroush contributed to this article.

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Democrats Abroad is the official arm of the U.S. Democratic Party for Americans residing outside of U.S. states and territories. The Victoria chapter of Democrats Abroad Australia is an active and dedicated group of members whose primary focus is exercising their right to vote from abroad and electing Democratic candidates, in addition to raising awareness of and advocating for issues that concern Americans living abroad.