As of November 2014, I have been a Wikipedia editor for over ten years, with over 62,000 edits. I have contributed to 44 Featured Articles, 2 featured lists, 80 A class articles, 215 Good Articles, and 219 DYK articles. I have been active as a MILHIST coordinator, being re-elected to a fifth term in September 2014. In this capacity I have assessed articles, closed A class reviews, and written articles and book reviews for the MILHIST newsletter. I assist at DYK with reviews and at times have been involved in the assembly of the prep areas. I have also written and maintained the MilHistBot and FACBot used by the featured article and MILHIST A-class article processes, and for updating the MILHIST announcements page. I was runner up in the WikiCup in 2013, MILHIST Military historian of the year in 2012 and runner-up in 2014.
I have been involved with GLAM work with the Australian War Memorial and the Australian Paralympic Committee. I was instructor in four Wikimedia Australia workshops, and an accredited Wikimedia media representative at the Paralympic Games in London in 2012, where I filed stories and interviews for Wikinews, and worked on keeping the Paralympic articles up to the minute. Since then I have continued expanding the Paralympic articles, particularly relating to wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby, and the games in Sochi in 2014. I have travelled around Australia, and to Thailand, China, the United States and Canada covering these sports. Most recently, I worked with a class at the University of Queensland in St Lucia. I attended Wikimania in Hong Kong in 2013 on a scholarship from the Wikimedia Foundation. I also ran, albeit unsuccessfully, for the post of president of our Australian chapter.
I decided to run for ArbCom because reform is so urgently needed. I want ArbCom to take the lead in solving problems. ArbCom needs greater transparency in the way that it operates. Where possible, it should discuss cases openly and not in camera. It should issue rulings that give clear guidance to editors and admins. Every ruling should be accompanied by a plain English statement of what is being done and why. Where possible, evidence should be restricted to what is on the evidence page. Arbs should recuse themselves on a reasonable request to do so. Above all, ArbCom should look beyond editor behaviour and consider what is best for the encyclopaedia.
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The role of ArbCom is no more that of handing out blocks and bans than the role of a supermarket is stacking groceries on shelves.
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While I only edit under my own account, I control two Bot accounts, MilHistBot and FACBot . If elected I will comply with the WMF identification policy.
