The world is quickly losing its dark skies due to light pollution. Light pollution doubled globally between 1992 and 2012 and at least 50% of the world will have lost their ability to see stars and the night sky by 2050 if the current 3% annual increase in light pollution continues. Bunya Mountains has unique fauna including fire beetles and powerful owls that need dark skies for their survival with Australia's vulnerable nocturnal fauna being at threat of extinction given the impacts of climate change. Bunya Mountains is the primary natural areas tourism destination in Western Queensland. UNESCO recognised Bunya Mountains qualities in 2010 with the world’s largest forest of Gondwana period Bunya Pines & the cultural significance of Bunya Mountains (Bonye Buri) which is an Uluru equivalent 'holy mountain' of First People Australians. https://www.darkskywarrior.com/ https://youtu.be/nkw2MuKVpGY https://www.dalbyherald.com.au/news/residents-fighting-to-preserve-buynas-unique-night/3840047/ https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1563117013724267&id=209825109053471&_rdr https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=StkEz1e_H04 https://www.darksky.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/IDSC-Guidelines-2018.pdf https://m.southburnetttimes.com.au/news/keep-skies-dark-for-our-wildlife-conservationist/3583568/ https://m.youtube.com/watch?list=PLHP9vjfF5XLLAwK52XnhJnsVB7MPK9ApC&v=0FXJUP6_O1w https://m.youtube.com/watch?list=PLHP9vjfF5XLLAwK52XnhJnsVB7MPK9ApC&v=P2JQFyFcbRU&index=5 https://m.youtube.com/watch?list=PLHP9vjfF5XLLAwK52XnhJnsVB7MPK9ApC&index=1&v=dd82jaztFIo https://Youtu.be/_nlFcEj41Xk https://www.dalbyherald.com.au/news/residents-fighting-to-preserve-buynas-unique-night/3840047/ https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-environment/2018/08/why-we-need-to-reconnect-with-the-night-sky/ http://artificiallightatnight.weebly.com/uploads/3/7/0/5/37053463/alan_2018_booklet.pdf https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2012.02212.x https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10336-015-1232-3 https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-94-007-6220-6 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1600-079X.2007.00473.x http://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search.do?recordID=US8848634 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1890/1540-9295%282004%29002%5B0191%3AELP%5D2.0.CO%3B2 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10336-015-1196-3 https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/8186062 https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2664.12381 https://www.nature.com/articles/srep01395 These are the Aoraki McKenzie Zealand Dark Sky Reserve reports: http://www.phys.canterbury.ac.nz/amidsr/AMIDSRReport2014-15.pdf http://darksky.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/AorakiMackenzie-IDSR-2017-Annual-Report.pdf Winklmoosalm International Dark Sky Park: https://m.box.com/shared_item/https%3A%2F%2Fdarksky.app.box.com%2Fs%2Fohs01y45x74dtrtmvwngwrk8edxwuh26 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=y56JEg8x16Y https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_9tMAvjc3VA https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F55wBS2kNNQ https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=juqjhMuHmLA https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/#zoom=5.914582581405009&lat=-3068654&lon=16893537&layers=B0FFFFTFFFT

We need to shift our awareness and understand there are other ways to prevent shark attacks from occurring and killing them is not the answer. It is unethical and will destroy our ocean causing a imbalance in the oceanic ecosystems, leading to serious environmental consequences. No matter how you look at it, sharks have been around for 400 million years. Many sharks are becoming endangered and need our voice. Sharks help keep populations of their prey in check, weeding out the weak and sick animals to keep the overall population healthy. Their disappearance can set off a chain reaction through out the ocean and even impact people on shore. If sharks disappear it would be bad news for us all.

Koala populations are already struggling in certain parts of Queensland such as Dalby. Habitat is critical to the survival of the koala and up to 80% of koalas who lose their habitat are likely to be wiped out. The proposed destruction of koala habitat is for new coal seam gas wells on Queensland's Western Downs. Coal seam gas mining is a threat to farmlands and water resources not to mention the public health risks which have not yet been properly assessed. Potential harm could include an increased risk of cancer. What else can we do? Write to minister Hon Jackie Trad [email protected] Write to the Premier of Queensland Hon Anna Palaszczuk https://www.thepremier.qld.gov.au/tools/contact.aspx Join the Animal Justice Party Queensland https://animaljusticeparty.org/join/ Donate to the Australian Koala Foundation https://www.savethekoala.com/

Will you join my call to make this a huge issue ahead of the Manly by-election? If enough of us come together now, we can win commitments from candidates that they’ll save the bushland. Sign now!

Who remembers fishing trips, football games and Sunday sessions at the Grandview Hotel in Cleveland? What legacy do you want to leave your kids? The area behind the Grandview Hotel stretching down to the Stradbroke Island Ferry terminal and down to Star of the Sea Catholic School has been approved for development. This will mean an 800 berth marina and 15 storey high apartment blocks. We enjoy this space because we have fought for it over the years, will you fight for it now for the future generations?

Because producers, politicians and the community are being deceived by an industry that puts profits over ethics and welfare. After nearly 20 years in Egypt and 18 years in Indonesia, investigations have repeatedly revealed that all the live export industry has done is endorse the use of brutal slaughter devices, condone un-stunned slaughter and ignore the cruelty that inevitably results.

The shark meshing program (SMP) is a lethal shark mitigation policy that has been in place since 1937 in NSW. It is managed by the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) fisheries NSW and contractors (fishers) carry out the program. The nets are set on 51 most popular beaches from Newcastle to Wollongong. The nets are 150m long and 6m high and are set in 10-12 metres of water. Sharks are able to swim over them and around them. The nets are random and indiscriminate killers of marine life and it is reported that 17,000 marine animals have been caught in shark nets in NSW although NSW Fisheries dept reports state that this figure is an underestimation of total numbers of animals caught due to poor historical data collection. The nets do not keep people safe from sharks. Shark / human interactions have occurred on beaches where shark nets are in place. The 2009 DPI fisheries review into the SMP stated that “the rate of shark attack has remained the same both before and after meshing commenced”. In contradiction to this the DPI fisheries NSW has claimed that “the SMP has been effective at providing a safer environment for swimmers”. However the NSW fisheries scientific committee (FSC) which is tasked with critiquing the program from a scientific standpoint has stated that “this statement is unsubstantiated because it is not based on a scientific comparison between meshed and unmeshed beaches, of shark numbers, interactions or attacks, the FSC requests that the SMP remove the statement" from the previous four annual reports of the SMP which it has failed to do. Fatal shark incidents are tragic events however with increasing medical technology and quick response first aid the vast majority of shark incidents are survivable – this was not the case back in the 1930’s when the NSW program was first put in place. We believe that the low numbers of shark bite fatalities on meshed beaches is more likely to be attributable to the presence of lifeguards who are able to detect sharks, close beaches and provide fast medical assistance in the event of a shark incident. Sharks are in their natural habitat and statistically the chances of being bitten by one are extremely low. Sharks kill on average 5 people worldwide per year, however people kill over 100 million sharks per year. Many of the animals caught in beach nets are now considered endangered as such the SMP is now listed as a key threatening process for the following marine animals: humpback, minke and southern right whales, Australian fur seals, dugongs and three species of endangered marine turtles, critically endangered grey nurse sharks and vulnerable great white sharks. Killing endangered animals in their ocean home for the purposes of increasing the safety to people who are visitors is unacceptable in this day and age. A federal Australian Government environment department report in 2005 titled ‘Death or injury to marine species following capture in beach meshing (nets) and drumlines used in shark control programs’ lists some 99 species of marine animal who have been victims of shark control programs, of these 99 species 73% are now listed on the IUCN red-list as near threatened, vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered or are classified as data deficient, or not assessed yet so we don't know if they too belong on the red-list. As animals and ecosystems face increasing environmental pressures, governments are obligated to ensure programs which threaten vulnerable and endangered species are replaced by less harmful measures to ensure human safety. noNSWsharkcull is campaigning for the removal of shark nets in NSW as these programs are outdated, and have not been demonstrated to make the ocean safer for people. We instead support public education in how to minimise chances of shark bite and scientific research into the tagging and tracking of sharks as alternative means to reduce the chances of shark bite incidents. We also support research into other non-lethal methods of shark mitigation. These methods will reduce the harm to our many endangered and vulnerable marine species including sharks, turtles, whales and dolphins who belong in the ocean and are fighting for their survival. We should be doing everything possible to protect marine ecosystems as they are more fragile than ever. We need shark control methods that make the ocean safer for people and marine animals including sharks. Sharks as apex predators are vital for the health of the ocean, without sharks scientists predict that the entire ocean ecosystem will collapse. The phytoplankton in the ocean provides up to 70% of the oxygen on the planet for this reason we need to keep our ocean ecosystems in balance. Healthy oceans need sharks and if the oceans die we die.

We must prevent culling (shooting) of our Brumby in the Snowy Mountains. It is a method that results in extreme cruelty to an animal (remember Guy Fawke's National Park) who is an integral part of our history, heritage, and poetry. Our Brumby has been in the Snowy Mountains region for well over a century and should be admired rather than vilified as vermin to be destroyed. We do not want to be scratching our collective heads in 20 years time asking "what happened to our Brumbies, we can only see them in the museum now"

The expansion to accommodate a projected 3000 ships per year will involve massive dredging, dumping of dredge spoil, land reclamation, risk of oil spills, air pollution, beach and cliff erosion associated with channel deepening, and loss of habitat. This has the potential to destroy the Western Port we know, love, and depend upon. Our beaches, fishing, wildlife, tourism economy, clean air, clean water. Western Port is a wetland of international significance, and Australia has obligations to look after it under the Ramsar treaty. Please take some time to learn about the proposed port expansion and its likely impacts. To stay up to date visit http://preservewesternport.org.au and http://www.wppcinc.org Thanks!

Hanging Rock is a local and international icon of immense cultural, social, environmental and economic significance. From the Bushranger "Mad-Dog" Morgan, the countless picnics (some more successful than others), Leonard Cohen, Rod Stewart and the Boss, the Rock continues to reinvent itself into our communities folklore. On a clear day visitors to the Rock can be heard calling gleefully for our eternally lost "MIRANDA". On the 28/8/2013 the Macedon Ranges Shire Council approved a motion (4 votes to 4 [on casting]), which was affirmed (5 to 4) on 4/9/2013 to invite private investment and development of 5.8 hectares of the Hanging Rock precinct, and to undertake additional related development and works. The Council’s resolution: (a) bypasses the Council's own Community Consultation Framework, denying residents and stakeholders the opportunity to have their say (b) directs the development to include (per the Hanging Rock Development and Investment Plan): - a conference and function centre - a 100 room accommodation facility - a well-being centre and day spa - an unspecified number of "Creek Apartments" - a permanent stage and event structure - yoga and adventure facilities on the Hanging Rock Reserve. We have in good faith engaged with Council for six months since the original motion asking for due and proper process and encouraging community consultation. We have presented a petition of over 5,000 local signatories; we have found numerous inconsistencies in Council’s data and serious issues with their business case, but our Council persists unabated. The scope and scale of development proposed is not in keeping with the cultural heritage and environmental significance of Hanging Rock. The social, environmental and economic impacts on the greater Macedon Ranges region do not seem to have been fully investigated. At the very least these issues deserve rigorous debate and the Macedon Ranges community, as well as all the patrons, visitors and supporters of Hanging Rock across the world deserve to be heard. Thank you, and please help us have our say!

Palm oil is a versatile vegetable oil that is used in around 50% of our everyday goods - it is used in food, cosmetics, candles and even biofuels. Unfortunately, in 2007 the UN stated that palm oil plantations are the leading cause of rainforest destruction in Malaysia and Indonesia. Aside from the huge annual loss of rainforest systems, the clearing and burning of these areas has two major implications: 1) the burning contributes enormously to CO2 emissions and 2) due to clearing, the abundant and vibrant biodiversity in the Indo-Malay rainforests are replaced with a silent monoculture of Palm and this is most often a brutal transition. Wild Orangutan populations in connection with palm oil plantations have been in the spotlight in recent years. "According to the Centre for Orangutan Protection (COP), at least 1,500 orangutans were clubbed to death by palm oil plantation workers in 2006 alone. According to the UN, there is a risk that no wild orangutans will remain outside of protected areas by 2020" (Rainforest-Rescue.org). Please stop buying products that contain palm oil or palm oil products. We must save our Orangutans, we must save our rainforests, we must save our Earth.

The Australian community has lost faith in the regulatory bodies that oversee animal welfare arrangements, particularly those that relate to "production animals". Community members like myself do not believe that departments of agriculture are the appropriate bodies to oversee animal welfare regulation. We believe there is an urgent need to establish an Independent Office of Animal Welfare, to lead animal welfare policy and standards development and focus on animal welfare science and law. It is in the public interest to take this opportunity to improve animal welfare arrangements, and to establish the Independent Office that has already been promised to the Australian community.