The carbon tax legislation has lead to the development of new business opportunities in green industries and sustainable business models. Repealing the carbon tax will lead to job losses in the new green economy. We need to demonstrate to the government and the community the impact that repealing the carbon tax will have on new green businesses. Green business is just as important to the economy as dirty business.

Because 83% of Australian's polled by Auspoll before the election thought it was more important than education, border protection and fast and affordable broadband, but they were ignored by the major parties 105,000 Australians face homelessness each night 173,000 Australians are on waiting lists for public housing 460,000 low income Australians in private rental are in housing stress 50% of home buyers are in mortgage stress Because if you don't have affordable shelter, your ability to provide other essentials for yourself such as food, utility costs, health, and your access to education and employment are seriously compromised AND The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 25, states that everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services

(Background) The Casino to M'bah line was opened in 1894 and operated until the NSW government closed the service in 2004 despite widespread community opposition. The last service on the line was an XPT that only ran twice a day. REOPENING THE CASINO-MURWILLUMBAH RAIL LINE FOR COMMUTER SERVICES TO CREATE AN INTEGRATED PUBLIC TRANSPORT SYSTEM IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE: •Significantly increasing population (Northern Rivers has the highest predicted population growth in NSW) •We have a high reliance on private cars. Rising petrol prices, climate change. Rail would be better for the environment by reducing our co2 emissions. •To reduce Traffic congestion at Byron Bay, Lismore, main highways, local markets and festivals. Rail would provide infrastructure to deal with Peak Tourism periods •Reduce Road maintenance (buses create more road damage than cars). •To reduce the Northern Rivers Road Toll, which is the highest in NSW. The Pacific Highway is the most dangerous road in NSW. and there is an accident on Bangalow-Lismore Rd on average once a week. We are losing far too many local lives on our roads, including accidents involving vehicles, hitch-hikers, cyclists or trucks. •Reduce the high rate of drink driving in the Byron Shire. •Many towns are currently not connected by public bus services. The Railway connects most towns to the regional centre Lismore, and to tourism hotspot Byron Bay. Connects residents to essential services. •Trains cater for elderly, disabled, wheelchairs, bicycles and surfboards •Support locals accessing Education, Housing and Employment, Community Health, Youth ,and Mental Health Services, eg. ‘Headspace' in Lismore •Will create jobs, reduce social isolation, addresses local social issues and disadvantage •Promote Northern Rivers Regional Tourism: Heritage Rail, access to recreational activities including local markets, beach, galleries, local produce, festivals, beautiful scenery, country towns, National Parks •A Rail Trail Study has been announced, but rail trails work much better when integrated with a train service, especially through our terrain and dispersed towns. •Freight HQ at Casino provides freight opportunities as the rail is adjacent to many mayor supermarkets and industrial areas, and the local area produces crops such as sugar, soybeans, nuts and coffee. Putting road freight onto rail will make local roads safer •If the High Speed Rail is built in the future between Sydney and Brisbane via Casino, rail travel times from the Northern Rivers to Brisbane will be reduced to 2hrs or less, and will be more efficient than road travel

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!

*Current processes trap people in untenable circumstances, without hope, access to health, education, appropriate housing or physical and emotional safety. *Tragic loss of life occurs at sea or by self harm, or violence and incarceration without cause, because - WE - do nothing to provide intelligent, humane alternatives. *People in 1st world countries are wrongly encouraged to see refugees/asylum seekers as undesirable, dangerous, and a threat to our well-being, life-style and living standards, and to loose their ability to empathise, or to recognise that - there but for the grace of God, Buda, Allah, or even Hughie, go I -. *Asylum seekers all over the world, in every major country, are currently vilified, forced into illegal activity to survive, separated from families for very long periods of time, and incarcerated in appalling environments with no hope for the future.

Article showing my dedicated work with Kangaroos in Canberra Times http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/canberra-city-of-animal-lovers-20120714-222rk.html. Click on link to view final poll results: http://wildlifecarersgroup.wordpress.com/2012/09/01/canberra-times-final-kangaroo-killing-poll-results-closed-25512/?preview=true&preview_id=748&preview_nonce=0370f2d679 . An abuse of rate/taxpayers money that cost over $200,000, and an abuse of the government and government department's positions, ignoring expert advice outside the government. Please check out http://wildlifecarersgroup.wordpress.com/?sn=l, http://wildlifecarersgroup.wordpress.com/2012/06/07/protected-native-violent-kangaroo-killing-in-the-act-7-june-2012/. Native grasses are not threatened by the kangaroos, but by human activity, including toxic sprays. ANIMAL WELFARE - Click on the links below, to view kangaroo cruelty and horror. Kangaroos are killed in an extremely inhumane manner. Legally kangaroos killed are required to be killed by a single shot to the brain. there are instances where kangaroos are not killed in this manner. As a result, the kangaroo is shot agonisingly in the jaw, neck or the body, flees in response and will suffer a prolonged and painful death. These joeys are killed often by shooters smashing them into the ground, against tow bars of cars or with a metal pipe or other blunt instrument. Alternatively, when not caught, an out of pouch joey will be left to fend for itself and will generally die of predation, starvation or dehydration.This is not to mention the stress suffered by kangaroos from hearing shots being fired and from being chased down by shooters. Please click on or copy and paste this link into your browser to view more information on Kangaroo abuse and sign as well: http://www.change.org/petitions/chief-minister-environment-minister-greens-party-prime-minister-stop-the-unlawful-violent-killing-of-protected-native-kangaroos ‘....anyone who intentionally tortures a dog or cat is a threat to public safety, and should be dealt with severely," DeSteph said in a statement....DeSteph told ABC News he plans to send the legislation to other state lawmakers and work with national animal welfare groups to get the law introduced across the country. There have been studies that show a connection between animal cruelty and many other crimes, from drug and firearm offenses to battery and sexual assault, according to the Humane Society....’The same applies to Kangaroos and all other animals, the entire animal kingdom, not just cats and dogs.The Government’s proposed Animal Welfare Bill should be citing the same as above to immediately stop the Kangaroo killings to arrest and lock up the Government officials responsible for the Kangaroo killings since 2004-2019.The Animal Welfare Bill cannot be in compliance with the Government,the Government has to be in compliance with it The kangaroo management plan is conjunctional, incompetent, and not based on any scientific facts. The only objects that are causing the destruction of grasslands, woodlands, threatened species and ecosystems are tams staff and their shooters, the cattle they put into all the nature reserves after killing all the kangaroos in 2011 because the grass was too long, and the government that fails to listen to the experts, to end this unlawful violent, unnecessary killing that will drive our protected native Kangaroos to extinction. Click on this link for more information: http://wildlifecarersgroup.wordpress.com/2011/08/04/wildlife-carers-group-wcg-visit-to-callum-brae-nature-reserve-etc-full-5-day-work-experience-student-wes-placement-report-trained-by-wcg-founding-president-nora-preston-4-8-july-2011/?sn=l We require the government department TAMS/TCCS (have changed their name or relevant Dept)authority who deal with applications to kill protected native species, and applications for the native wildlife rehabilitation licence to be removed from TAMS/TCCS or relevant Dept and handed over to Wildlife Carers Group. We require that the Eastern Grey Kangaroos, along with other persecuted macropods and native wildlife to be placed on the Critically Endangered list, AUSTRALIA WIDE. We require changes in the legislations/Acts and policies in the ACT, and Australia wide, to ensure that all protected native wildlife are protected and not be allowed to be killed. Wildlife Carers Group Wildlife Rehabilitation Licence to include FULL TERM REHABILITATION OF SICK INJURED ORPHANED NATIVE EASTERN GREY KANGAROOS, AND ALL OTHER ENDANGERED NATIVE WILDLIFE THAT ARE CURRENTLY OMITTED FROM THE LICENCE. The unlawful entry and stealing of my wildlife from my property by tams, the rspca and the police occurred as a result of me taking the Conservator of Flora and Fauna to court for the unlawful violent killing of the kangaroos/animal cruelty in 2012, to stop the unlawful violent killing and to have the Acts and policies that govern these policies changed. This action against me was more abuse of taxpayers money and vexatious by the government. To see the full reports please click on these links: http://wildlifecarersgroup.wordpress.com/2012/09/01/rspca-selling-stolen-wildlife-belonging-to-wildlife-carers-group-act-greens-party-offer-the-act-rspca-1million-rspca-animal-cruelty-continues-super-trawler-petitions-1912/ Full story on unlawful entry and theft of wildlife, click on these links: http://wildlifecarersgroup.wordpress.com/2012/08/28/unlawful-entry-and-seizure-of-wildlife-letters-sent-to-canberra-tmes-but-not-published-28812/, and follow the other links about tams, the rspca, the chief minister that follow these reports. http://wildlifecarersgroup.wordpress.com/?sn=l http://wildlifecarersgroup.wordpress.com/2012/12/21/wildlife-carers-group-visit-to-antarctica-melbourne-aquarium-competition-ongoing-animal-cruelty-by-rspcamore-211212/?preview=true&preview_id=868&preview_nonce=c1ce95b73f.

Access to physical bank services is a basic need.

Short term holiday letting in residential areas is having a huge impact on communities. Many long term residents are surrounded by short term rentals which mean no consistent neighbours and loss of all that neighbourhoods have to offer. Many young people are unable to afford to buy a home in the place where they were born and their family live because short term holiday rentals have forced the price of homes out of the reach of ordinary working Australians. Many workers are unable to afford to rent near their work because of the lack of permanent rentals. Short term rentals bring greater returns to absentee landlords. Communities are suffering with the loss of permanent population influencing availability of workers, numbers of students in schools, volunteer numbers and general mental health of those who reside in communities that are consistently disrupted by partying short term renters. Having a continual turnover of strangers as neighbours is not sustainable for a community. The community of Byron Bay ask the Local and State governments to act on this issue. Ban short term holiday letting in residential areas.

According to the WHO guidelines, 40% of Australians are classified as inactive. The costs to the health care system of inactivity related disease and illness is enormous. The burden of disease for Bribie Island and surrounding communities is already relatively high compared to neighbouring jurisdictions due an older population and people from low socio-economic backgrounds. Public pools can help reduce morbidity and mortality. Learn to swim, aquatherapy, aquarobics, lap or squad swimming, school carnivals and specifically tailored activities not only improves individual well-being, their provision can also contribute positively to the broader community socially and economically.

Recruitment is a dog eat dog world where a number of candidates are mismatched to company's requirements by agents causing hurt, pain, discouragement, and at times depression for candidates who have been in the market for some time in search of a job. When companies can pay recruitment agencies to source talent, why cannot companies incentivise the recruitment process for future asset pool by paying qualified candidates to be paid for each stage of interview they are part of? This will instil responsibility in all involved parties.

Australian Unity (AU) and Lane Cove Council (LCC) plan to build a 7 storey 160 unit seniors and aged care complex on public recreation play fields at 266 Longueville rd, Lane Cove. The AU proposal is grossly incompatible in height, bulk, scale and built form with the well-established surrounding residences and the Development Control Plan for the site. The idea to build units on recreation play fields has been strongly opposed by the public. However, LCC has a $34 M interest by a 99yr lease to AU and is seen to enable maximising profits, instead of performing its usual role of protecting the surrounding Environment conservation zone and 46 families that surround the property. It shut down the Commissioner Eric Armstrong Public Hearing, when the commissioner deferred his decision pending an assessment by LCC to ensure the land is not required for future recreational needs. It then removed the “Bush Fire Prone” zoning of the land, to remove asset protection zones and increase foot print. It supported the development exceeding the councils own LEP height restriction and destruction of trees in the Environment conservation zone passing through the property. The clause removed, was formulated by the SNPP themselves. Therefore it is fully aware of what is required for compatibility. It restricts 5 levels overlooking the Golf course and re-states the height restriction and built form on the LEP to ensure no height differential with the low density residences 12m away. The amenity of the golf course and 46 residences with boundaries to these play fields are severely affected by the incompatible and uncontrolled profit maximisation of this over development. It is an injustice to the surrounding families. Demand independence, consistency and integrity from the Sydney North Planning Panel by signing this petition, now! Please spread the word!

We have no local parks, reserves or footpaths, while council areas such as Clarence sets the standard. We need reserves and parks for children, parents and grandparents - a common area to value. We need footpaths for safety as mothers with strollers are forced to walk on the busy roads in the area.