Children deserve to walk or ride to school safely. Walking to school improves kids' fitness and independence. However, they are often driven over short distances to school by parents. Parents perceive that their child's journey to school is unsafe on part of or on their whole journey. As a result, our streets are subject to tens of thousands more car trips every year, making them even less safe and clogging up roads with unnecessary traffic during morning drop off and afternoon pick up. Streets without footpaths and crossings with speed limits higher than 30km/h are not considered safe by Australia's safe system approach. The Case for crossings: Research shows that children cannot judge gaps in traffic consistently when cars go faster than 30km/h to safely cross a street On streets where there are no footpaths and crossings, reducing the car speed to 30km/h would prevent most accidents: the stopping distance for a car traveling 30km/h is 13m. Stopping distance for a car traveling 50km/h is 37m. The risk of death or serious injury if hit at 30km/h is less than 10%; compared to 90% if hit at 50km/h. It is an unreasonable risk to place our children in harms way on their journey to school.

Over the course of the past three decades, the local GP’s in town visited the hospital, now only twelve GPs visit the hospital and the town's population has tripled, and continues to grow without adequate health infrastructure. Cessnock LGA now has a jail that has two thousand inmates who rely on Cessnock Hospital for all their acute medical needs. Prior to the Covid pandemic, Maitland Hospital was supplying two doctors four days a week to cover the Emergency Department but when the pandemic hit those doctors were taken away and have not been replaced. The GPs have tried to fill those gaps but on many days through the week and after 11 pm at night there is, more often than not, no doctor available in the emergency department. The Area Health Service has tried to plug those gaps with a Telehealth service but this system is slow and cumbersome and can never adequately replace a doctor in person. The lack of full-time medical cover is leading to an unprecedented blowout in wait times, and transfers out of Cessnock and is placing patient safety at risk.

There is a tendency to use the word victim as though it is a person's choice. People who find themselves on income support are generally in this unwilling position through various circumstances beyond their control, and in the main would rather be independent as opposed to a burden on society. If you ask yourself what story is really behind the person begging for change at your supermarket, what might come to mind? Do you consider Domestic Violence? Mental Health challenges? Childhood sexual assault? Are they a descendant of Australia's stolen generations? Marginalised due to ethnicity? A refugee? With all that we now understand regarding mental health and trauma, it's time to implement it where it can make the greatest impact. As an educated and privileged nation, we need to take responsibility for those most vulnerable and create genuine compassionate revisions to the services that are here to assist. As an example, NSW Health has available information on their website about Trauma Informed services detailing considerations and responsible processes for dealing with clients who have suffered trauma, along with the principles of Mental Health Human Rights. https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/mentalhealth/psychosocial/principles/Pages/trauma-informed.aspx Services Australia and Centrelink need to take a health based approach in their delivery of human services, to honour and properly reflect the Department of Social Services own Access & Equity policy. We need to remind ourselves we do not exist on a level playing field as far as our life experiences. The rhetoric of equal opportunity doesn't apply to those handicapped by misfortune of their circumstances.

Children deserve to walk or ride to school safely. Walking to school improves kids' fitness and independence. However, they are often driven over short distances to school by parents. Parents perceive that their child's journey to school is unsafe on part of or on their whole journey. As a result, our streets are subject to tens of thousands more car trips every year, making them even less safe and clogging up roads with unnecessary traffic during morning drop off and afternoon pick up. Streets without footpaths and crossings with speed limits higher than 30km/h are not considered safe by Australia's safe system approach. The Case for crossings: Research shows that children cannot judge gaps in traffic consistently when cars go faster than 30km/h to safely cross a street On streets where there are no footpaths and crossings, reducing the car speed to 30km/h would prevent most accidents: the stopping distance for a car traveling 30km/h is 13m. Stopping distance for a car traveling 50km/h is 37m. The risk of death or serious injury if hit at 30km/h is less than 10%; compared to 90% if hit at 50km/h. It is an unreasonable risk to place our children in harms way on their journey to school.

All of us have had some experience with someone experiencing chronic illness. Imagine if it were you, and you have faced a life being told, ‘it’s in your head, oh it’s not that bad, I don’t know what’s wrong!’ This is the common experience of people with rare conditions. The social media groups are filled with horror stories of poor treatment, medical gaslighting and a profound level of medical ignorance. It is appalling that here in Australia we do not have adequate trading of Dr’s in these conditions. I think most of us could recall a time when we have had a bad experience with medical treatment, imagine if that one experience was repeated many times over, over many years. At the same time you just continue to get more unwell. This is what it’s like to have a rare genetic condition. I believe that we can demand better from our decision makers. I believe that this is an opportunity for Australia to lead the world in coordinated treatment and research options for those with these conditions.

The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons - adopted by 122 nations in 2017 and entered into force in 2021 offers a powerful alternative to a world in which threats of mass destruction are allowed to prevail. Weapons that have been outlawed by international treaties are increasingly seen as illegitimate, losing their political status. Three out of four people want the Australian Government to sign and ratify the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, but it hasn’t happened yet. Local councils directly represent communities and ordinary people. As with the Climate crisis, Councils have a powerful role to play in driving important change.

The ability of the media to report freely on matters of public interest is a crucial indicator of democracy. However this right to seek and disseminate information through an independent press is increasingly under attack. If Julian Assange, an Australian journalist can be prosecuted and imprisoned for espionage in the United States, then no media professional or citizen journalist anywhere, is safe to report information exposing government crimes. The United Nations Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer, has called for Assange’s immediate release, asserting that “In 20 years of work with victims of war, violence and political persecution I have never seen a group of democratic States ganging up to deliberately isolate, demonize and abuse a single individual for such a long time and with so little regard for human dignity and the rule of law.” Australia must advocate for one of its own citizens, now. The people of Casey want to see justice for Julian Assange and call on our elected representative to do all that he can to help bring Julian home.

Imagine living, working, and otherwise contributing to a community where you have no power. Imagine feeling like your voice is never heard in your own home. Imagine being denied the right to vote… in 2022. That is the reality of being a permanent resident in so-called Australia, in this so-called democracy. Estimates suggest that there are 2 million Permanent Residents in Australia*. That's a hefty percentage of our population! For many, getting to this point has been a battle hard-fought. Tears, sacrifices and a significant financial impact are all worth it for many of us, for that sense of security (a sense denied to many of us who were still on temporary visas through the pandemic). Many of us have jobs, and pay taxes. Taxes we don’t get any say in how they are spent. We work in health, education, government, for non-profits - just like Australians. Some of us work those jobs no Australians will do, perhaps on the farms. Some of us volunteer, or get involved with our local community in other ways. We may be students, bettering ourselves for the sake of this country. Others still raise Australian children, our future generation. Some do it all, while some are just figuring it out right now. But even those who do “nothing” contribute to our economy, and more importantly, our society. No matter the level of these contributions, we should all count. Politics literally touch every tiny bit of our lives, every day. The rights we have at work, the protections we have as women, children, or people living with a disability, as well as our ability to access the healthcare and welfare systems. The list goes on. So, why don’t we just become citizens? It is not that easy. Not only is it a time-consuming process, you have to meet a lot of extra requirements. Plus - you guessed it - you have to pay more money (the costs just doubled last year). The wait lists are also pretty ridiculous… and the applications are not processed in order, despite claims to the contrary. Finally, many countries don’t even allow you to have dual citizenship! We are not asking for special treatment. I cannot possibly speak for everybody, but most of us are so grateful to be here. On a personal level, I believe the right to vote is so important. Women died for the right. In all patriarchal and/or white supremacist and/or classist societies, denying a marginalised group the right to vote has always been commonplace. Disgracefully, First Nations people were only given such a right (on stolen land) in 1962. This seems unthinkable now. While I cannot begin to imagine such oppression, surely this is shocking as well? The etymology of the word "democracy" roughly means "the will of the people". ALL people. Did you know? Other countries allow all residents to vote, providing they have shown at least some commitment. The commitment we have shown, I promise you, goes above and beyond. I have been here for almost 6 years, dedicating myself to this country and its people. I am far from the only one. I will pursue this campaign even after I proudly accept my citizenship, hopefully later this year. I love my Australian partner, my Australian friends, all of my opportunities. Chances are, you know someone like me - maybe you were someone like me - please let us be heard! Personally, I think we should allow anyone living here long-term the right (including prisoners), but let’s start with PR. This is our home, our FOREVER home, and we care about it - so we want the chance to make it better. *It is strangely difficult to find the exact numbers of Permanent Residents living in Australia. For the year ending 30 June 2020, there were over 7.6 million migrants living in Australia. 29.8% of Australia's population were born overseas. According to the most recent data from 2016, only 82% of respondents were citizens on Census night. In my city, Sydney, that figure dropped to 64%. Allowing for many temporary visa holders and even tourists, this still leaves a large amount of Permanent Residents unaccounted for. (Please note, 2021 data has not yet been published)

Gas is a dangerous, polluting fossil fuel. It releases greenhouse gasses that contribute to the horrific bushfires and raging floods we’ve seen devastate communities across the country in recent years. And it isn’t just a disaster for our climate. It’s also bad for our health. Public health experts are concerned about the health risks of cooking with gas in our homes, which can have a similar impact on childhood asthma as living with cigarette smoke. And here in Victoria, we burn more gas per person than any other state. But the good news is that some local councils around the country are bowing to community pressure and taking matters into their own hands - promising to end new gas connections, and help people with the cost of switching to electricity and renewables. And with enough pressure from the community, our local council could join this movement today!

Children in the ACT deserve to safely walk or ride to school (or to public transport to get to school). Walking or riding to school improves children's fitness and independence. However, they are often driven over short distances to school because parents perceive that their child's journey to school is unsafe for part or the whole of the journey. As a result, our streets are subject to tens of thousands more car trips every year, making them even less safe and clogging up roads with unnecessary traffic during morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up. Streets without footpaths and crossings with speed limits higher than 30km/h are not considered safe under the Safe System approach used in Australia and the ACT. The Safe System approach is the basis for and at the heart of all ACT Government transport policy making and efforts to improve road safety and achieve Vision Zero for deaths and serious injuries on our roads. Why we need Safe Streets to School: - Research shows that children cannot judge gaps in traffic consistently when cars go faster than 30km/h to safely cross a street - On streets where there are no footpaths and crossings, reducing the car speed to 30km/h would prevent most accidents: the stopping distance for a car traveling 30km/h is 13m. Stopping distance for a car traveling 50km/h is 37m. The risk of death or serious injury if hit at 30km/h is less than 10%; compared to 90% if hit at 50km/h. It is an unreasonable risk to place our children in harms way on their journey to school. Safe Streets to School will help: - achieve each of the four goals of the ACT Road Safety Strategy 2020-2025 - make Canberra a healthy, active and inclusive city, including being Australia’s most walkable city - the ACT reach its legislated target of zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2045, because it will help people if they feel safe enough to choose active travel and so reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport. Our children deserve the right to walk to school (or public transport to get to school), so they can have a healthy and safe future. We do not believe it is fair to wait for an accident to happen and our children to get injured or killed before they can walk or ride safely. Please make our streets to school safe now.

Djaki Kundu (Rocky Ridge in English), also referred to as 'the Gympie Pyramid' is being destroyed as we speak, for a highway upgrade carried out by the Department of Transport and Main roads Queensland. Djaki Kundu is an ancient and sacred healing site, connected to the Seven Sisters dreaming song-lines and stories, and a place to commune with the Star Ancestors.  Djaki Kundu is situated in Bunya Country near Gympie, in what is now called Queensland, Australia.  Kabi Elders and guardians of the site have inherited a religious and spiritual Djakurpa tribal Law responsibility to protect the sacred site, which was built thousands of years ago by Kabi Ancestors. Kabi tribal Elders are distressed that Queensland government authorities are destroying the site and it's ancient sacred relics in order to upgrade a highway, despite the fact Australian Laws make it illegal to destroy 'Aboriginal cultural heritage' or 'Aboriginal relics'. Human rights abuse will not be tolerated of Kabi Country. Urgent action needs to be taken, COME TO GYMPIE and follow posts by Kabi dreaming on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/Kabi.Dreaming/ SIGN PETITION and show your support by messaging Department of Transport and Main Roads QLD, QLD environment minister, governing authorities, offering legal assistance and sharing this breach of human rights in person and online.

Forty years ago, the Australian Association for Environmental Education (AAEE) was formed to champion education reforms (Education for Sustainability is the latest term to describe that) focused on positively connecting students with nature, developing critical thinking and analytical skills and empowering them to help develop solutions to our human induced environmental problems. Now, we need an education revolution to save the planet. In Our campaign supports other international campaigns to develop grassroots support and on the ground efforts by students, educators, and civil society to demand national level commitments from Ministries of Education and Environment. Through this campaign, we will ensure that students in Australia and across the world benefit from high-quality education to develop into informed and engaged environmental stewards. AAEE believes that every school in the world must have compulsory, assessed climate and environmental education with a strong civic engagement component focused on achieving a sustainable society.