Yesterday I heard on the radio news that a highly regarded Indigenous Elder refused to accept his Australia Day Award. That was perfect timing for me as I have been trying to change Australia Day for the past 5 years. When I was in year 12 in 1971, my maths teacher invited me to a week long camp at Lane Cove National Park, Sydney. I did not realise what sort of camp it was initially. I soon learnt that it was the yearly camp to reunite Indigenous siblings who were still being separated and living with different White families. I made many friends there and reflected that had my cousins been born into a family with an Indigenous mother, they too would have been taken away to live with White families. I still live with the shock of what that week was about to this very day. It tore at my heart to try to comfort two precious sisters who were about to be separated again for another LONG year. That was something I have NEVER forgotten. The camp was pervaded with PANIC that last day. I feel that we all need a Commemorative Day on 26 January. There is still much healing to be allowed and this day will also include minority groups such as mine - complex trauma, people from war-torn countries, and even asylum seekers who are feeling political unrest and torture. We all carry traumatic memories that need time to heal and given the respect of the nation to give us this day each year on 26 January.We need a national, inclusive Commemoration Day on 26 January to be dedicated to the memories of all the events that brought/bring/will bring the original generations of the First Peoples in Australia, the invaders and their generations of offspring, more recent migrants and their families, and asylum seekers together to actively remember the actions of past others and to celebrate the survival of all minority groups against enormous odds. Then we need to bring everyone together into the present time with an all inclusive Australia Day on 1 September, the first day of Spring. Then and only then will Australians be able to start growing up emotionally.

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

The Philip Kennedy Hospice at Largs Bay is unique in Australia. It is the only hospice under the roof of a nursing home. It is a 12 bed unit run by a very dedicated and experienced team of qualified nurses, many if whom have spent many years working there. The team is supported by local GP practices and also the Central Adelaide Palliative Service (CAPS) at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Patients are admitted from TQEH, community and other health care facilities. All are guesstimated to be in the last 3 months of their lives with a life shortening illness. Many are complex, have been through the hospital system and cannot be cared for at home. Many are admitted in crisis for the community. Approximately 300 patients a year are serviced through this hospice which has been running for over 25 years. On Wednesday last week the government told Southern Cross Care (SCC), who's roof the hospice is under, that they will be withdrawing funding in December and therefore the hospice will no longer be open. The 12 beds will be filled with nursing home patients, qualified staff will no longer be required, SCC don't have enough positions to offer the approx 28 qualified nurses who work in the unit, many will be made redundant. But most importantly palliative patients will have nowhere to go. Not everyone can be cared for in the home, there is only so long a patient can be kept in hospital, if the hospital has a bed. The CAPS team is already stretched and now have nowhere to send their patients in crisis from the community but to emergency departments, where they realistically may spend their last hours in this earth. All of this for $1million! That is the funding being withdrawn and apparently put back into other palliative services but not to provide alternative beds. The community of the western suburbs have been let down by the government and it is disgusting. I am hoping that you can at least spread the word on this matter so that the community are aware of this great impending loss. The politicians seem to forget that peoples lives are at the bottom of all this, yes it would be lovely to think that the terminally ill can all die in their own beds at home but this is not always desired, practical or possible. Ask the 33 year old single mother of 3 with a terminal brain tumour who will look after her at home?!

(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

A Veteran's promise is to serve and protect their country and its people. A Veteran's promise is sealed with the knowledge that it may cost them, at worst....their life!! They put their lives on hold; even their family and friends come second in line to their service. They have endured the hardships of conflict, they have witnessed the inconceivable and they bear the physical and mental scars of warfare.Yet the "thanks" that so many of them get in return is failures in important government programs, particularly in the health, aged care and other human services areas, resulting in poor access to services, insufficient service coverage, inappropriate service models and cultural barriers. We need the general public to take notice, take a stand and help give something back to our Veterans who willingly risked their lives so that we can be free.

*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.

Child Sexual Abuse in childhood results in sustained psychological trauma that lasts a life time, hindering the quality of life for not just the survivor but families as well. This includes periods of various severities of PTSD, depression and anxiety as well as other mental health issues. This means that survivors may not be able to maintain consistent personal relationships as well as "normal" career and work goals. Recovery from childhood abuse requires specialist health services for mental, emotional and physical care. Child Sexual Abuse causes profound psychological damage to the development of an individual and as such, can take a lifetime to be healed.

This advocacy and advice, welfare legal service is vital to low income earners on Centrelink who desperately need advice and advocacy regarding overpayments, debts, wrongful decisions that Centrelink makes and also challenges legislation passed through Federal Government that adversely affects people on Centrelink benefits. The Centre also provides the voice of many thousands of struggling people to the media based on a case by case advocacy service with real stories of hardship to back them up.

I read with great concern in the news recently (http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/a-child-taken-a-mother-grieves-20121214-2bfd9.html of the case of a mother with a mild cognitive disability who has lost custody of her 8 year old daughter on the basis of this disability. I was even more dismayed to read that even though there was no evidence that the child was at risk of harm or neglect, the Family Court found in favour of the elderly relatives of her estranged partner. This was despite the evidence pointing to her being a warm, caring and loving mother with a supportive mother of her own and a circle of caring friends. The article states that “The case has deeply concerned lawyers and human rights workers, who believe Rebecca is the victim of an inflexible Australian Family Law Act that discriminates against disabled parents in breach of United Nations conventions protecting the rights of the disabled and children. For some, there are disturbing parallels with the Stolen Generations - the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children forcibly removed by the state because their parents were deemed incapable of properly caring for them.” As the mother of a young child, I can imagine the pain, loss, anger and fear that this mother is feeling, at losing her child over something that she did not ask for and that she cannot change but that has not prevented her from being a loving, caring mother. Our Government should be doing everything possible to keep children in the care of their natural parent/s, and supporting them to raise their children in a loving environment. It is grossly unfair to treat disability as a barrier to parenting, in the same way that drug addiction is treated as a barrier to parenting and even worse to disregard the actual facts of their situation when making a ruling. The Australia Family Law Act must be amended to support parents with a disability and their children and ensure they are dealt with on the actual basis of their case and not on an irrelevant technicality, so that no other Australian family should face such a needless tragedy.

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.

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.

This green space is home to many species of birds and animals. During the recent closure of the reserve these birds and animals were often found distressed by the encroachment on their homeland. Butler Reserve has been used by all locals. Elderly people who were born in nearby homes and have lived there all their lives use it to walk safely often with their pets.. Until the council prevented access to the Reserve youngsters regularly played cricket , football and other games as it is the only safe space large enough for this use in the area. Thousands of people benefit ( local vendors, shop keepers ,musicians and tourists) from both the Monthly and weekly Farmer's markets. Butler Reserve provides a tranquil space during the very busy tourist times. Again before access was closed artists could be found painting or musicians playing and writing in solace. Experimental attempts at providing a carpark on this reserve have all failed. During the past it has been opened as a free carpark which led to overuse by van dwellers who while they attempted to treat the land with respect had no facilities provided by Council. Therefore rubbish and human waste became a problem. The Reserve was then transformed into a paid carpark and was immediately underused and remained so until this scheme was also abandoned by Council. It is clear that the carpark idea does not work and should not be implemented. Greenspace is a form of social capital that is evidently highly valued by all councils in other LGA's eg. Gold Coast. In fact it is also apparent that these public green spaces are highly valued in all country towns even those where available water is an issue. They reflect the underlying values of a town and their leaders. Increasing they are being seen a highly important for the wholistic health of people, mental, physical and spiritual. Please accept this as a sincere and worthwhile platform for abandoning any plans for a carpark on Butler Reserve.