This hospital is a massively important resource for our region. Any downgrade will have life-changing impacts. It needs to remain a functioning 24 hour emergency hospital. The MNCLHD propose to close the ED from 8pm to 8am, and all ED presentations between those hours would be directed to go to Coffs Harbour Base Hospital (CHBH). It also means there would be no Doctor present or on call at BRDH overnight. It is proposed to handle any deteriorating patients by phone contact with CHBH, and transfer them there as needed. Any ambulance calls from Bellingen Shire residents would be transported to CHBH and not to BRDH. This would include home calls and Nursing Home calls. It was shown recently on a weekend where there was not a Dr on call at BRDH that ambulance transfers from BRDH to CHBH took up to 13 hours. This would effectively reduce the BRDH to a sort of Multi-Purpose Service – though the MNCLHD maintains otherwise. It has been the experience of other hospitals where this has happened that the service capability of these hospitals has been markedly reduced, much to the detriment of the local community. It has also led to no local GP’s fulfilling VMO roles. Not because they did not want to but because they were eventually shut out by the LHD. Service reduction would affect ED after hours, inpatient Care and the ability of the local community to be admitted to BRDH in acute situations – as they are now able to do The VMO’s and community clearly and vocally opposed the MNCLHD Proposed Model.

Such financial policies further exacerbate rising economic and social inequality, which is one of the greatest threats society faces. It sends the message to less advantaged young people that they don't matter as much as others. The Government wishes to spend $5 billion more per annum on those children who happen to be born into fortunate families. This is a kick in the guts to the working class, who also want the best for their families. This government once again wants to prop up incredibly wealthy institutions, at the expense of fairness and equality for the majority of the emerging generation. Let's show them we won't have it!

Gas is bad for our planet - it’s a dirty and dangerous fossil fuel that fossil fuel corporations need to stop burning as soon as possible to give us any chance of avoiding a catastrophic climate future. The past two years have shown us that we are already living with the dangerous effects of a heating planet - with bushfires and floods raging across the country. Not only that, gas is bad for our health. As a retired GP I saw firsthand how many of my patients suffered from asthma. And according to the Asthma Council, burning gas inside produces nitrogen dioxide, which can exacerbate asthma and other respiratory illnesses. Why wouldn’t we clean up our homes with clean electricity instead? Canterbury-Bankstown Council have developed a country-leading plan to ban new gas connections and cut emissions. As many of us as possible need to get behind it! Sign my petition today.

Tassal salmon is responsible for a growing number of environmental catastrophes in Tasmanian waterways from to the Derwent estuary to Huin river and with their planned expansion in Storm bay, Bruny Island and several undisclosed sites around the Tasmanian coast. The cost to the environment and the local communities is seen through the impacts to clean drinking water, algae blooms, continuous industrial activity 24/7 and annihilation of marine life and entire marine ecosystems under and surrounding the salmon farms. Rather than managing Hobart’s drinking water for public risk, the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) – Tasmania’s environmental regulator – gives the appearance of existing only to enable the expansion of the salmon industry. Rather than improving hatchery standards to an acceptable level, it sanctions more and larger hatcheries on Hobart’s water catchment. Basic measures such as drum filters do not address the vast amount of dissolved nutrients – ammonia, nitrate, phosphorus – which hatchery fish release through their gills, along with decayed faeces and food, into the source of drinking water for half Tasmania’s population.

There are 9,000 Australian citizens abandoned by our Government, stuck in India. They will be criminalised, face fines of $66,000 and a 5-year jail term if they attempt to return home. There are 675,000 people of Indian origin in Australia. We are an important and growing part of the community here, and make significant contributions to the wellbeing of this society. We ask the Government of Australia - why should we labour to support this Government? The White Australia policy was renounced in 1973, or was it? Infection rates in the USA and UK peaked in January 2021 at 89 and 76 cases per 100,000. India's rates today are 27 cases per 100,000. Yet there is a ban on citizens travelling from India today. No other Aussies have faced this indignity. India's health and administrative systems are buckling under the care of Indian citizens. Yet one of the richest countries in the world says, "look after ours as well, thanks". Morrison's government has had 12 months to plan for quarantine facilities in response to desperate calls from Australian citizens stranded all over the world. Furthermore they promised to bring all Australians stranded overseas home by Christmas 2020. This week, our government has declared, effectively, that they are ok for Australian citizens in India to risk death. We demand that the Federal Government step up, increase repatriation flights, repurpose quarantine facilities, and bring our most at-risk citizens home. NOW. Friends, demand that our government treat the disease, not punish the person. Hold our government accountable to ALL Australians. ACT NOW:Sign this petition and share with your friends and family References: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/may/03/australias-india-travel-ban-does-the-health-justification-stack-up-and-is-the-move-legal https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-chart

The Village is the town’s premier attraction but currently locals can only get their by driving; extending the walking/cycling track to the village would not cost much but would greatly improve the exercise options of local residents.

318 human rights workers and activists murdered. 27,000 lives lost to extrajudicial killings. 122 children caught in the crossfire. In the Philippines, a humanitarian crisis is raging out of control. Since President Rodrigo Duterte assumed office in June 2016, thousands have lost their lives in his administration’s confected “War Against Drugs” and bloody crackdown on civil society. Emboldened by Duterte’s encouragement to “go ahead and kill [suspected drug dealers and users] yourself”, the Philippine National Police, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, and armed vigilante groups have mercilessly gunned down “suspects” — some as young as 17 years old — on the basis of false or non-existent evidence. Only three police officers have ever been convicted for their role in the killings. Under cover of the COVID-19 pandemic, Duterte has escalated his assault on activists, civil society, and the urban poor. While the Philippines braces for a third wave of the virus, police continue to harass and criminalise community pantries, murder Indigenous land rights activists, and “red-tag” (designate as a terrorist and place on a Government watch list) who dares speak out. As long-term supporters of the Philippine Military and Police Force, Australia has blood on its hands. Yet the Morrison Government refuses to condemn President Duterte and distance itself from his fascist regime. In February, The Sydney Morning Herald revealed that Australian security agencies provided “technical assistance” over 3 years to help draft the Filipino Anti-Terror Law that experts have dubbed a “‘human rights disaster”. The law provides legal basis for incorrectly labelling activists and humanitarian and civil society groups “terrorists” and allows their harassment, criminalisation, and murder. The Morrison Government does not publicly disclose the exact monetary value of military aid provided to the Philippines each year. However, the Australian Defence Force provides annual training for personnel from the Philippines Coast Guard and Department of National Defence. The Australian Government has also previously provided military personnel and equipment to the Philippines and trained over 10,000 Filipino army and marine personnel “in urban combat, air strike tactics in an urban environment” — the same tactics used to terrorise Filipinos and Filipino civil society. In solidarity with activists in the Philippines and the Filipino community in Australia, BAYAN Australia, Migrante Australia, and the Sydney and Melbourne chapters of Anakbayan call on Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne and Minister for Defence Peter Dutton to immediately cease all military aid to the Philippines. Will you join us in demanding the Australian Government end its role in the bloodshed in the Philippines by immediately ending all military aid to, and training operations in, the Philippines?

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”. Recent reports show that the Trump administration and CIA were working on plans to either kidnap or kill Julian Assange when he was a political asylee in London's Ecuadorian embassy. If extradited to the US, Julian Assange does not stand a chance. The Australian government must advocate for one of its own citizens. The people of Sydney want to see justice for Julian Assange and call on our elected representative to do all that she can to help free Julian Assange and bring him home.

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 its own citizens, now. The people of Wentworth want to see justice for Julian Assange and call on our elected representative to do all that she can to help bring Julian home.

The $4b project is projected to cut the time for a Geelong - Melbourne trip to 50 minutes. This is 5 minutes longer than the 2006 Regional Fast Rail express train trip of 45 minutes. For this sort of money we should be embarking on true High Speed Rail with an estimated Geelong - Melbourne trip of 17 minutes ( http://www.megarail.com.au/ ) The MegaRail proposal with stations at Avalon Airport and Werribee will greatly enhance the livability and and economic strength of Melbourne's west as well as Geelong and could be built with the $4b currently available as a privately co-funded Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) project. The State Government $50m Geelong Fast Rail Study announced in March 2018 promised train speeds of between 250kph and 300kph. This proposal using conventional V/Line Trains and a third track between Werribee and Laverton is a total cop-out and if Geelong lets it happen we will never get a decent High-Speed train service.

To get to the shops from the cinema and vis versa you have to cross multiple roads. the paths are uneven and unsuitable for scooters, wheelchairs, bikes or hoverboards. My dad is in a wheelchair and has to travel on road and through the busy carpark to get from the cinema to the shops.

If fish farms are established in NW Tasmania's pristine waters then there will be a massive negative impact on our environment, economy and society. Wynyard, Burnie, Sisters Beach, Table Cape to Stanley's economies are based on a clean, green and unspoiled image. If the NW Brand is tainted by its association with industrial fish farming, and the rapidly accelerating negative press and opposition it is generating, then our economy will be severely impacted. The very reasons that attract visitors and residents to NW Tasmania are diametrically opposed to the industrialisation of our pristine marine environment. Our way of life and quality of life are under threat just so companies and shareholders can make even more money. We reject private corporations & the government making profits off the backs of pristine waters & residents