“It is about telling diverse Australian stories [and] cultivating and celebrating Australian culture.” - Isabella, local resident of Wentworth The ABC keeps our country safe in times of crisis. It helps us stay informed with stories we can trust. It holds truth to power at a time when misinformation is on the rise. It educates our children. Many Wentworth locals grew up with the ABC and depend on it daily, so it’s hard to imagine our lives without it. We need to act now before it’s too late - $783 million has already been cut from the ABC’s budget in the period of 2014-2022, over 250 jobs have been slashed and countless programmes have been axed.* The October Budget is a crucial moment for the ABC. Reports in the media are suggesting further cuts are to be expected, pushing the ABC’s future into even more doubt. The ABC is the most trusted news source in the country. It brings our community together, it’s there for us in the darkest of times. We need Mr Sharma to stand up for the ABC now, before it’s too late. * 'ABC loses $783m funding since 2014 when Coalition made its first cuts – report', The Guardian, 4 May 2020

This is a natural disaster. The Volunteers who have been battling the Australian bush fires are exhausted. They are in desperate need of man power. The flames of the fires burning in Gosper Mountain last night were over 60 metres high. Six people have passed and over 500 homes have been lost.

Koalas are now functionally extinct. We have wildlife hospitals over capacity and surviving almost entirely on donations, rescue organisations and carers trying to save animals often in their homes at their own expense. People from all over the world donating and stepping in to help. Yet our government pays next to nothing to support our wildlife hospitals and stand up to their responsibility. Too little too late for Queenslands fauna emblem and one of Australia's most recognisable native animals. What's going to be next?

How many people have to suffer before a #Robodebt Royal Commission is called? #Robodebt useds intentionally flawed "data matching" to make inflated debt claims from six or more years previously, places the onus on the victim to disprove the claims within 28 days, the department refuses to provide any justification for its claims when asked to do so, and then initiates procedures to recover "debts" including heavy-handed use of debt collectors when the debts are still in dispute. Despite improvements to the program, including increased involvement from Centrelink staff and outreach to affected welfare recipients, the scheme is still having an adverse impact on vulnerable people. Debts raised under past iterations of the scheme need to be reviewed, because people who had overpayments raised under the old system, which involved very little oversight from staff, would have paid back money they did not owe. #Robodebt causes stress and anxiety among the country’s most vulnerable people. Research has shown welfare recipients are more likely to report mental health issues and the debt recovery scheme has “exacerbated” the existing hardship and symptoms of mental illness of affected people. #Robodebt reverses the onus of proof onto welfare recipients, and those who do not engage with the process or are unable to provide such evidence are likely to get a debt notice because compliance staff will then use a “controversial averaging” tool to predict their fortnightly income using their annual tax return. The government needs to be brought to justice for causing millions of people severe stress over fake debt notices delivered by his #Robodebt scheme. Robodebt Class Action https://gordonlegal.com.au/robodebt-class-action/ Robodebt is an abuse of power. It should never have seen the light of day https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/28/robodebt-is-an-abuse-of-power-it-should-never-have-seen-the-light-of-day Please sign this petition and share across your social media. If you have a Centrelink debt you’re not convinced is fair it’s never to late to challenge it. Ask for a review by an Authorised Review Officer, preferably in writing. For more information and for support fighting your robodebt go to Not My Debt website https://t.co/I6AD5nwdkI or Facebook https://t.co/ykO6PmLuO9 Join the #robodebt class action https://gordonlegal.com.au/robodebt-class-action/

The Queensland government has recently announced that it plans to build a four-to-six lane freeway, from Nerang to Eagleby, parallel to the M1 at a cost of many millions. Initially, presumably for purely political reasons, they propose to start the work only through Helensvale and Monterey Keys. Their projected date of commencement was initially stated as July of this year. They have also talked of diverting trucks and other heavy vehicles to this new freeway to take the pressure off the M1. The Queensland government doesn’t even have the money to build new highways west of the MI, in the rapidly growing Logan area. Never mind that there are koalas living in the bushland that forms this corridor through Helensvale. Koalas are becoming rarer and rarer, especially after the terrible bush fires. Never mind that it would only remove 5 to 10 minutes of travel time for commuters between the Gold Coast and Brisbane and shift a bottleneck a bit further north. Never mind the fact that “Build it and they will come” might not apply to web sites but definitely applies to highways. This unfunded stupidity is beyond mere inanity. It belongs in the world of the surrealist insane. Naturally, it would be better for the environment and commuters to improve public transport rather than build roads to nowhere. However, if new roads need to be built they should be planned with a long term vision in mind rather than short term political expediency. The excessive immigration introduced to boost the economy has resulted in strains on infrastructure in various parts of the nation. That said, the commute on the M1 is not one of them. All that needs to be done is to upgrade the various exits (on ramps and off ramps) to reduce queuing traffic. In the event of an accident there are already parallel roads to the M1 for diversions. If, despite environmental concerns, massive highway works were warranted, surely it would be better to build two and three storey freeways as are evident in the US and other countries rather than destroying more and more natural land. Will Australia (especially QLD) become subject to proper governance rather than politically expedient decisions before it really cements itself amongst the rank of Third World nations?

Remove gambling enticement from young people Reduce harm done by people becoming addicted to gambling Improve the community in general We simply don't NEED gambling advertising, the industry does... and failure to remove it shows that our government is complicit in driving gambling addiction for profit.

Sandown Park is a much loved Hobart recreational area. People come to wind down, walk their dogs, play some sport and to breathe the air. Telstra have decided to build a huge array of mobile phone antennae on an existing pole in the park relying on their own interpretation that this is low impact. They don’t want to ask the community what they think so the notice is buried in a small community newspaper. Please treat the community with respect, we care about the place we live in and the places we use to unwind in. Please don’t wreck our park. Note: No design or image of the proposed addition of 6 antennae on the pole has been provided so the third image is an example of a 6 antennae configuration. The image will be updated once provided by Telstra

Walker Group has proposed to build 3600 units in the Toondah wetlands in Moreton Bay (a RAMSAR site) which will devastate mangroves, and harm migratory shorebirds, dolphin, dugong, turtle, and koala populations in the area. The former QLD State Newman LNP Government had issued the area a PDA (Priority Development Area) but the current QLD State Labor Government has kept it in place, and the Federal Coalition Government has ignored the advice of its own environmental department on the issue. If built this could also devastate the local economy with increased congestion on our roads, the Cleveland CBD could receive less attention hurting local businesses, and placing more of a burden on the taxpayer to fund for this project despite the concerns of climate change and rising sea levels in an area that could be built on reclaimed wetlands. Local first nations groups have also received hardly any contact or input in the process, as this is an area sensitive to cultural heritage as well. Building such a development could also pose as a noise and potential health risk to nearby residents. For more info please see attached link: (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-09/the-developer-the-whistleblower-and-the-minister-toondah-harbour/10487806)

This place ....the Great Australian Bight is very important to the Aboriginal Mirning Tribe in South Australia. Our dream time story comes from this wonderful coast! My grandmothers ancestors grew up along this wonderful untouched pristine coast! We have to give a voice to whales and many other wonderful sea creatures that inhabit along this coast! An oil spill will destroy the coast of Australia for many years to come! We can't risk our ocean!

Much is being done to try to influence Australia’s leaders to transition out of coal. A lesser known source of greenhouse emissions is our gas industry. Government figures show that emissions from coal and gas are increasing. They explain the methane increase as being due to rising LNG exports. Yet they want to export even more. As one of the world’s largest gas exporters, we are on track to becoming one of the top contributors to global warming by 2030. Doctors for the Environment Australia believe that our gas industry has impacts for climate and health and is a threat to our food security. The Permanent People’s Tribunal has said that fracking is against human rights and should be banned worldwide. The latest Water Report for the Surat Basin says that in Qld alone 547 water bores will become unusable as the gas fields expand. How much water from WA, SA and the NT will be wasted too? Future generations need our Government to ban fracking now. Please add your signature and get as many others as possible to sign too.

BUPA's contract specifies an arbitrary distinction and significant rebate differential between sub-types of psychologists, while all other health professionals (eg. Podiatry, Physio, OT, Speech Therapy etc.) have one simple fee structure. For example, for a 51-90 minute consultation, psychologists with clinical, neuro or forensic endorsement are rebated $303.14 while all other psychologists (some with many years experience, ADF experience, certification in EMDR, Schema therapy etc) are rebated $164.83 for the same service. Interestingly, the Australian Psychological Society's recommended fee for psychological services is $254 for a 46-60 min consult. The rebate is significantly lower for most Psychologists (45% lower) and there will be a shortage of providers to service this population. Many psychologists are deeply offended by this baseless and unnecessary distinction and are doubtful as to whether they will continue providing services under this contract. There should be a single fee structure for all psychologists providing services to ADF personnel. Firstly, there is no research evidence that psychologists holding these endorsements are more effective. Secondly, a psychologist holding an endorsement does not necessarily hold any further qualifications or training than other psychologists. When the registration system for psychologists moved from the state-based systems to being federally managed by AHPRA, many members of the Australian Psychological Society were automatically endorsed in areas of their choosing (without holding the now required masters/doctorate degrees). Therefore, some clinical/forensic/neuro psychologists hold the same level of training and qualifications as ‘generalist’ or ‘registered’ psychologists. In fact, a large portion (65%) of psychologists (without endorsement) hold postgraduate qualifications such as masters, PhDs or training in particular techniques such as EMDR (the current gold standard treatment for veteran trauma). The quality, skills and knowledge of a psychologist cannot be deemed by endorsement status alone. According to data from the Psychology Board of Australia (as at 31 March 2019), there are 35 583 registered psychologists in Australia with 10 073 of these holding endorsement as clinical, neuro or forensic psychologists. BUPA's fee structure is sending a negative message to over 25000 psychologists, their families, staff and clients. Many psychologists are also BUPA customers and will likely reassess their health cover options in light of this issue. Psychologists tried to address this directly with the former contract holder Garrison Health/Medibank to no avail. BUPA then adopted the contract as is and continues to devalue many very experienced psychologists. We need the BUPA CEO and Minister for Defence to review this fee structure immediately and ensure that ADF funds are being used appropriately (as there is no evidence that endorsed psychologists provide better service or outcomes, how can the ADF ethically spend public money on rebating these psychologists 45% more than their colleagues).

When people visit the Outback they expect to see wildlife, trees and wide open spaces. Not gas wells. This project allows multinational companies to drill and frack 940 wells on farms, in State Forests, right near Carnarvon National Park. Fracking even one well is too many. Drilling more wells when the climate is in crisis and Australia faces no shortage of gas if it was reserved from exports is not necessary, economically wise, or morally sound. This acts as a submission opposing Australia Pacific LNG application to vary Environmental Authority EPPG00787513.