She was 23 years old, working long hours to pay the bills.In her prime she lost 30 pounds and was struck down with cancer. She could not afford the medication where she lived, as there were no subsidies in place and no health system to cover her as a citizen. She had curable cancer and if it weren't for the kindness of a stranger her destiny was death... This is a true story..the woman went on to survive because one Doctor asked another Doctor to give her the medication she needed. What was her fate otherwise. Death. If you believe it is time to make Australia a leading country that provides health care to all people regardless of their wealth, race or location SIGN THIS PETITION! We have the ability, as a Democracy, to ask for written legislation that guarantees this healthcare for our children. IT IS A PRIORITY... I ask you... Do you want to be another sad story? PLEASE SIGN AND SAY THANKYOU by doing this you will also be asking that legislation makes this a priority.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AHx3f0gL4A Since I was a kid, I’ve always wanted to visit the Great Barrier Reef and have the opportunity to see a majestic turtle amongst the coral. When I heard we could lose our Reef to climate change, and that there was a plan to build major new coal ports on the Reef to make the problem even worse, I knew I had to act. Growing up, I was taught the value of being ready for the future as one of Commonwealth Bank’s Dollarmites. Me, and thousands of other Dollarmites like me, saved our pocket money for our future. When I learnt the money we’d saved could be used to fund the massive new coal mines threatening our Reef and our right to grow up with a safe climate, I was shocked! The worst part is, according to media reports, the Commonwealth Bank is the most likely bank to fund these developments. That means they’d be using my money - and yours - to fund it. But I don’t want my money invested in this. Who would? That’s why I’m asking Dollarmites, CommBank customers, and the rest of Australia to sign this petition calling on CommBank’s CEO Ian Narev to rule out financing coal ports and mega mines on the Great Barrier Reef. Will you join me? If CommBank won’t do the right thing, I’m closing my account. The Reef is one of the nicest places in Australia, and it’s one of our landmarks too. Why would we want it ruined? Naomi.

NSW Chief Medical Officer Kerry Chant said current wood heaters models are so detrimental to health she supports banning and phasing them out in built-up urban areas. The NSW Asthma Foundation warned that: wood smoke emissions in winter pose a bigger health danger in built up urban areas than cars or cigarettes. Australian Lung Foundation spokesman Dr James Markos said wood fire heaters should be banned from urban areas. He said real-life emissions from new wood-heaters have little relationship to measurements from a perfectly operated test model under laboratory conditions. The UN Environment Program/World Meteorological Organization (UNEP/WMO) recommended phasing out log-burning heaters in developed countries to reduce global warming as well as improve health. People need to know that fine particle (PM2.5) pollution is considered the most health-hazardous air pollutant, that there is no safe level of PM2.5 pollution and that over half of Sydney's PM2.5 emissions coming from a small proportion of houses using wood heaters,

My name is Subeta and I'm a university student in Sydney. I am constantly confronted with how many people are living below the poverty line and struggling to cope with basic costs. For the 10 million Australians who will menstruate in their lifetime, getting your period isn't just inconvenient and annoying - it's expensive! Half the population menstruates and they shouldn't be financially penalised for it. If you still aren't convinced, let's consider some statistics: on average women, who make up the majority of people who use sanitary products, earn $262.50 per week less than their male counterparts, and they are also statistically at greater risk of living below the poverty line. Furthermore, this tax disproportionately targets those who may already be disadvantaged, that is the homeless and unemployed. So why force this underpaid, at risk and disadvantaged portion of society to pay more for basic essentials? Right now, the Australian government is reviewing the entire Australian tax system, saying that it's looking to make taxes lower, simpler and fairer. This review is a once in a generation opportunity to put the tampon tax on the government agenda for serious consideration, and get this unfair tax removed once and for all. Sign the petition and tell Mr Hockey loud and clear that a period is not a luxury or societal burden, it is an aspect of reproductive health. After all, the government should support and facilitate the availability of sanitary products, not actively restrict it.

Who remembers fishing trips, football games and Sunday sessions at the Grandview Hotel in Cleveland? What legacy do you want to leave your kids? The area behind the Grandview Hotel stretching down to the Stradbroke Island Ferry terminal and down to Star of the Sea Catholic School has been approved for development. This will mean an 800 berth marina and 15 storey high apartment blocks. We enjoy this space because we have fought for it over the years, will you fight for it now for the future generations?

Women’s choice of birth attendant has been diminished. Due to the sudden removal of insurance options, midwives can no longer provide midwifery care if they do not practice under the jurisdiction of a doctor, as an eligible midwife. Women therefore are no longer able to employ a non-eligible privately practicing midwife of their choice to provide care throughout their childbearing experience, narrowing their birth attendant options. Women choose a private practicing midwife because they want personalised service and continuity of carer – the internationally recognised gold standard for the safest form of maternity care for childbearing women and their babies. Some women have a deep desire to birth at home in familiar surroundings and others simply want reassurance that they will be cared for by a familiar and trusted midwife of their choice throughout their pregnancy, birth and postpartum period. Now this choice is being severely limited. Birthing policies must be based on women's desires, needs and safety. Women want to be able to choose their birth place and their midwife for their pregnancy care. Midwives should have the legal freedom to work to their full scope of practice. We need a system like that of New Zealand where the government provides indemnity insurance to all midwives and provides remuneration for the midwifery care of their choice to every birthing woman. Sign this petition now to let our Federal Health Minister, Hon. Sussan Ley MP, know we demand change to ensure birthing options safely meet the desires and needs of all women in Australia.

The Wet Tropics has been ranked the second most irreplaceable World Heritage Area in the world by a team of international scientists. Despite its significance, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has classified the Wet Tropics as of ‘significant concern’ due to the threats posed by invasive plants, animals and diseases and climate change. The Wet Tropics World Heritage Area as high visitor rates and provides economic stimulus through tourism in Far North Queensland, an industry that much of the regions economy depends on. Without the work of the Wet Tropics Management Authority, there will be no independent body that can consider the diversity of the people and places that exist in the World Heritage area and how to properly Manage them

Please sign this petition if you believe parents have a right to choose what's best for their children and don't have to pay penalties for a well-informed decision. After all by trying to take away family and childcare payments from low income families who conscientiously choose to selectively vaccinate or not vaccinate, the Australian government is putting parents in the impossible position of having to choose between feeding and housing their families and vaccinating their children against their will, THIS IS NOT LEGAL CONSENT, IT IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL AND IT IS BLACKMAIL!

We are gravely concerned about the push by Adani and the Queensland Government to open up the Carmichael Mine on our traditional lands. Our traditional lands are an interconnected and living whole; a vital cultural landscape. It is central to us as a People, and to the maintenance of our identity, laws and consequent rights. If the Carmichael mine were to proceed it would tear the heart out of the land. The scale of this mine means it would have devastating impacts on our native title, ancestral lands and waters, our totemic plants and animals, and our environmental and cultural heritage. It would pollute and drain billions of litres of groundwater, and obliterate important springs systems. It would potentially wipe out threatened and endangered species. It would literally leave a huge black hole, monumental in proportions, where there were once our homelands. These effects are irreversible. Our land will be “disappeared”. Nor would the direct impacts be limited to our lands – they would have cascading effects on the neighbouring lands and waters of other Traditional Owners and other landholders in the region. And the mine would cause damage to climate, unleashing a mass of carbon into the atmosphere and propelling dangerous global warming. We could not in all conscience consent to such wholesale destruction. Nor could we allow such a project to contribute to the dire unfolding effects of climate change that pose such great risks to all peoples. We know that many other people who care deeply about conserving natural places, vital water resources, the great fauna and flora of central Queensland, and a health planet share our concerns about this mine. When we say No, we mean No. https://youtu.be/ZB2JC6yKy_E

We have probably all heard the statistic: one Australian woman dies at the hands of a partner or ex-partner every week. But so far in 2015, women are being murdered at double that rate, and in Queensland alone in 2013-14 there were more than 66,000 reported incidents of domestic and family violence. It's time to act. Urgent steps must be taken by our leaders and policy makers now, to ensure this shameful epidemic no longer ruins the lives of generations of families. Rest assured, someone you know has been affected by family violence. Australian of the Year Rosie Batty, whose own son, Luke, was murdered last year by his father, has campaigned fiercely for short-term and long-term change. In the long term, let's change the entrenched attitudes and gender inequalities that help create the environment for domestic and family violence in the first place (such as through respectful relationships education in schools); but in the short term, let's improve the support services and responses from organisations such as the police and courts, so victims know they are not alone. Rosie is supporting our campaign, and we are supporting her. Get on board and help be a force for change.

We pay big bucks to Telstra, as the premium telco in Australia. You promise great coverage to 98% of Australia. It is incomprehensible that Wentworth Point, so close to the geographical centre of Sydney should fall into the 2% of poor / no coverage. Take responsibility and fix the problem Telstra!

In mid-2012, Australia and New Zealand together issued a new standard for the installation of solar arrays. This standard mandated the use of a specific piece of equipment called the "rooftop DC isolator" in Australia, and by some interpretations also in New Zealand. They did this despite evidence showing that the practice is unsafe. A study from an international testing laboratory found that DC isolators are not safe in a firefighting situation, as they can’t withstand the high-pressure water used to extinguish a fire. The California State Office of the Fire Marshall frowns upon their use, because they give a false sense of security. And Europe, the most mature solar market, opted never to adopt them, also for safety reasons. More than 70 fires in Australia have been caused by this isolator since 2012 -- that is, since it became mandatory! To put this into perspective, there were only 3 fires related to PV systems in Australia prior to the mandatory requirement to install a rooftop DC isolator. The Australian government has responded with product recalls on DC isolators, at least 5 so far, showing this crisis isn’t just limited to a single manufacturer, but to the device itself. There is no evidence to suggest the device improves the safety of a PV system: all it does is increase costs and the risk to homeowners trying to do the right thing. And that's not to mention the catch-22 for PV installers who are both legally bound to comply and obliged to keep their clients safe. Master Electricians Australia chief executive Malcolm Richards in an interview with the ABC late last year said that he says he knows of about 40 to 50 fires that have been started by the faulty isolators. "We're warning home owners to carefully check the brand of isolator that is connected to your solar panels," he said. "If it carries one of these two (recalled) brands ... undertake the isolation procedure until your electrician can come around and fix that up to eliminate or replace it."