We want to be proud of the Wonthaggi Public Cemetery's historic grounds and the very special areas in which to honour and celebrate life. We need the grounds to be kept in pristine condition all year round for safe access to and from grave sites for all population groups including senior citizens and members of the public with a disability - even people with an injury or temporary disability.

With over 30,000 Australians killed or seriously injured each year, road safety is a health issue! Yet basic actions can be taken to protect people's lives! As part of Australia's Road Rules we need a national law that acts to protect those who find themselves vulnerable on our roads and highways. By making sure that passing drivers and riders "slow down and move over" when approaching an incident, crash or breakdown we can ensure road users "Drive So Others Survive!" (See Centre for Road Safety Video www.youtube.com/watch?v=H75mP0X41Gw ) There is no longer a Commonwealth Minister for Road Safety so we are asking the Deputy Prime Minister (who is also Minister for Transport and Infrastructure) to become the champion for National Road Safety. Given his portfolio responsibilities, we believe the Deputy Prime Minister needs to become the National Road Safety Champion by publicly stating his commitment to road safety. We then ask the Deputy Prime Minister to demonstrate this commitment to the protection of vulnerable road users and those who protect and assist (emergency services, tow truck drivers, roadside assistance personnel) by leading the push for a "Slow By at least 30" (SB30) Australian Road Rule.

Chevron is guilty of oil leaks and spills on and around the island. In the following link you can see images of leaking oil pipes: http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/leaking-pipes-spill-oil-across-barrow-island/story-e6frg19l-1226067138923 What is the fate of animals relocated from Barrow Island? Read about it here: http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/mammals-moved-to-radioactive-island/story-e6frg19l-1225832999056 And here is a report relating to an asbestos incident on Barrow Island (that would have threatened animals as much as workers): http://www.tlcwa.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1235:asbestos-bungle-on-barrow&catid=131:top-1 It should be noted that the EPA has back-flipped on its original recommendations as reported prior to the Barrow Island Act of 2003 in which it advised against the use of Barrow Island for the Gorgon Project due to the serious risk of incontrovertible damage to the island's unique and fragile ecosystem. One can only wonder why that advice was ignored and ponder why the EPA now supports the clearing of the extra 32 hectares, albeit with conditions attached including a 10% increase in environmental offsets that Chevron has no intention of honouring. Chevron has a reputation for damaging fragile environments all over the world in its relentless pursuit of fossil fuels. It was a mistake to give them the go ahead to operate the Gorgon Project on Barrow Island in the first place. The clearing of a further 32 hectares will inevitably prove an even bigger error of judgment. Expansion of gas, oil and coal projects in Australia equals expansion of widespread environmental damage. State and Federal parliaments should be urged to withdraw support from fossil fuel projects and focus instead on environmentally friendly and cost effective alternative energy sources. The photo on this page is courtesy of Bob Winters.

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

Hanging Rock is a local and international icon of immense cultural, social, environmental and economic significance. From the Bushranger "Mad-Dog" Morgan, the countless picnics (some more successful than others), Leonard Cohen, Rod Stewart and the Boss, the Rock continues to reinvent itself into our communities folklore. On a clear day visitors to the Rock can be heard calling gleefully for our eternally lost "MIRANDA". On the 28/8/2013 the Macedon Ranges Shire Council approved a motion (4 votes to 4 [on casting]), which was affirmed (5 to 4) on 4/9/2013 to invite private investment and development of 5.8 hectares of the Hanging Rock precinct, and to undertake additional related development and works. The Council’s resolution: (a) bypasses the Council's own Community Consultation Framework, denying residents and stakeholders the opportunity to have their say (b) directs the development to include (per the Hanging Rock Development and Investment Plan): - a conference and function centre - a 100 room accommodation facility - a well-being centre and day spa - an unspecified number of "Creek Apartments" - a permanent stage and event structure - yoga and adventure facilities on the Hanging Rock Reserve. We have in good faith engaged with Council for six months since the original motion asking for due and proper process and encouraging community consultation. We have presented a petition of over 5,000 local signatories; we have found numerous inconsistencies in Council’s data and serious issues with their business case, but our Council persists unabated. The scope and scale of development proposed is not in keeping with the cultural heritage and environmental significance of Hanging Rock. The social, environmental and economic impacts on the greater Macedon Ranges region do not seem to have been fully investigated. At the very least these issues deserve rigorous debate and the Macedon Ranges community, as well as all the patrons, visitors and supporters of Hanging Rock across the world deserve to be heard. Thank you, and please help us have our say!

Schools in the Inner West are experiencing increasing enrolment numbers. Catchment areas are being reduced for schools under enrolment pressure. Families finding themselves involuntarily placed out of catchment due to boundary change, are being told that their younger children are now not allowed to attend school with their older siblings. These measures are unreasonable and unjust. Families who have had long associations with the school, and children who have built friendships and trust with the school are being forced to leave by the exclusion of younger siblings. After boundary change, consideration is not being given to the younger siblings made out of zone. Only children yet to start school from within the new catchment are being guaranteed enrolment. More border changes are coming and the group of families finding themselves in this unwelcome position is going to grow. We support the changes that need to occur to control school numbers but solutions must take into account the welfare of existing pupils and their families. Please respect our children's and families need to be able to attend the same primary school. Respect our families' association with the school community. Don't force families into a position where they have to withdraw their children from the school they love in the middle of their schooling.

Unless you are a 'deniersaur', the planet is dying. And if you are, it still is. We urgently need to; • Transfer from fossil fuelled private vehicles to public transport, which has greatly reduced energy needs per passenger mile. • Power this public transport by renewable sources. • 'QR to Casino' is one of the easiest ways to achieve this. Reinvigorating an all but abandoned line (Northern Rivers Line) will transform transportation between Casino and Brisbane, greatly enhancing the 'value' of the region. • Northern Rivers has long been beholden to special interest groups who do not want shoppers to have easy access to Brisbane, or who think that the North Coast does not need Public Transport, as other lines connect to Brisbane - from the 'Sydney' & 'NSW Government' point of view. • It is time Northern Rivers residents had a say. • A road tunnel is currently being built on the Pacific Highway west of Byron Bay - cost ~ approximately 1 billion dollars - this is about the SAME COST as re gauging & electrifying NR line, & connecting it to GC Line / Brisbane. • Ask NR residents would they prefer to have the Byron tunnel, or a direct electric train to the Gold Coast & Brisbane? • Reopening the NR line as a serious rail line - no longer 'once a day to the big smoke', but 'integrating the region, on the hour'* will considerably reduce road traffic, making roads safer and making existing roads capable of handling all regular traffic. NR residents can then commute to Brisbane - 'Relaxing by Rail'! • The land use and residential pattern of the NR area has evolved around the North Coast rail line. Development of the Pacific Highway then caused the line to be closed, due to competition. Now that the highway follows the coast (eg Yelgun to Chinderah bypass), those towns and villages on the NR line route are poorly serviced. Reopening the NR line on that route will correct this situation. • 'Synergy' means that each new station added to a rail line or network, benefits all of the other stations. That, e.g., Burringbar would be (ultimately) connected to Bendigo, benefits both stations. Short lines eg GC line, or worse, short lines with limited service (once per day of the old NR line) are of significantly reduced usefulness. • Integrating these lines to become 'QR to Casino', & powered by sugar cane bagasse, overcomes these difficulties. * Approx 40 trains per day run from Brisbane to the Gold Coast. Initially, about 1 train per hour should be enough for the NR section -

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.