This area of South Orange is surrounded by families of young children, yet the only park we have in walking distance is run down, broken and unsuitable for young children to use. I'm asking Orange City Council to please upgrade this equipment so families can use this wonderful space.

Since 2013 the Hindmarsh Shire Council has agreed with the constituents of Hindmarsh Shire and surrounding areas that the approx 100yr old iconic railway bridge can be used for people to walk on to cross the Heritage Wimmera River in Jeparit as the main feature of the now named Wimmera River Discovery Trail. Hindmarsh Shire Council announced they had been allocated funding for refurbishment of the iconic railway bridge as the main investment, as well as funding to commence the trail from 4 Mile Beach at Lake Hindmarsh (the largest inland fresh water lake in Victoria) and along the Wimmera River banks to Dimboola. However, Hindmarsh Shire Council in 2020-2021 voted to erect a new bridge at various locations along the Wimmera River because the railway bridge could not be used for people to walk over, with no consultation with constituents. But the engineer report for the railway bridge found that although the bridge could no longer support a train, it can support foot traffic and can be refurbished for that specific purpose (a community member has the engineer report due to her applying for the report under freedom of information). The Victorian Government voted for this railway bridge to be built in approx 1905. It is in great condition compared to other old bridges in the area. By refurbishing the railway bridge we are ensuring that our historic iconic bridge is preserved and valued as a part of our unique history for the area as well as a great tourism asset. This historic bridge is an asset that Hindmarsh Shire Council should continue to invest in because refurbishing this bridge will have not just a healthy economic return but will also have health benefits for the community as a whole. When our historic places are undervalued and disrespected, Hindmarsh Shire Council are perceived as undervaluing and disrespecting their constituents, especially us in Jeparit. We do not want or need a bling new bridge. We want and need to have our iconic railway bridge refurbished as planned and decided from conception between Hindmarsh Shire Council and its constituents.

Children deserve to walk or ride to school safely. Walking to school improves kids' fitness and independence. However, they are often driven over short distances to school by parents. Parents perceive that their child's journey to school is unsafe on part of or on their whole journey. As a result, our streets are subject to tens of thousands more car trips every year, making them even less safe and clogging up roads with unnecessary traffic during morning drop off and afternoon pick up. Streets without footpaths and crossings with speed limits higher than 30km/h are not considered safe by Australia's safe system approach. The Case for crossings: Research shows that children cannot judge gaps in traffic consistently when cars go faster than 30km/h to safely cross a street On streets where there are no footpaths and crossings, reducing the car speed to 30km/h would prevent most accidents: the stopping distance for a car traveling 30km/h is 13m. Stopping distance for a car traveling 50km/h is 37m. The risk of death or serious injury if hit at 30km/h is less than 10%; compared to 90% if hit at 50km/h. It is an unreasonable risk to place our children in harms way on their journey to school.

To bring happiness and promote a community spirit, by engaging local families in creating a local attraction for young families.

The Gib Reserve is a heritage listed reserve that preserves biodiversity of endangered plants and is an essential habitat for local wildlife including kangaroos wallabies echidnas, gliders, wombats and the iconic koala.

It is a key road safety matter and is in everybody's interest. Drivers have no need to stop for pedestrians and people, including elderly and children, can be stranded on refuge islands for way too long waiting to cross to parks, walks, cafes etc.

Moreland has the third lowest amount of green space per person in Melbourne, and sports fields constitute one-third of Moreland's open space, but less than 10% of residents play sport through a club. Moreland's ovals and grass pitches are popular for many different types of activities. For the past 12 months, residents living around Hosken Reserve in Merlynston (Coburg North) have been urging council to balance their needs with those of tenant soccer club, Pascoe Vale FC, in council's new masterplan. However the draft plan made public in July adds a $250k, 300-seat grandstand to the existing locked soccer pitch in the south of Hosken and converts the only two remaining open spaces at the reserve to soccer pitches. With council rezoning a large (1.74ha) industrial site right next to Hosken Reserve to residential, we're asking council to take a more reasonable planning approach to ensure Merlynston's growing population will always have access to their local green space, even when soccer training and games are occuring on weeknights and weekends. Under the plan thousands of surrounding residents will be left with a 40m wide strip of land wedged between the two new soccer pitches; residents feel this will be unwelcoming and insufficient for many of the activities they have enjoyed in the north half of Hosken Reserve for decades, such as dog walking, playing and gathering. With green open space now more important than ever for health and wellbeing, we're asking you to support us in our appeal for a better, fairer outcome at Hosken Reserve in recognition of the important role sports fields play in keeping all Moreland residents active and healthy. Hosken Reserve is Merlynston's only large green space, it's not necessary to turn the whole space over to National Premier League clubs. Sign this petition to ask Moreland councillors to support the following improvements to the Hosken Reserve plan, which will also save council money for other important projects: 1. East Field Community Park Establish the east field as dedicated community parkland rather than a third soccer pitch. This will ensure Merlynston’s diverse, growing population continue to have open and available space for informal recreation, health and well-being activities and off-leash dog walking. Council's rezoning of the adjacent 1.74ha industrial site to residential and mixed use will add hundreds of residents. Establishing a park rather than a third soccer pitch at Hosken Reserve will heavily reduce the impact of atmospheric noise from nightly training on nearby residents. This community park must be excluded from formal sport allocation, and proposed floodlights replaced with pedestrian lights. Moreland soccer clubs including Pascoe Vale FC should maximise use of the senior pitch at Richards Reserve, located 250m south in Coburg North’s industrial and events precinct. Richards Reserve is identified as a potential regional centre for NPL in the football facilities plan Moreland City Council has adopted, not Hosken Reserve. 2. A North Pitch That Balances Users’ Needs The north pitch should be no larger than 96m x 63m, to protect the amenity and privacy of homes bordering the north pitch, and should be positioned where it will have the least impact on open space. This size still allows all levels of NPL soccer and the same number of concurrent junior games as the proposed 105m x 68m pitch. Lighting spill and acoustic infiltration impacts to adjacent residents must be audited and addressed through supplementary screening and noise reduction treatments. The proposed player’s race or high fencing behind the goals are not NPL requirements and will reduce local residents' access through the reserve. 3. Access and Connection From Linear Park The proposed steps opposite Ulm St (west of Pallet St) should be replaced with an accessible path that is compliant with the Disability Discrimination Act and can perform as a continuation of Linear Park into Hosken Reserve, connecting to the public toilets and playground. The path must have a gradient that allows for all users, including those with limited mobility, parents with prams and children on bikes and scooters to safely enter/exit via Pallet St. 4. NPL Crowd Control Add pedestrian entrance at the Bakers Rd end of the southern pitch to service planned NPL crowds and reduce the number of spectators entering north of the reserve, limiting the impact of visitor and vehicle movement on local residents. This request is consistent with Football Victoria’s requirement for a minimum two, well-separated exit points to enable safe and orderly departure of patrons and players from NPL venues. 5. Prioritise Safe Access For Kids Remove the car parks that currently separate the east field (proposed community park) from the new ‘Active Recreation Zone’, to make the crossing safer for children and improve connection of the zone to the rest of the reserve. Sign to tell Moreland councillors that you want them to: -listen to residents -protect green space -support active recreation and wellbeing -ensure access is inclusive and caters to all abilities -show that residents' quality of life matters to them Make sure to send councillors an email to let them know why this matters to you and why you have signed this petition before they vote on the future of the Hosken Reserve on 13 October 2021 - https://www.moreland.vic.gov.au/my-council/about-council/councillors/mayors-and-councillors/ You can see the draft plan on the council's webpage: https://conversations.moreland.vic.gov.au/hosken-reserve-masterplan-refresh

This campaign highlights the continuing and short sighted practice by councils and government of discharging waste water into the ocean. This practice of further polluting our oceans, rather than utilizing on land solutions including plant upgrade, is not sustainable with our current understanding of the environment and climate change. In particular the councils and government seem to make no effort to address the individual issues that collectively create the problem they are addressing. For example, one reason the council argues for an ocean discharge pipe is high flows into the sewer system during storm events. Rather than address the issue of how storm water enters the sewer system, through historical or illegal connection, they simply address the symptom ( the sporadic high flows) rather than the root cause ( illegal and or historical connection issues). Secondly, by dumping sewer water in the ocean dilution would make short term impacts difficult to detect however agricultural land use is more amenable to monitoring and proactive intervention through crop, pasture and waterways monitoring.

Robert Pether is an Australian citizen, husband and father, employed by Dubai-based company, CME Consulting. Robert was working on a project for the CME's client, the Central Bank of Iraq. The project was hit by delays and increased costs due to the COVID pandemic and a dispute arose whereby the Iraqi government demanded the return of $12 million USD paid to CME Consulting. Robert travelled to Iraq with his colleague, Egyptian Engineer Khalid Zhagoul, on behalf on CME Consulting and by invitation from the Central Bank of Iraq - to a meeting to discuss the resolution of the industrial dispute. When Robert and Khalid arrived in Iraq, there was no actual meeting. Instead they were arrested on 7 April and subjected to over 3 months of arbitrary detention before being sentenced to 5 years jail time and fined 12 million USD. The contract between CME Consulting and the client, the Central Bank of Iraq, was a FIDIC Contract (International Federation of Consulting Engineers) of which one of the fundamental principles is that employees hold no personal liability. Robert Pether and his colleague Khalid Zhagoul are employees who have been charged response to the Central Bank of Iraq's allegations against their employer, CME Consulting. Denied access to their laptops, official documents and with insufficient access to their lawyers, Robert Pether and Khalid Zhagoul were incapable of launching a sufficient defence at their trial. They now have until 24 September 2021 to launch an appeal, without sufficient access to representation and supporting documents. This is, essentially, a thinly veiled hostage situation where two employees have been imprisoned and fined the exact amount - 12 million USD - that was in dispute between their employer CME Consulting and the client, the Central Bank of Iraq. As they will not be released unless the fine is paid it is also, in all probability, a life sentence. Please sign this petition to put pressure on Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Senator Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs, to take action and intervene in this gross violation of human rights.

The Identify and Disrupt Bill 2021 grants the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) the power to modify, add, copy, or delete data, on a person’s online accounts. 
So what this means is that the AFP can log into your Email, your Facebook, Instagram any other social media, and not only view it but actually alter it however they want. They can send emails on your behalf, they can post things on your behalf, they can engage in criminal activity on your behalf in order to reach their objective. And if they want to throw you under the bus, you’re just collateral damage. This will not only turn Australia into a bigger surveillance state, but it will make the government the enemy of Australians. Do you really want to live in a country where the government controls every online account you have? Here's the URL for the Bill https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=r6623

Consumers right to choose, Fair Trade, Anti Bullying. This discussion sets a precedent that has the potential to negatively impact upon any stall holder at the markets.

Housing affordability in Australia has never been worse; even many people with fulltime employment are struggling to be able to find an affordable rental, let alone buy a place to call home! I believe that one of the biggest, and most ignored drivers of this lack of affordability is the short-term leases that are offered to residential tenants across Australia. My wife and I were fortunate enough, thanks to a very generous gift from a relative, to buy a house a few years ago, but we spent well over a decade on the rental rollercoaster. We were constantly offered 6month leases on properties, and lived in fear of being evicted at short notice through no fault of our own. We were at the mercy of our landlord, and a lease period barely long enough to settle in to a place before potentially being asked to move out! This lack of security was one of the main reasons we were desperate to buy a home; had we known we had stable residency for a number of years we wouldn't have felt the same pressure to leave the rental market. I know we're not alone in this; many of the friends I've spoken to feel exactly the same way, and if you're reading this I'm sure you can relate. Short-term residential leases drive up the cost of housing in 2 ways. Firstly, they allow landlords to frequently increase the rent on their property, not because their costs have increased, but simply because they can. Residents can either accept the increase, or deal with the cost and stress of relocating (moving house is recognised as one of the most stressful life experiences). This means that many tenants will simply have to shoulder the rent increase, and the knowledge that they are potentially faced with an ongoing series of future rent increases. And so the cost of rental housing goes up. Secondly, the insecurity around residential rental means that, like my wife and I, many people will feel that their only option to find stability and build a "home" is to buy one. This leads to an increase in buyers in the property market, who might otherwise have been quite happy to simply rent if they had security of tenure. An increase in demand (more buyers) in the property market inevitably drives purchase prices up. And so we have a double-whammy of housing inflation, all linked back to the same problem of lack of security in residential properties. When we look at places like Europe, many people do not own a home, and have no desire to, because they have residential leases that can be anything up to 99years in duration. They have security of tenure; whether they own the building or not, they have a sense of stability, and a place which is their "home". These countries do not have the hyper-inflation of the housing market which we see in Australia. In Australia we offer businesses long-term leases with the option to extend their tenure, and it allows the commercial property market to operate at a profit whilst allowing business tenants to have the necessary security to run their business. Surely we can extend the same practices to residential properties too?! Housing is a basic human right, and one we as Australians are doing a very poor job of providing. We have fallen into the trap of seeing a house as simply a way to make money, rather than a place for someone to live. It's time we made a change for the better, for everyone. Let's make it mandatory for long-term residential leases to be offered to all tenants!