As COVID-19 changes the way we live and work, it’s essential that everyone has access to safe healthcare. Yet there are tens of thousands of people living in Australia without access to Medicare. People who have to make the choice between risking deportation or seeking urgent medical help. They know that hospitals and doctors can report them to the Department of Home Affairs if questions are raised about their visa status. With borders around the world closed and international flights costing upwards of $5000 per person, hundreds of thousands of migrant workers are forced to face impossible choices. The Morrison Government’s cruel directive that temporary migrants should just ‘go home’ forces thousands of people to make impossible choices, through no fault of their own. In the midst of a global pandemic, people must be able to access essential healthcare without fear of deportation and family separation.

Glady Berejiklian and the NSW Liberal Party have not provided any relief to international students and temporary workers during the COVID-19 crisis. Most temporary workers have now lost their jobs and cannot return home. They are trapped here. Many other international workers work in essential services, supporting the whole community - but they have no support extended to them in a time of crisis. NSW is the only state to provide no support.

These workers pick the fruit and vegetables we eat everyday, they’re in the hospitality industry, they’re delivery drivers and carers, they’re the backbone of our economy. The JobKeeper payment exists to provide a lifeline to those hardest hit by the COVID-19 crisis, how can the Morrison Government justify their decision to exclude over 1.1 million migrant workers, temporary visa holders and casuals? The Morrison Government does not address the very real public health crisis that millions of workers are facing. Asking them to ‘go home’ or raid their meagre retirement savings to survive COVID-19 is not only short-sighted, it’s racist. So many of these workers have built lives here and have made Australia their home and with borders closed, these workers have nowhere else to go. The Government must extend income support to all workers. Not doing so risks the entire community’s health and shirks Australia's moral responsibility to look after the wellbeing of all who are here during an unprecedented pandemic. The lack of support for this group of people shows that the Government treats migrants and international students as cash cows. They hire them for cheap labour and ask them to pay huge education fees, but when things get difficult, they wash their hands clean of any responsibility. This pandemic does not discriminate based on visa status or employment status, and neither should we. Everyone deserves to be safe. That's why we need Minister Ruston to ensure a wage subsidy for all workers so that all of us can follow public health advice and stay safe during this crisis.

The Government must extend income support to all workers. Not doing so risks the entire community’s health and shirks Australia's moral responsibility to look after the wellbeing of all who are here during an unprecedented pandemic. The lack of support for this group of people shows that the Government treats migrants and international students as cash cows. They hire them for cheap labour and ask them to pay huge education fees, but when things get difficult, they wash their hands clean of any responsibility. This pandemic does not discriminate based on visa status or employment status, and neither should we. Everyone deserves to be safe. That's is why we need Minister Ruston to ensure a wage subsidy for all workers so that all of us can follow public health advice and stay safe during this crisis. Sign the petition now.

This can happen to any visa holder. If you are charged with a crime you did not commit in Queensland you have three options. 1. Accept visa cancellation and deportation without conviction. 2. Accept a criminal conviction and deportation without trial. 3. Wait for in excess of four years remanded in custody, or in immigration detention for a trial date. Whilst you wait for four years you are unable to work and support your family. On conviction in Queensland, most people charged with murder are convicted of Manslaughter, and are sentenced to 8-9 years (2.5-4.5 years of which will be served in prison). This means someone wrongly accused of a crime who is a visa holder, on the most trivial charge, spends longer detained or incarcerated than almost any convicted person except convicted Murderers. This is unlawful, but is accepted best practice in Queensland. Surely no visa should be cancelled prior to a conviction bring recorded. Also a charge may never exceed 12 months progressing to trial for a detained or remanded person. Further, time in detention awaiting trial, should never exceed the base (incarcerated) sentence, let alone the head sentence. The Crown (Federal Government) interfering in a Queensland charge, by cancelling the visa of a defendant was expressly protected at the time the Criminal Code was written. Now QLD Police request that the Federal Government cancel any charged persons visa, as it gains them an insurmountable advantage. Clough v Leahy, Griffith CJ, speaking for the Court, had said[200]: "Nor can the Crown interfere with the administration of the course of justice. It is not to be supposed that the Crown would do such a thing; but, if persons acting under a Commission from the Crown were to do acts which, if done by private persons, would amount to an unlawful interference with the course of justice, the act would be unlawful, and would be punishable."

I created the petition based on the myriad of scandals the Morrison government is embroiled in. The prime minister isn’t honestly dealing with allegations of corruption and rorting. He isn’t taking climate action seriously and the political/financial interference of the fossil fuel industry is likely behind that. He’s hell bent on rolling out of the Indue card despite evidence of how it disadvantages the most vulnerable people. And there’s an overall lack of accountability, transparency and integrity. Where is a Federal ICAC? The list goes on. I could also include the unwillingness to implement recommendations from Royal Commissions, the poor response to the bushfire crisis, and the rise of right wing extremism, and claiming a surplus from the NDIS underspend while splashing money around dodgy contracts with Indue, Paladin and others with links to the LNP. I truly believe that if enough ordinary people stand up we can let politicians know that democracy belongs to us and not to them. They should serve the public good and not just be in it for themselves, and the power that comes with their elected positions. When they make bad decisions, they need to take responsibility and be answerable to us. I’m sure there’s enough of us who want to give the prime minister the message: Scotty from marketing - we’re not buying what you’re selling.

The petition of the undersigned shows: • that approximately 800 refugees and asylum seekers remain on Manus Island and Nauru after nearly six years; • that there is no possibility that all of these people will be able to go to the United States; • that the medical condition of many of them has deteriorated alarmingly; • that necessary medical treatment is often not available in either Papua New Guinea or Nauru and can most appropriately be provided in Australia.

Given our current trajectory towards devastating climate change, and the complacency of our national government, it is now crucial that public institutions like La Trobe University take the lead on this social justice and human rights crisis. We owe it to Indigenous people, who are already suffering from destruction and theft of country, lack of clean water and extreme weather. We owe it to all people, habitats and living creatures currently suffering from the impacts of climate change. We owe it to future generations. There is no more important social impact our university can make. The demands of the Climate Strike are urgent climate action, including: a transition to 100% renewable energy, no new coal or gas projects, and massive public investment in a just transition to a decarbonised economy; Indigenous people, fossil fuel workers, developing nations and all communities on the front line of the climate crisis must be prioritised in this transition. By declaring a stoppage of all activities on 20 September, La Trobe will be an international symbol for how we must act in response to our climate crisis.

Given our current trajectory towards devastating climate change, and the complacency of our national government, it is now crucial that public institutions like RMIT take the lead on this social justice and human rights crisis. We owe it to Indigenous people, who are already suffering from destruction and theft of country, lack of clean water and extreme weather. We owe it to all people, habitats and living creatures currently suffering from the impacts of climate change. We owe it to future generations. There is no more important social impact our university can make. The demands of the Climate Strike are urgent climate action, including: a transition to 100% renewable energy, no new coal or gas projects, and massive public investment in a just transition to a decarbonised economy; Indigenous people, fossil fuel workers, developing nations and all communities on the front line of the climate crisis must be prioritised in this transition. By declaring a stoppage of all activities on 20 September, RMIT will be an international symbol for how we must act in response to our climate crisis.

Given our current trajectory towards devastating climate change, and the complacency of our national government, it is now crucial that public institutions like Monash University take the lead on this social justice and human rights crisis. We owe it to Indigenous people, who are already suffering from destruction and theft of country, lack of clean water and extreme weather. We owe it to all people, habitats and living creatures currently suffering from the impacts of climate change. We owe it to future generations. There is no more important social impact our university can make. The demands of the Climate Strike are urgent climate action, including: a transition to 100% renewable energy, no new coal or gas projects, and massive public investment in a just transition to a decarbonised economy; Indigenous people, fossil fuel workers, developing nations and all communities on the front line of the climate crisis must be prioritised in this transition. By declaring a stoppage of all activities on 20 September, Monash will be an international symbol for how we must act in response to our climate crisis.

Currently, UNSW subcontracts it's security staff from MSS Security, a corporation involved in the illegal detention of refugees by the Australian Government. UNSW is also listed as a partner of Wilson Security (another culprit) and has accepted a grant to help the defence force to develop the Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN), a multi billion dollar satellite network that has been boasted as being able to track small boats carrying asylum seekers (an international human right). UNSW prides itself in being a progressive and humanitarian institution but uses students fees to invest in these torturous industries and staff and students won't take it any more, support the divestment by signing the petition!

World renowned American, Palestinian writer, poet and organiser Remi Kanazi has had his visa revoked. He was planning a speaking and performance tour of Australia. The organisers of his tour claim that the denial of his visa is an attack on free speech and the right of Palestinians to enter this country. Kanazi has been denied a visa after a campaign by the Anti-Defamation Commission to the minister for immigration. Marxism Conference organiser Vashti Kenway says that “The denial of Kanazi’s visa is a clear violation of the right of free speech in this country. This is the second time Palestinian speakers at our Marxism conference have had a visa denied them and the third to have major issues.” In 2016 Palestinian American journalist Ali Abunimah had to battle to get a visa into Australia and in 2017 Bassem Tamimi from the Palestinian Occupied Territories, father of political prisoner Ahed Tamimi, was denied entry. Prominent Palestinian spokesperson Nasser Mashni from Australians for Palestine says: “This decision is an act of selective, politically motivated censorship. It is clear the government is deliberately silencing and preventing human rights defenders and Palestinian voices for justice, from being heard in Australia.” The Anti-Defamation Commission claim Kanazi is anti-semitic for his support for Palestinian resistance and have garnered support for their campaign from a number of MPs. “The conflation of support for Palestinian resistance with anti-semitism is a common trope. Similar accusations have been levelled at British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and American senator Ilhan Omar in recent months. This is slander and operates to silence Palestinian voices. Standing up for the human right of Palestinians to resist their occupation and the war waged against them is entirely justified.” Kenway claims. Kanazi is a globally renowned and respected commentator on Palestinian issues. His political commentary has been featured by news outlets throughout the world including the New York Times, Salon, Al Jazeera English, and BBC Radio. He has appeared in the Palestine Festival of Literature. This is the first time that he has ever been denied a visa anywhere in the world.