Currently, Queensland Ballet receives the least federal funding of all major Australian dance companies and the Queensland Ballet Academy receives no federal funding at all. This isn't sustainable. As a result, Queensland Ballet is shrinking. This year 27 jobs were lost from our beloved company, including eight dancers, and dancers salaries have fallen 6.8% behind CPI since 2020. Multiple Company Artists are now relying on their parents to supplement their income, while others are cutting their grocery bill by living off canned soup for dinner. We want to make our beloved organisation more sustainable so we can continue to give back to the community, and continue to do what we love to do the most- dance.

Library workers deliver essential services to 2.8 million people in our community each year. They run information services, connect people online, hold free workshops, develop community connections and foster a safe space for people experiencing homelessness and family violence, and deliver services for children and families.      The State Library's expertise in family history research and access to heritage collections are also under direct threat.     Executives are trying to cut 11 permanent librarian positions, meaning 10 frontline librarians would remain to run Australia's busiest library.     They are also cutting essential Visitor Service Officer, Children and Families officers, plus other frontline roles, and proposing to outsource the library's critical information technology team.     Frontline library staff are the vital link to the library's 5 million items, and librarians are experts in connecting anyone with the information they need, taking more than 50,000 questions and enquiries annually.      Library Executives are also planning to remove public PCs, and visitors will have to order collection items via an "automated system".     Meanwhile, millions of taxpayer dollars are proposed to be spent on deceptive and ill-aligned "digital" roles, pay rises for executives, and flashy websites with no substance.     State libraries with free, uncensored access to information are essential to our democracy. And in a time of information overload, AI and misinformation, we need librarians more than ever.      We need librarians in libraries.     To foster critical thinking skills, to know the stories of where we live, and to navigate an online world increasingly full of falsehoods and manipulation, places like the State Library are essential. Victoria’s State Library should serve the public interest. It must not be allowed to neglect its core purpose of preserving and providing easy access to knowledge. We reject these inept attempts to shift control of our cultural memory, our history and our factual record to private vendors and ill-conceived digital systems.     Tell the acting executives: hands off our State Library!

In support of our petition, we observe that:  • ANU Council has the entire control and management of the University and is required to act in all matters concerning the ANU in the way it thinks will best promote the interests of the ANU;  • Staff, students and members of the community have reasonable and genuinely held concerns about the direction of our national university. Many of these concerns relate to the delivery of Renew ANU, which has been destructive and harmful to staff, students and the capacity of the University to perform its functions; and  • A range of issues relating to transparency, accountability, governance and leadership at the ANU have been widely reported, and have not been adequately addressed. These are a source of ongoing damage to the reputation and standing of our national university, which is now subject to an unprecedented investigation by TEQSA.  For these reasons we conclude it is reasonable, necessary and in the best interests of the ANU for ANU Council to fulfil its duties by immediately adopting the course of action proposed by this petition.

Off the back of strike action last year, Nine management committed to engage in discussions about freelance rates and conditions with MEAA representatives. Despite this commitment, Nine management have made few tangible changes to their existing terms of engagement for freelance contributors, and have ignored members calls to implement fair rates, annual increases, and a signed agreement. Freelancers are the lowest paid and most insecurely employed workers in the media industry, and the business models of major publications are becoming increasingly reliant on exploitation of these workers. We must demand fair freelance rates and conditions if we are to ensure a future for quality journalism.