• Don't Deport Refugees and Asylum Seekers to Danger
    Australia continues to forcibly deport asylum seekers back to places such as Sri Lanka, Iraq, and Afghanistan where they face imprisonment, torture and death. Article 33 of the UN Refugee Convention, to which Australia is a signatory, states “No Contracting State shall expel or return ('refouler’) a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his [sic] life or freedom would be threatened on account of his [sic] race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.” Thousands of asylum seekers in Australia are at risk of deportation particularly because the Coalition government changed asylum assessment processes and abolished the Refugee Review Tribunal. An investigation by the Edmund Rice Centre in 2011 found that of 179 refugees who were forcibly returned to Afghanistan 20 had been confirmed killed and dozens more had disappeared. An update of the report in July 2017 concludes “it would be impossible for Australian, European and other governments to guarantee the safety of Afghan returnees in this period of instability”. Deportation itself is a brutal process often involving physical or chemical restraint. It breaches Australia’s obligations under international law. People deported by Australia have been bound and gagged. Deportations sometimes occur in the middle of the night with little to no warning for the person being deported. In 2010 Jimmy Mubenga, was suffocated to death while being restrained on a British Airways flight during deportation by the UK government. Deportation invariably puts passenger safety at risk because asylum seekers will often rightfully resist the process. Abdlmoneim Khogali, a Sudanese asylum seeker handcuffed to a passenger seat ripped the seat from its floor mountings in an attempt to avoid deportation from Australia. He was then beaten by guards in front of passengers. Several attempts were made to inject him with tranquilliser, the needle missed and bent into the seat. He was eventually injected with that same bent and contaminated needle, and bears scars from it. Deportation is self-evidently harmful for asylum seekers and can also be traumatic for airline staff and passengers. Airlines are not legally required to carry out forced deportations. In Germany pilots refused to carry out deportations 222 times between January and September 2017. Lufthansa spokesman Michael Lamberty told the Westdeutsche Allegeimeine Zeitung newspaper that pilots were able to make such decisions if they thought that flight safety could be affected. Deportations are happening here in Australia quite frequently. Just weeks ago a Tamil family from Biloela in Queensland were ripped from their beds in the middle of the night. Priya, Nades and their two young girls now face imminent deportation from MITA detention centre in Melbourne. We know that Tamils face torture and even death upon their return to Sri Lanka. This petition has been endorsed by: - Dr Gillian Triggs - Julian Burnside - People Just Like Us - The Edmund Rice Centre
    226 of 300 Signatures
    Created by Geraldine Fela
  • Scott Morrison - Commit to Quality in Early Childhood Education
    The National Quality Framework is essential to the ECEC sector as it guides educators to extend and enrich children's learning from birth to five years and the transition to school. The NQF supports professional practice, especially in building and nurturing relationships, curriculum decision making and teaching and learning. The NQF allows the expression of personality and uniqueness as it caters to each individual child whilst acknowledging that educators are professionals, taking them away from the ‘babysitter’ persona. The paperwork allows us to show our parents the professional role we have in educating their child and displays a portion of the knowledge that is being imparted and also learnt by each child each day. By defunding the national partnership this Government is putting at risk our internationally recognised National Quality Framework. The Abbott Government already attempted to wind back our professional standards in 2014. Together, educators fought against it and won! The Turnbull/Morrison Government is now trying the same tactic to undermine our sector. Sign our petition to protect the NQF!
    1,413 of 2,000 Signatures
    Created by United Voice
  • Cook is a crook!
    For a lot of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, the commemoration of the arrival of the first fleet promotes the highest degree of negativity. The arrival of the first fleet marks the beginning of the oppression of our mob - the continued disadvantage and structural violence perpetrated towards First Nations people began on this day. I am an Aboriginal man whose mob is from the NT, and I am cut up inside whenever I see anything to do with Captain Cook or the First Fleet, because these things represent the suffering that my family have historically faced and continue to face. We do not think this is an appropriate use of tax payers funds, working people earned these funds, including our Mob, and this is a shocking misuse of government money. We want this funding redacted from the government, and you should too! Sign our petition and share with the hashtag #cookisacrook! Like our Facebook page to support our campaign: www.facebook.com/cookisacrook
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    Created by Ethan Taylor, UATSIS National President
  • Save our stop (Nicholson st/Victora st) before it's too late!
    We are all for accessibility at existing stops, even if that means getting rid of a few car parks. BUT DONT TAKE OUR STOP! The current plans to make the 96 tram accessible is all well and good but why do they have to remove stop 26. They say they are merging the stops but really they are just abolishing the stop at Victoria street completely. You can read more here: https://getinvolved.transport.vic.gov.au/route-96-upgrade If the stop at Victoria street is taken away that could mean 10s of hours extra every year some of us take to get to and from our home!
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    Created by Sebbo McEggo
  • Save Safe Schools in SA
    Safe schools save lives. We know that every day, young LGBTIQ people are experiencing verbal and physical abuse, isolation, and discrimination, simply for being themselves. We need to protect the programs that support students in creating respectful learning environments for them and their peers, regardless of gender or sexual orientation.
    315 of 400 Signatures
  • Accessible Playground for Urunga
    Inclusive Playgrounds are important for all to enjoy. Bellingen prides itself on being an inclusive community and it's the right thing to do to extend this to the children in our Shire and beyond. We support playgrounds for all. Increasingly playgrounds across the state and country are being updated to include accessible elements. We believe that Bellingen Shire Council, our State and Federal Governments should support extending this initiative to Urunga.
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    Created by Natalie Stevens
  • Please save Brooklyn Nine-Nine
    As Buzzfeed stated so eloquently yesterday: 1. Captain Holt's ADORABLE corgi Cheddar needs to make Daddy proud for 10 more seasons. 2. The world needs to see more of Terry's mesmerizing pec dance. 3. Jake and Boyle's endearingly weird bromance is the purest friendship in history. 4. The show is funny even when it's DARK. 5. The diversity and representation in the cast is amazing. 6. Gina is always 10 steps ahead, and life without her wisdom on a weekly basis would be meaningless. 7. The world needs more, not less, of Captain Holt's hip slang. 8. We need to find out whether Jake ever gets around to cleaning out his locker. 9. And then there's the epic action sequences ... 10. ... the top-tier police tactics ... 11. ... and the incredible, iconic musical performances. 12. The show deals with relevant social issues that other shows won't even acknowledge. 13. The show's creator, Michael Shur also created Parks & Rec and The Good Place, as well as writing on The Office. Oh, he also played Mose Shrute. 14. We cannot allow the next Halloween episode to be the last. 15. "Title of your sex tape" is the new "That's what she said," and it's nowhere even close to getting old yet. 16. Hitchcock and Scully are national treasures and they need to be protected. 17. We need to spend more time exploring Jake's relationship with his worst enemy/best friend Doug Judy. 18. Adrian Pimento has so much more to give. 19. Boyle has so many more mistakes to make with the English language. 20. We will all be lost if we don't have Rosa to protect us. 21. And our lives will be sadder and smaller without Jake's countless Die Hard references ... 22. ... the deep and beautiful office friendships ... 23. ... Gina's never-ending sass ... 24. ... Terry's emotional coping mechanisms ... 25. ... Captain Holt's joyful demeanor ... 26. ... Jake and Amy's adorable romance ... 27. ... and Terry's yogurt obsession. 28. Without the team's expert interrogation techniques, we would never learn anything about ourselves. 29. And without Jake's naive optimism, we would be forced to give up hope. In conclusion WE CANNOT LET THEM CANCEL Brooklyn Nine -Nine. Together we can save this show, and in the process, the planet.
    853 of 1,000 Signatures
    Created by Tess Corkish
  • The federal government needs to take action on domestic Violence
    Announcing the federal budget, Treasurer Scott Morrison stated that "keeping Australians safe" was one of five commitments prioritised by the Turnbull government. They demonstrated this by an increase in funding to tighten visa processing scrutiny, increase security at airports, and assist police and crime agencies to fight crime and terrorism. A WOMAN DIES EVERY WEEK AT THE HANDS OF HER CURRENT OR EX PARTNER. How can this government possibly say they are committed to keeping Australians safe when they have so heinously overlooked those so vulnerable, in such desperate need. This is not a responsible government, they do not prioritise and care for the needs of their people. Sign this petition to send a message to Canberra that the Australian people aren't okay with this and we won't tolerate it.
    35 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Alana Egan
  • Protect Home Care Services
    Council’s direct delivery of vital community services protects our vulnerable and older residents in their homes. Victorian local government has a proud history of leading the country in delivering quality services into homes in this area and it must be maintained. Right now, Moonee Valley Council is considering abandoning our older residents and outsourcing the service. Any moves to cease direct delivery of this service would have the following consequences: - Reduced provision, lower quality and consistency of care to clients; - Displacement of workers in secure, well paid, well supervised work within your local community; - No minimum qualification requirements, where vulnerable clients will be forced to allow potentially untrained providers into their homes, leaving them significantly vulnerable to abuse; - Loss of a holistic assessment client needs and coordinated or escalated service delivery or referral to match the changing needs of clients; - Loss of integrated services due to lack of participation of private providers in local partnerships, networks and alliances.
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    Created by Barry, Moonee Valley resident
  • Close the super gap
    Women are more likely to be in insecure and casual work, therefore earning less super over their working life. They often don't reach the $450 super threshold to receive contributions, and women also receive 50% less super upon retirement. It is also a startling fact that 70% of single women upon retirement become homeless due to this Super gap.
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    Created by Erin Klose
  • Nationalise Qantas!
    A Facebook Page called 'Let's Nationalise Qantas' aims to have the Qantas Group returned to government ownership to: * produce revenue for the Government, thereby reducing the burden on the average taxpayer * allow every Australian the opportunity to own and feel a part of a major icon * provide investment to the airline that only governments can reasonably do * ensure that safety is the priority over cost-cutting
    77 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Ken Dobson
  • Abuse is a crime: Legislate against abuse of public transport workers
    No worker deserves to be abused at work. When trains are cancelled or delayed, or simply people are disgruntled by the transport operator, often this anger is taken out on the human face that might sell tickets or provide customer service. Public Transport workers are proud of the work we do and want to feel safe in serving the community. While this only affects a minority of the population, this legislation will make a big difference to our safety on the job.
    160 of 200 Signatures
    Created by Rail, Tram & Bus Union