Hospital pharmacists provide essential services to our community. Cutting pharmacists wages and conditions, including removing senior level roles means patients won’t have access to experienced pharmacists. Patients rely heavily on senior pharmacists to provide advice and get dosages right – it’s just wrong to compromise these patients and penalise staff by cutting their working conditions and pay.

Great societies have well run, smart public services. STEM expertise in the Australian Public Service is vital so that our country can deliver the infrastructure, technical outcomes and public policy that Australians expect and deserve. STEM professionals are under increased pressure to deliver, while across the country staffing numbers are cut, funding is slashed and the voices of our scientists, engineers and technical experts are ignored. We see the results all around us –scientific advice ignored, project overruns, waste, cost blow outs. At the same time wages are stagnating, conditions are reduced, and job security is diminishing. We need to restore STEM capacity in the Australian Public Service and create a public service where professional expertise is respected as the key enabler it is, not an overhead to be cut.

The Fair Work Ombudsman must investigate Dinner By Heston and take strong action against venues like these that use salary-based arrangements to underpay their workers. The law is clear: Employers must keep an accurate daily record of start and finish times, of the hours worked, and breaks taken, and have them signed weekly by employees. Employers must also do a reconciliation to see if staff have been underpaid. And if there is a shortfall, the employer must pay the difference. We are calling on the watchdog to enforce the law at Dinner By Heston. They must ensure these workers are paid for every hour they work and are paid back all their stolen wages.

The Treasury Building has a shocking but important history that must be preserved. It is filled with Tasmanian political, administrative and judicial history and was the place of many executions. Those executed included Matthew Brady, sent to Australia from Britain for taking part in an infamous peaceful protest in 1819 over famine-like conditions and lack of representation. Brady was hung on the steps of the Treasury after escaping the isolated Sarah Island on Macquarie harbour, becoming a legendary bushranger and a Robin Hood-like character; fighting off the British garrison at Sorrell. The history of political prisoners in Australia like Brady is an electrifying story that positions Australia and Tasmania at the center of the global trade union narrative. Yet it is a history barley mentioned, half forgotten; rarely told – the Radical History Collective intends to change that. The campaign to preserve the Treasury building is one of many fights that need to be had to preserve the rich and glorious history of the political prisoners sent to these shores.

APS3 Biosecurity Officers are deeply disappointed that after many months, department representatives have proposed an APS3 to 4 broadband process that is not fair or reasonable. The process that has begun makes access to the broadband dependent on applying for promotion through a rigorous recruitment process. This was not the intention of the broadband when we negotiated our EA in good faith.

It is hard to imagine an organisation less suitable to sponsor an award which symbolises the best of Australian society. Commonwealth Bank has been found to be entirely morally bankrupt – an organisation which has for decades profited by exploiting the trust of the Australian people, enriching itself at the expense of hard-working Australians. It has swindled working people – including its own workers – and destroyed lives. This disgraced company has no business sponsoring our highest national honour.

Carols by Candlelight at the Werribee Mansion is an annual tradition for the Wyndham community, the highlight of the Christmas calendar. Many members of the Wyndham community have grown up attending carols at the Mansion and now bring back their own families as adults. It is an important coming together of faiths and cultures in recognition of the spirit of the holiday season. Unlike in other Melbourne municipalities, Wyndham Carols by Candlelight is not hosted by Council. Unfortunately, the organising committee who usually run Wyndham Carols have provided no reasoning for the cancellation, aside from citing "unforeseen circumstances". To recognise the significance of this event to the community, we are seeking that Council step in to save Christmas by facilitating a community-led Carols by Candlelight.

The NRMA is buying up transport and tourism companies nationally. Recently, the NRMA began purchasing ferry services on Sydney Harbour in NSW. At one of these ferry companies - My Fast Ferry - management have been deliberately forcing their workers to accept below minimum conditions, and robbing them of their rightful pay rates. Workers at My Fast Ferry can earn as little as half the pay as those doing the same work, on the same boats, on the same harbour. Their only mistake is to work for the NRMA. The workers and their union – the Maritime Union of Australia - have requested that the NRMA do the right thing and treat their workers with the respect they deserve. Sadly, NRMA has decided to dig in behind existing practices, and continue to treat Ferry workers like second class citizens. How can you trust a company that behaves like this?

STEM professionals of Defence, are an essential part of the Department of Defence and our work must be respected and valued. STEM professionals are under increased pressure to deliver, while across the country staffing numbers are cut, funding is slashed and your voice is ignored. We see the results all around us – project overruns, waste, cost blow outs. At the same time APS wages are stagnating, conditions are reduced, and job security is diminishing.

Thousands of workers at Merivale have been trapped on a “zombie” workplace agreement that is almost ten years old. The deal means thousands of workers are left without penalty rates for evening and weekend work. That’s right: we’re paid the same rate whether we am working at 1pm on Monday afternoon or 2am on Sunday morning. Young workers like us have lost thousands of dollars compared to what we could have earned under the award. Even worse, Merivale did not even live up to its own agreement and workers have been underpaid thousands of dollars. It’s not right, it’s not fair, and we’re not taking it! We’ve hit the media and, together, we’re taking action to demand fair pay! Sign our petition! Join the union!

Last month, 20 year old apprentice boilermaker Dillon Wu died at work, overcome by fumes while welding in a confined space. Dillon had been working at the site – Marshall Lethlean in Melbourne – for just two weeks. He was supplied to the company by the Australian Industry Group (AIG). The company knew the worksite was unsafe, and had prepared a safety report regarding 11 high-priority hazards. Following an anonymous complaint, WorkSafe had been to conduct a safety inspection at the site on the morning Dillon died. The inspector left the site at 9.30am. Dillon was dead by 10.00am. It was the absolute duty of the AIG to provide a safe workplace for Dillon. Instead, he was sent into a tank to grind welds, without ventilation, without a gas monitor, without supervision, and without certification to weld in a confined space. Instead, he was sent to his death. Every worker should come home safe from work. Deaths on the job are 100% preventable. When workers die, employers must be held responsible. We must stop deaths like Dillon’s. Sign our petition to make industrial manslaughter laws a reality.

I support Victorians’ Voluntary Assisted Dying legislation. That’s why I’m asking all candidates to commit to this legislation, so that Victorians with a terminal illness receive the compassion and dignity they deserve at the end of their lives. It is time to end the division on this important issue. Victoria is the first state to pass voluntary assisted dying legislation. Conservatives now want to deny Victorians compassion and dignity at the end of their lives. For more information, visit: https://www.nomoredebate.org.au/