We are greatly concerned for the health of our community and the environment. The HiQuality facility sits within 400 mtrs of a fast growing community. This facility sits as close as 29 mtrs from Emu Creek, home of the growling grass frog and native fish species. We have been advised to expect 865 trucks per day carrying untested levels PFAS toxic waste that will only be tested once on site. These trucks will be driving through communities that are incapable of coping with such a large influx of heavy traffic, travelling across heritage listed Bulla bridge. We believe the EPA report did not consider the impact to the community receiving this highly toxic soil. Hi Quality has a history of EPA breaches resulting in fines, we want to protect our green community and waterways, ensure the health and safety of our community. Also please take the time to sign our government petition https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/council/petitions/electronic-petitions/view-e-petitions/details/12/206?fbclid=IwAR0cYvrMU4BKKAKFhQVoCPoEV9XM_Jlh44e8nl9CdB3CQuilL8idK4sPtQE

Our COVID Wish List for Kids: Simple and practical solutions are needed. 1. Mandate Masks. As we learn to live with COVID governments could try to firstly mandate masks across the whole population e.g. when outside and when you can’t socially distance, like other countries in our region, and see the impact that has before cancelling anything to do with kids and school. Other countries are doing that and it’s working. Kids in other countries are living life in a fairly usual way, going to events, hosting sports, visiting family etc. Simple. #wearamask 2. Border closures. For ALL the families who have children attending schools (day and boarding school) who have to cross a border (eg. live in NSW go to school in VIC) each day, weekly or at the end of term (boarders) for their school holidays Government must find workable solves so they can see their families and not be locked up for the duration. This also includes Australians who live overseas for work (expatriates) and whose children are educated in Australia. These families seek an urgent solution. They cannot manage (afford) quarantine, nor up to a month of quarantine every time they wish to see their kids. Many are coming back from countries where the virus/community transmission is more under control than Australia. Like other nations there could be a safe list of nations for whom either Stay at Home quarantine notices are issued for 7 days (see the Singapore example for Australians), or where COVID tests are given and cleared for countries with very limited/zero cases. Also, putting an unaccompanied minor into a hotel to quarantine is unreasonable. The wellbeing of the child is not being considered and families should NOT be separated. If they must should quarantine at home. Parents need to see their children and children need to be able to attend their schools. Green lane travel bubbles for such families, across domestic and international borders, as are currently happening in other nations in our region and in Europe must be considered and implemented as matter of urgency with holidays just weeks away. #loveourfuture 3. Class of 2020. PLEASE support all our Year 12's (the “COVID Class of 2020”). This year is to their "rite of passage". Governments have made unreasonable decisions - no graduation with parents, no formals, cancelled sports, cancelled assemblies, the list goes on and on and this is on top of students struggling from isolation, pressures of whether exams will go ahead etc., disappointments and increase in the numbers of suicides, depression and anxiety. So many are devastated by these decisions. Governments have taken steps to ensure adults can attend restaurants, pubs, sporting matches etc and the same opportunities should be afforded to our kids. It’s up to governments to find solutions that allow Australian kids to have rights too. #COVIDclassof2020 4. General School Events for all kids: If governments won’t be satisfied with #wearamask for school events then for example before any event at the school each parent could have a COVID test 2 days prior the event. If negative they can attend wearing a mask and social distance. If positive they watch it from their lounge room. For parents and kids wishing to attend such events please introduce a solution e.g. every parent has to have a COVID test prior to the event. School Formals - the same applies as above. Each student is tested and if negative attends wearing a mask! These children should be able to have a school formal. These are just some ideas to get the debate started. Right now, like most other nations globally, we need to learn to live with COVID and give our kids the best future possible –they are the future of Australia. We cannot leave them behind… #covidgeneration #loveourfuture

We’re calling on Orica to immediately move their stockpile of ammonium nitrate out of Kooragang Island port and into a safer location far away from people’s homes and families. There’s no reason why a stockpile like this is located in the heart of Newcastle, when the only people it serves is the fossil fuel and mining industry. My name is Keith Craig, a proud Newcastle resident, chemical engineer and Stockton Community Action Group member. In 2003 I visited Toulouse in France, two years after 300 tonnes of devastating ammonium nitrate exploded killing 30 people and injuring 14,000. The people were still traumatised and suffering, just like they will be in Beirut for many years to come. There have been over 30 major explosions of ammonium nitrate worldwide following the start of production in the earlier 1900s. I don’t want this same devastation to happen in Newcastle. Many Newcastle residents already know Orica for all the wrong reasons. In 2011, Orica leaked ammonia and the carcinogenic hexavalent chromium into the air above North Stockton, an inner-city suburb of Newcastle. It was days before Orica told residents about the potential leak — during which time residents and families had inhaled the toxic substances as they went around their daily lives and sent their kids to school as usual. North Stockton residents have had to live with elevated pollution levels and air thick with dangerous PM2.5 particles for years. Also in 2011, Orica had three chemical spills and was responsible for a release of arsenic into the Hunter River. Orica’s plant in Sydney suburb of Botany also released mercury vapours which exceeded the licensed levels. In 2012, A NSW Upper House Select Committee investigation found that Orica had breached its operating license over the previous decade not just once or twice, but a shocking 130 times. Following the Beirut blast, Orica has hit the media circuit to downplay the risks of a similar explosion in Newcastle, but residents aren’t buying it. There’s NO SAFE way to store ammonium nitrate this close to population centres of any kind. In addition to residents, Newcastle community groups, the Stockton Community Action Group, Correct Planning and Consultation for Mayfield, Throsby Villages Alliance, Better Planning Network NSW and Hunter Community Forum all have major concerns around the large stockpiles of ammonium nitrate. Groups like these have been fighting to remove the stockpile for years. This recent Beirut explosion again shows just how dangerous these stockpiles can be. It would be catastrophic for the community if an accidental explosion were to occur. Will you sign the petition and help us avoid a potentially catastrophic explosion?

It is a fundamental right to be able to travel overseas to assist a family member in need!

In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, Peter Dutton is trying to sneak through legislation that would give Australian Border Force (ABF) officers the power to confiscate the phones of people seeking asylum and refugees being held in detention. The National Justice Project stopped Dutton from doing this before. They took him to court for taking phones from people seeking asylum and refugees back in 2017 and we won. He tried to introduce this law back then to overcome our Court win and failed, so now, while we’re all distracted by COVID-19, he’s trying again. Mobile phones provide people seeking asylum and refugees with a lifeline to the outside world, to loved ones and to advocates – their mental health, the protection of their human rights, and their families depend on their phones. The proposed legislation gives ABF the power to effectively SILENCE and PUNISH innocent men, women and children who have not been convicted of any wrongdoing by cutting off their ability to stay in touch with family, lawyers and advocates. Mobile phones can also hold Dutton accountable – they can record instances of mistreatment and cruelty. On Manus Island, Behrouz Boochani wrote an entire book via WhatsApp, exposing the cruel reality of our offshore detention regime. The family from Biloela, currently on Christmas Island, used their phone to raise the alarm when Peter Dutton forced them onto a plane. It was a mobile phone that captured the shocking footage of little Tharunicaa screaming as her mother was dragged onto the plane by ABF officers. It’s no wonder that Peter Dutton wants to give his ABF officers the power to snatch the phones out of the hands of people seeking asylum and refugees. He will do anything to break the spirits of these people and deprive them of their voices. We are up against a Government that will oppose human rights at every turn and prefer silencing their critics rather than taking responsibility for harm done to innocent people. If this law is passed, it can be used to threaten, intimidate and harass people seeking asylum and refugees. Please, sign and share this petition and help us keep asylum seekers and refugees connected to the outside world. #DialitDownDutton Please note this is a parallel petition. Originally started by National Justice Project on Change.org.

The installation of these cameras without the consent of the Australian public is a breach of Governmental power and a serious violation of our human rights to privacy. Being tracked, analysed and our personal data being stored in a cloud for the access of authorities to use as they will, is not only an attack on our human rights to privacy and freedom, but it is also a direct attack on the human psyche and human mental health. The citizens of Australia have never authorised the use of our taxpayer dollars to fund “facial recognition technology” to be used against us and our children as a biometric data collection for physical and behavioural identification. We do not call for a prison system society where everyone is examined and where our privacy is invaded while we go about our day. Australia SAYS 'NO'- We DO NOT CONSENT to 'Face Recognition Surveillance Cameras' in our schools and our society'.

The installation of these cameras without the consent of the Australian public, is a breach of Governmental power and a serious violation of our human rights to privacy. Being tracked, analysed and our personal data being stored in a cloud for the access of authorities to use as they will, is not only an attack on our human rights to privacy and freedom, but it is also a direct attack on the human psyche and human mental health. The citizens of Australia have never authorised the use of our tax payer dollars to fund “facial recognition technology” to be used against us and our children as a bio metric data collection for physical and behavioural identification. We do not call for a prison system society where every one is examined and where our privacy is invaded while we go about our day. Australia SAYS 'NO'- We DO NOT CONSENT to 'Face Recognition Surveillance Cameras' in our society'.

With the global Black Lives Matter movement in the media at the moment this has also put the spotlight on other forms of institutional racism in Australia. For me this has led to my own personal reflection about racism and the effect it has had on my own family and community. For several years I have complained to the Maitland Council about a racist statue in Maitland called “jocko: the little black boy”. Pic below. Apparently it has been around since the 1800’s and was once used as a hitching post for horses back in the day. This statue represents a racist caricature of an African boy in a subservient role. Not to mention it’s links to slavery. Blackface is not acceptable so why should a minstrel style statue be acceptable in a public place in 2020? It is symbolic of a time and culture that demeaned and dehumanized people of colour. I have written to council many times to ask them to permanently remove both statues but they have either not responded or responded by saying that it’s been around since the 1800’s and they have no intention of removing them. I would like to seek you support with this petition and present it to Maitland Council with a clear message that this racist symbol has no place in our community. I would like to ask if you also find the statue offensive and agree it should be removed immediately could you please join us in signing the petition and circulate it as widely as possible.

Because funds raised were done so in good faith that they would benefit all the people who had gone through bushfires. In planning and ensuring that Australia can fight better next time bushfires come through people will be happy that we have learned a lesson and will be better prepared for next time. This is something that many survivors hope for the future.

Once face-to-face learning becomes the focus again, we will no longer have the option to keep our children and families safe, as online learning will not be supported. As a parent who shares their children with an estranged partner I do not have the option to permanently homeschool, as their father would not agree to such an arrangement - therefore, once education returns to school campuses I will have no other option than to send them into what I consider a high-risk setting.

We the people, should not drown in debt because of a global pandemic that is out of our control. It is not our fault. Continuing to accrue mountains of debt due to rental, mortgage and loan payment arrears is simply not okay and Scott Morrison and his Government have the power to change this. #AbsorbTheDebt #DearDad #ScoMo #ScottMorrison @ScottMorrisonMP @getup_australia

Neighbours need a break from construction noise and concrete dust. They deserve to be able to participate in on-line church services and to be able to hear these. They deserve to be able to sleep past 7am or 8 am and to be able to go outside in the garden or hang washing out without noise and dust. Those with respiratory problems need a break from the dust. We cannot go out to escape the noise and dust except for brief periods. The impact on physical and mental health of residents and construction workers and their families need to be taken into account especially at this time.