We are now in unprecedented times, and the economic impact of Covid-19 on Australia and the rest of the world will be massive, but there are measures we can take to mitigate the fallout. We urge the Australian government to take action to protect the Australian people in the same manner that their Italian counterparts did on March 10th, they suspended mortgage repayments and utility bills to soften the economic blow to households and small businesses, residential and commercial. Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte said 'Europe cannot think of confronting an extraordinary situation with ordinary measures' The coronavirus is expanding rapidly and we will be likely facing numerous months of self isolation with a large number of the country facing unemployment and uncertainty. Hundreds of small and medium businesses are unlikely to reopen with their current liabilities in place, the aftermath of which will be catastrophic and will impact all of society in Australia. We call on the government to bring in emergency legislation for banks to freeze mortgages and interest so landlords can freeze rents and families can stay in their homes while their livelihoods are under threat. By acting together, we can save many lives and livelihoods. By removing this financial stress our communities can focus on social distancing, staying healthy and helping each other. This is the only way to #flattenthecurve 1 - The government needs to liaise with banks to freeze repayments for the duration of coronavirus 2 - Landlords need to implement this for all tenants in Australia #rentfreeze #mortgagefreeze

I’m a Tassie grandmother who has seen first hand the devastating impact the low rate of JobSeeker (formerly Newstart) has on young families. Due to the impact of coronavirus, the JobSeeker rate has doubled - but it is set to go back below the poverty line when the pandemic is over. That’s why I am calling on the government to leave JobSeeker where it is and #KeepTheRate. When it became apparent that millions of Australians were at risk of sudden unemployment due to coronavirus, the Prime Minister and Treasurer moved quickly to double JobSeeker. Seemingly overnight, we discovered that raising the JobSeeker rate was possible. In the blink of an eye, hundreds of thousands of Australians were pulled out of poverty. When this pandemic is over, we cannot let them slip back beneath the poverty line. As we slowly, cautiously find a pathway out of this pandemic, we have a chance to fix the system that has been breaking vulnerable Australians. I’ve seen the impact of this poverty cycle up close, and it breaks my heart. Sometimes it feels like this government is waking up each day thinking up new ways to make these poor people's lives even more difficult. Before the shutdown, experts, politicians, even conservative media commentators all agreed - we needed to increase Newstart. If we don’t keep the rate where it is, we are letting children go back to a life of uncertainty and suffering. Please Mr Morrison, keep everyone in this country safe, warm and fed by keeping JobSeeker where it is.  Change.org/KeepTheRate  

We are calling on the Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg to ignore the recommendation made by the Banking Royal Commission to change Mortgage Broker remuneration.  We also call upon the Opposition Leader and Shadow Treasurer to pledge that they will ignore this recommendation, should they win government. Owning a home is the great Australian dream that has become increasingly out of reach for many Australians in the past decade. The proposed changes to the mortgage broking industry, recommended this week by the Royal Commission, will place that dream even further out of reach for many people. We ask both the government and opposition to thoroughly consider the implications of enacting the recommendations made regarding the mortgage broking industry, and ensure that the outcome is fair to the average Australian. We support keeping mortgage broking free to consumers, and we support the ‘paid-the-same’ commission model employed by most brokerages that has ensured impartial decision making for almost 30 years. We completely reject the assertion by Commissioner Hayne and Matt Comyn, CBA CEO, that trailing commission is “money for nothing”. Mortgage Brokers are available 24/7 to answer clients questions, undertake loan variations, provide support and education, review their loans and make sure they aren’t getting ripped off by the banks by negotiating better rates on their behalf, as well as many other services.  This is what they receive trailing commission for, and we stress actually provides for better customer outcomes.  Without Mortgage Brokers being constantly being in contact with clients, banks use ‘rate creep’ to gouge more and more interest from clients due to new and bigger discounts becoming available to NEW clients, while existing clients effectively pay more. We strongly believe that customers will end up paying more. Home buyers will be penalised in one of two ways: either they will be unable to afford the proposed fee-for-service structure, resulting in a reduced ability to access the funding that is right for them; or, those that can afford the proposed fee-for-service structure will be forced to absorb significant costs that the banking sector were previously responsible for. Removing the commission structure that is paid by banks to mortgage brokers is estimated to put billions of dollars back into the Big 4 Banks, while implementing a fee-for-service structure transfers the responsibility of those costs to aspiring property buyers already making the most expensive purchase of their life. The Royal Commission uncovered misconduct and even criminal activity at some of the highest levels of Australian banking, and yet mortgage brokers and their customers are the key group likely to suffer significant penalties in the wake of the report.  Smaller banks without a large branch network who currently rely on brokers to introduce customers will also suffer a significant loss of marketshare. The Big 4 banks, meanwhile, have had some of their best days on the share market since the report was made publicly available. Mortgage Brokers are mostly small business owners who potentially could lose their businesses and their staff could lose their jobs. In almost three decades, the mortgage broking industry has brought competition to the Australian finance market, and today more than half of all home loans in Australia originate with a mortgage broker. If you're part of that statistic, or if you just value choice and competition in the finance sector, please pledge your support for this petition to ensure it is noticed by our Federal Government. Update:  Over 50,000 have signed this petition - that's potentially 50,000 votes for any party or Senator who supports us.

From article in The Age: "Federal officials plan to back the destruction of almost 2000 hectares of pristine Queensland forest in a move that threatens the Great Barrier Reef ... a draft report by the Department of the Environment and Energy recommends that the government allow the mass vegetation clearing at Kingvale Station on Cape York Peninsula. The area to be bulldozed is almost three times the size of the combined central business districts of Sydney and Melbourne. The draft recommendation comes despite the department conceding the native forest is likely to contain endangered species, and despite expert warnings that runoff caused by the clearing may damage the reef." Photo: Old growth forest in the vicinity of Kingvale Station, near rivers that flow into the Great Barrier Reef. Photo courtesy Australian Conservation Foundation Further information: https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/swaths-of-native-forest-near-great-barrier-reef-set-to-be-bulldozed-20180512-p4zewb.html  https://www.acf.org.au/massive_cape_york_land_clearing_approval_would_undercut_turnbull_s_reef_rescue_plan  

Our right to use cash must be protected by law Some shops and retailers have “gone cashless” which denies the public the freedom to choose how they wish to pay for goods and services. Cash is legal tender and yet shops are allowed to reject cash in favour of card and contactless payment methods, which can be surcharged. Cash is safe, private, reliable and surcharge-free. Cash is a back-up when other systems fail or malfunction. The RBA reported in 2019 that at least six million Australians from diverse backgrounds rely and trust cash for their everyday needs. If the government introduces a ban on cash transactions over $10,000, we call for a guaranteed right to use cash for in-person transactions under $10,000.00. This would require retailers and businesses to accept cash (subject to existing regulations around maximum denominations). Ensuring cash is secured as a payment option is in the long-term interests of the safety, stability and fairness of the Australian payment system. By signing this petition, you are calling on the Australian government to legislate to mandate cash as a payment option without surcharge for in-person legal transactions under $10,000.00.

Dear Mr Morrison, I think you forgot something in your recent stimulus package. My question - is there a way for the Govt. to help Sole Trader businesses survive a quarantine period? Sole Traders make up well over one million of the total number of business owners in Australia. *ABS most recent stats 2015 *97.4% of all business in Australia are small businesses. *Very small businesses are much more likely to cease trading over time than larger firms. Only 55.9% of non-employing businesses and 68.0% of micro-businesses operating in June 2010 were still operating four years later in June 2014. This compares with a survival rate of 76.9% for small businesses employing between 5 and 19 employees, 81.4% for medium sized firms and 83.7% for large firms. *There were 1.3 million sole trader, non employing businesses in Australia. *Non-employing businesses accounted for 62.3% of all small businesses, micro-businesses employing accounted for 27.9% and businesses with 5 to 19 employees accounted for 9.8% So running a sole trader business that has longevity is a huge challenge PRE coronavirus. My business has already lost $1,000's of its most profitable income through cancellation of weekend events from the fires/floods and this is set to rise to $10-15k for the year as more events are being cancelled because of Coronavirus. Just had three full big weekends of work cancelled end of March and April and May. This weekend work is on top of a 12 hour day, Mon-Fri week. Keep in mind for these types of extremely small businesses there can be little or no provision for: - sick or carers leave, no holiday pay or super- zero income for two weeks Loans/mortgages/rent will still need to be paid Insurances and fees still need to be paid Utility costs still need to be paid Business vehicle running costs Dead (stock already purchased not being sold) or lost stock as a result of spoilage or just no sales If I had to self isolate or be forced to isolate for 14 days (as they are in Italy) I'd go out of business. We run week to week on cash flow. If we don't hit our daily target we go backwards, with no real chance of catching up. Except by way of events at weekends, which are now all but cancelled. Mr Morrison, I am just one sole trader (ST) from 1.3 million+ non employment sole traders in Australia, but this is my reality. Concerned? We all should be. Australia and this example is a micro image of the 1st World right now.

The Coronavirus crisis is having a major impact on Australia's international student community. Due to uncertainty, many employers are choosing to fire international students who continue to be forced to face weekly rent and other basic expenses without having a source of income to support us. This is why we ask the Morrison Government to assist Australia's international student community by cancelling the rent payment until the imposed travel restrictions are removed and the situation has returned to normal. This measure would ease the financial pressure of the international student community, allowing us to continue with our studies to meet the academic objectives that motivated us to choose Australia as a destination. If you are in favour of requesting the suspension of rent payments to international students during the Coronavirus pandemic, please sign this petition and share it with all your friends. Thank you,

OUR HOUSE IS ON FIRE5.78 Million dollars is set to be spent on 2019/2020 New Year's Eve celebrations in Sydney alone while: 69% of New South Wales is currently in drought  970,000 hectares have been burnt – nearly as much as the last three fire seasons combined “Catastrophic” warnings have been issued for Sydney for the first time ever Three people have died and 100 have been injured, including 20 firefighters 150 homes have been destroyed More than 575 NSW schools are closed Is this really how we want to be spending our taxpayer dollars? Filling the sky with fire and smoke, spending 5.78 Million dollars on 12 minutes of entertainment, while our house is literally on fire. NSW Fires: "Due to the scale of the fires and the dangerous conditions, if you need help today you may not get it" Rural Fire Service’s Deputy Commissioner: "Don’t expect that there is going to be a fire truck coming to your home if it is threatened, simply because we do not have enough trucks to be able to cover every single possibility." Let Sydney set an example for the rest of the world. Let us be known as the city that cared enough for its land and its people, rather than the city with "the best Firework display in the world". These fires are not normal, something needs to be done and our government are not listening.Be the change.Sign this petition to have the Sydney firework budget of 5.78 Million dollars re-allocated to the New South Wales drought.

Foodbank uses this money to buy staple food that is not donated or recovered. Their funding will be cut from 1.5mill to 750k. This will cause far more food insecurity. Keep the current funding. I volunteer for svdp and meet the people affected. We took food (from Foodbank) to a homeless DV woman who had not eaten for 7 days. No food - she starves, in a rich place like Oz. Fair? No!

Leatherbacks are one of the most distinctive Sea Turtles. They have existed for over 100 million years and are one of the closest animals to what constitutes a 'living fossil'. Sadly, though, they are also one of the most endangered species of Sea Turtle, with only 34- 36,000 estimated females remaining worldwide. The animals are on a downward trend in terms of population, with some of the most prominent causes of their death being Boat hits, Oil poisoning, Fishing, and Human Habitat disturbance. The Green Marinas Proposition states that citizens in the surrounding areas should not be able to enter the natural nesting area of Leatherback Sea Turtles, therefore protecting them from most human interference. A fine will be proposed.