As many of you will know, when detention guards stopped QLD-born Tharni going to hospital for nine days, a national outcry forced Scott Morrison’s Ministers to release our Biloela family from a Christmas Island detention centre and re-unite them on the mainland. But by excluding four-year-old Tharni from the temporary visas granted to her mum, dad and sister, Minister Alex Hawke is stopping this much-loved family coming safely home to Biloela, where they are welcome, wanted and needed. When the visas run out, politicians could put this family back in detention - or even force them to war-torn Sri Lanka, where Tamil people suffer terrible atrocities. In the years since the guards snatched Priya, Nades and their QLD-born girls from their Biloela home at dawn, the whole world has changed. The global pandemic means rural towns like Biloela are crying out for hard workers like Nades as never before. A Tribunal with the same status to the UK High Court has thrown out a flawed report the Australian Government relied on to deny the terrible dangers Tamil people like Priya, Nades, Kopi and Tharni face in Sri Lanka. And Australians of all beliefs and backgrounds have come together for this family in a way I never imagined when I started this petition over three and a half years ago. But one thing hasn’t changed. All that’s needed to bring this beautiful family safely #hometobilo is the stroke of a single politician’s pen. Read on for the full story. ************************************ Priya, Nades and their beautiful little daughters are valuable members of the close-knit rural community of Biloela, in Central Queensland. They have lived here for over three years and are a caring, hardworking family.One day, this peaceful family were going about their early morning routine. Nades was getting ready to go to his job at the local meatworks and Priya was warming a bottle for the baby.At 5am, their home was stormed by armed police and Border Force officers. Their seven month old baby and two and a half year old daughters were ripped from their beds. Priya and Nades were told they were being taken to a Melbourne detention centre and given ten minutes to pack up their lives.Priya and Nades were put into separate vans, driven to Gladstone Airport and flown to a detention centre in Melbourne. Border Force officers told them that if they didn’t sign “voluntary” deportation documents, they would be denied access to a phone, separated and forced back to Sri Lanka.They begged to be returned to Biloela. But after two days of pressure, they gave in and signed the documents.This beautiful, gentle family is now being held in a single room by three armed guards.Priya and Nades were settled in Biloela after fleeing torture and suffering in Sri Lanka. Despite the advice of human rights organisations on the ground, our current Government has decided that Sri Lanka is now safe. This is why they are trying to force Priya, Nades and their two beautiful young children back to Sri Lanka.The life awaiting this family in Sri Lanka is uncertain. In a country that represses Tamil people, and where child brides and child sex trafficking exist, the future of Priya, Nades and their two beautiful daughters is grim.Our community is not ready to let this family go. They love living and contributing to our society. We want them here. Mr Morrison, please return this family to Biloela, their home, where they are wanted and welcome.

Seven years ago, hundreds of thousands of compassionate Australians helped legalise medicinal cannabis to relieve the suffering of patients like my son, Dan, but despite this win, politicians failed us. On his deathbed, Dan asked me to keep fighting until all patients that needed access could achieve it, so here I am in 2023, coming up to Dan’s 8th death anniversary, still trying to fulfill that promise. The previous Coalition government regulated medicinal cannabis via the Special Access Scheme which meant that it was tightly controlled, access was restricted and full costs were to be borne by the patient. I’m calling on the new Labor government to help us #FixDansLaw by launching a three-year pilot program of the Compassionate Access Scheme, Compass, for patients unable to afford medicinal cannabis for serious conditions. All those years ago when we campaigned for change along with the support of 400,000 Austrlaians, it led to a positive cross-party bill that recognised that cannabis was worthy of a special set of regulatory controls. But the Coalition government threw out that bill and chose to amend the Narcotic Drugs Act 1967, putting it in the approved-yet-unapproved pigeonhole. The legislation that was passed seven years ago does not equate to access for many thousands of Australian patients. Right now, medicinal cannabis is a medicine for the wealthy. This new program will help address what the Coalition government failed to address: cost and affordability of medicinal cannabis. There are many other dilemmas that have plagued patients from the outset. They do require a renewal of commitment from the Labor Party and a willingness to engage with the community to create meaningful change for genuine patients.  When I first began lobbying politicians to legalise medicinal cannabis back in 2014, it was because I had witnessed first-hand just how much cannabis was relieving the suffering of my 24-year-old son who was dying from stage-four bowel cancer. My own perceptions of the harms and value of cannabis were conflicted as a nurse and mother, yet seeing Dan gain some long-lost quality of life has inspired me to continue this advocacy. We have had to battle every step of the way to remove red tape, educate and advocate for patients. To help spread awareness, we are launching the Medicinal Cannabis Awareness Week on February 20 - 7 years since legalisation and 8 years since Dan’s death. Please sign and share this petition to join the movement. ---- The 24th February 2019 marked the fourth anniversary of the death from bowel cancer of my beautiful 25-year-old son Dan Haslam - and is the third anniversary of the legislative changes we believed would make medicinal cannabis available to all sick Australians who needed it.  When it was passed, they called it 'Dan's Law'. After years of campaigning, backed by this Change.org petition which at the time was signed by over 250,000 people, I was so proud. Dan wasn't beside me, but he was with me. But now I'm angry and bitterly disappointed. Why? Because the medicinal cannabis system kickstarted by Dan's Law is a mess. Rather than making things easier, the legislative changes of 2016 which were supposed to make cannabis and cannabis products available to sick Australians have barely improved matters at all. Only around 2000 people have been able to legally access medicinal cannabis. Patients still struggle to obtain such medicines legally while a huge black market has developed servicing hundreds of thousands of people.   The products supplied by this illicit market are of course of unknown quality and safety, completely illegal and are being used without medical supervision, placing thousands of sick people in harm’s way. But it gets even worse. A knock-on of the 2016 Dan's Law legislation has been that medicinal cannabis and other cannabis products fall into a state of permanent ‘regulatory limbo’. They are – quite literally ‘approved unapproved medicines’. And the TGA, which approves new medicines in Australia, is simply ill-prepared to assess medicinal cannabis. Dan’s Law was put in place to legalise the cultivation of medicinal cannabis in Australia. But was it all for nothing? That's why I'm therefore re-starting this petition and asking for your help to fix the medicinal cannabis mess.  Please, sign and share this petition and help me honour my son's life and hard work. What we have now is an insult to his memory, and leaves hundreds of thousands of chronically and terminally ill Australians in unnecessary pain.  #FixDansLaw 

This is my much-loved son, David. David loved his 20-year career in the Royal Australian Navy. On February 1 2019, my David took his own life after a crippling battle with Post-Traumatic Stress injury. He desperately wanted to stay alive, but David was failed by a broken system that is seeing more than one veteran a week take their own life. More than one death a week. That’s why I am calling for an urgent Royal Commission into veteran suicide rates. This petition is about the systemic failures the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA), who had numerous opportunities to save my son and they failed. David was just one of too many veterans losing their battle with PTSD. This failure has created a whole new warzone for our veterans, one they can’t come home from. The people at ADF and DVA want to help, but their hands are tied by protocols and procedures. They are bogged down in paperwork and do nothing for the well-being of those that seek their help. Since WWI, mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters and families and friends have been asking for a Royal Commission into the systemic failures that result in the suicide of our veterans. I don't want to be the mother that fights for a Royal Commission and I don't want to be the mother that has lost her child, but in their own words: my hands are tied. I will not stop until we see action by our Government. I owe it not only to my amazing son, David but to all veterans and their families. This is a national tragedy, and something needs to be done about it. I call on the Australian Government to establish a Royal Commission with wide terms of reference to examine and make recommendations regarding the Australian Veteran suicide rate and what can be done in practical terms to address this tragic situation. If you agree that this is a national crisis that needs to end - please, sign and share this petition. Julie-Ann Finney, proud mother of Dave Stafford Finney. If you or someone you know needs help, please phone Lifeline on 131 114, Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636. This petition was originally started by Phil Essam.

Close Schools/Colleges/Universities down for an appropriate amount of time amidst COVID19.We would like the government to at least consider closing schools/colleges/universities down in the coming weeks or as soon as possible, in addition to taking necessary actions to prevent further spread.More detailsWe would like the Government or Parliament to enforce this action due to the growing fear among parents and students that attend school. The ability to focus or concentrate is affected in addition to the growing fears of the Corona-virus. In our view, the government and health officials around the world are more "reactive" rather than "proactive". This will result in more spread as time is given for the virus to do so. We hope to come to an agreement as soon as possible in a timely manner.

I’m calling on the Prime Minister to immediately declare a climate emergency.  More than 60 per cent of Australians agree with the sentiment that "Global warming is a serious and pressing problem. We should begin taking steps now even if this involves significant cost". Even those who voted for the Liberal or Nationals identify climate change as a major concern. Now, I am deeply afraid that our government is more influenced by large polluting companies and by short term financial gain, than by the virtually unanimous advice of scientists who advise that we must act now to mitigate climate destruction.   We have been given 12 years to drastically reduce emissions, lest our world warm to the point where humans face an existential threat.  We cannot wait until the next election. I say to you as the PM: you must represent all Australians, and you have a responsibility to those who are too young to vote and to those yet to be born. You must act on the will of the majority of Australians. Those who implore you to act on climate change, on pollution, on environmental destruction. I am calling on you to respect the will of the people and embrace climate action. We must oppose the opening of more coal mines. We must not let our land be bought and spoiled by billionaire mining giants who lack any environmental responsibility. We must enact a plan to switch to renewables with a realistic goal of 50-100% by 2030. We request that you declare a climate emergency.  This would demonstrate a concrete commitment, a willingness to stand together and fight to prevent the largest threat of our times. We implore you to listen to us, your Australian constituents and request a meeting at your earliest availability.  We believe in finding common ground and in working towards sensible, ethical bipartisan solutions. Please, sign and share this petition and send a strong message the newly elected PM: Save us from a climate crisis, before it’s too late. Declare a climate emergency, today. 

As a wildlife photographer, I've had intimate encounters with African elephants and have known all too well the story behind some of the pictures I've taken. Thirty-five thousand elephants are poached every year for the ivory trade. With less than 415,000 elephants left, if this rate of killing continues, it’s expected that they will disappear from our planet within a generation. The two largest ivory markets in the world, U.S. and China, have within the last couple of years banned their trades in a bid to save the African elephant from extinction. Hong Kong, the third largest market, is set to do so by 2021; the U.K. have also recently enacted a domestic trade ban. They’re all clear signs of the political will to protect elephants from extinction, and some of these bans are the best moves that the world could have hoped for. In Australia, however, an unregulated ivory market in Australia continues to thrive, which contributes to the mass poaching in Africa to satisfy the demand for ivory in Asia. Elephants are being lost at a rate of 8% per year due mostly to poaching. We need to end Australia’s trade- especially as it is contributes to the illegal wildlife trade- and implement a ban on domestic markets urgently, as per the recommendations of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement. Australia needs to act promptly on implementing a ban of the domestic ivory and horn market so that we can protect the elephant and ensure they will live on- and send a message to the world that we simply cannot let elephants head towards extinction on our watch.

On 24th August 2018 dual British-Australian national Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert boarded a flight from her home in Melbourne, Australia bound for Iran and the city of Qom to participate in a university programme on Islam for foreign academics. Dr Moore-Gilbert is a lecturer and researcher in Middle East Politics at the University of Melbourne's Asia Institute.  Three weeks after her arrival, on or around 14th September 2018, as she was about to board her flight home she was arrested by the intelligence arm of the Revolutionary Guard and thrown into Tehran's notorious Evin Prison. Imprisoned and isolated from contact with the outside world for the next nine months - much of it spent in solitary confinement in a cell just 2m x 3m with no bed, no window and the lights turned on 24 hours every day-  she was eventually charged and convicted, without any real evidence, on spurious charges of espionage and sentenced to 10 years in prison. As part of Iran's pattern of holding foreign nationals hostage for political or financial gain, Dr Moore-Gilbert has been held captive by a brutal paramilitary organisation that acts above the law and is answerable to no-one but Iran's supreme leader. Since her unjust conviction she has continued to suffer in isolation, denied contact with her family, permitted very few visits from consular officials and deprived of her most basic rights. She has no immediate prospect of being released into the general prison population, even though this is dictated by Iranian law once a conviction (however unjust) is secured. A recent appeal against her sentence failed after her captors attempted to coerce her into spying for Iran. Meanwhile her mental and physical health continues to deteriorate with every day that passes. Unable to eat most of the prison food due to allergies, deprived of the funds to allow her a suitable diet, personal items and medication she suffers intolerable conditions, simply for doing her job.  The Government of Australia has to date failed to secure her release or ensure that even her most basic human rights are catered for. The British Government has simply left it to their Australian counterparts to sort out. We ask that the Governments of Scott Morrison and Boris Johnson work together to urgently relieve the ongoing cruelty and hardship suffered by Dr Moore-Gilbert and secure her speedy release. At the very least we ask that they urgently work to ensure that Dr Moore-Gilbert is granted her full legal rights and is transferred immediately from isolation and solitary confinement. Her health and well-being depend on you. Thank you

The New Abbott FreeStyle Libre, (and similar) is a game changer for people with diabetes. This device will save the lives of people with diabetes as well as their sight and limbs. Not to mention the millions (or billions) of dollars it will save in future hospital bills, social services and the social cost of having people with diabetes going blind and losing their limbs. However, the device currently costs the user about $50 per week ($2600 per year). The Abbott FreeStyle Libre is not currently subsidised by the Australian Government, and this means that it is not affordable to thousands of Australians who could benefit from the device. The Abbott FreeStyle libre continually monitors the Blood Glucose Levels of people with diabetes. Helping them better manage their diabetes and prevent some of the horrible effects of this condition. Please sign this petition and help get this device and any other similar device more affordable for people with diabetes. Diabetes is not a lifestyle choice; people with diabetes don’t choose diabetes. Its handed to us on a platter and we need to deal with it the best we can. This device (and similar) will help us do that. So if you are only going to sign one petition today, please pick this one as it could help save a life. I have no affiliation with the "Abbott" company and this petition is not a promotion for them or their products. I am a person with type 1 diabetes who wants this device available for all Australians no matter what their income. This petition is supported by Diabetes Australia  

As a child, I sang at St Pats at Christmas and would still head there in times of turmoil. My Uncle sandblasted the Cathedral’s distinctive bluestone clean, none of us knowing what was what had happened inside during Cardinal Pell’s rule. But now we do - George Pell is guilty of sexual abuse. In addition to whatever sentence the judge hands down, I believe Cardinal Pell should be stripped of his Companion of the Order of Australia medal. There must come a time when we protect the abused and not the abusers. Part of that must be removing abusers’ power and prestige, like removing an honour Pell does not (and arguably never has) deserved. In 2005, John Howard gave Pell this power and prestige by awarding him honours for his service to the Catholic Church and supporting “matters of an ethical and spiritual nature, to education and social justice”. There is no honour, ethics, spirituality, education or social justice in sexually abusing minors. Do we want to live in a country where a convicted sexual abuser, one who oversaw a system that denied countless sex abuse victims justice, can retain one of the country’s highest honours? Pell does no honour to the people of Australia. It’s time we removed his Companion of the Order of Australia. Let’s stand with survivors of sexual abuse and fight to remove power and accolades from their abusers. Please, sign this petition, share it with others.   Lifeline: 13 11 14 1800 Respect: 1800 737 732 Bravehearts: 1800 272 831

Healthcare workers' lives are at risk as they work around the clock to protect the community during the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak. We are healthcare workers being handed personal protective equipment (PPE) that isn’t fully protecting us, as supplies run dangerously low. We’re calling on all Australians to stand with hardworking healthcare workers. We need sufficient supplies of adequate PPE and we need it now, before the system collapses. Please, read our open letter, sign and share this petition and help protect the healthcare workers who are protecting us all. ****************************** To The Honorable Scott Morrison, Prime Minister of Australia; The Honorable Greg Hunt, Federal Minister for Health; The Hon Karen Andrews MP, Minister for Industry, Science and Technology. The COVID-19 pandemic is here in Australia and we are simply ignoring the difficult lessons learned by our colleagues in Italy, China, and elsewhere. Australia is facing a significant shortage of N95/P2 respirators with the coronavirus pandemic building momentum around the world, and our southern hemisphere winter fast approaching. We know there are supply chain issues. The health minister admitted it in Parliament. We need to start manufacturing PPE here in Australia and stop relying on overseas manufacturers. We are in a war and this calls for wartime measures. The global economic downturn triggered by the virus has left thousands of Australians without work. We have the people-power, the tenacity, and the sense of mateship and community to do what we can and must for our fellow Australians. The Australian Government needs to mobilise this new workforce and redirect the manufacturing industry to the production of personal protective equipment for our own medical stockpiles and to trade with our international partners. Whether we are nurses, paramedics, physiotherapists, doctors, anaesthetic technicians, or other allied health, we are the frontline. We are the most equipped with the skills and expertise to care for the ill and fight further spread of the virus. If we become sick ourselves, we are of no benefit to patients and instead become vectors ourselves. The Honorable Prime Minister, Minister for Health and Minister for Industry, heed our pleas. We are at the precipice of a months-long battle against a virus that has taken a stronghold over the world. Redirect resources, take the unpopular but necessary emergency measures, and help us fight for the 25 million Australians whose lives depend on it. Yours truly, The Healthcare Workers of Australia Elements of this petition were modelled off an open letter, adapted from a US Change.org petition by Dr. Milla Kviatkovsky.