"When I cannot sing my heart I can only speak my mind Julia" - John Lennon

I think I have to stop getting so excited whenever Julia Gillard shows any glimpses of reason or compassion. Why, I am wondering, does she go out of her way to discriminate? Maybe only she will ever know....



Dear Prime Minister,

I am writing to you today to express my deep disappointment in your explicit stand against allowing everybody the opportunity to get married in Australia.

I am loved and cherished by my family and whether they are religious or not, they would like me to live a full and equal life under Australian law. I am particularly disappointed that you continue to alienate people that may support you in other areas in which you have  recently been quite progressive.

Please think about how you would respond if you were systematically locked out of participating fully in society. There are times in history when we look back and realise what a mistake we have made - before women were granted the vote, during the period of White Australia, and the Stolen Generation. I am convinced that we will look back on denying people the right to marry and regret how we allowed such blatant discrimination to occur.

Please reconsider your stance and reflect upon what it means for making Australia a fair and equal place to live and love.

Sincerely,

Me

Of cats and coalitions

What is it with the opposition? Go ahead, oppose, make a good argument but must you continue to refer to female politicians as cats? Western Australian Liberal MP Don Randall made comments in an address that Julia Gillard has 'pussy-whipped' the mining industry. Are you serious Don? I might not agree with everything that any politician says but I do know that my argument kind of goes out the window when I use sexist, racist or homophobic language to get my point across. What surprises me even more is how Julie Bishop thinks such insults towards women are fair game...internalized misogyny anyone?

Dear Mr Randall,

I am writing to you to express my concern about comments you made referring to Julia Gillard in a recent meeting. Regardless of your individual views related to economic issues associated with mining, suggesting that Gillard has ‘pussy-whipped’ the industry is insulting to her and other female politicians as professionals and misogynistic at its core. There should be a clear line drawn between disagreeing with a policy and resorting to demeaning language to challenge the views of others.

In light of Senator Bushby’s incident where he made ‘miaowing’ noises at Senator Wong and Tony Abbott’s record of disparaging comments about women it would appear that the culture of your party is sexist and must change to respect women and work with them as equals in our community.

I hope that you can grow to challenge people for the quality (or lack therefore of) their work and ideas rather than using sexist language to express your opposition to their ethos.

Sincerely,

 Me

I'm on a boat

I will be chasing up on a few different issues soon, but for now I will continue to hound our government overlords about their stance on refugee and asylum seekers. The expansion of the community detention program is making slight headway in treating people more humanely in our community, but we are a long shot from replicating the broad and accomodating migrant camps we were able to sustain in generations past. Chris Bowen you haven't heard the end of this!!


Dear Minister,

I am writing to you to express my concern over the government's 'Malaysia Solution' that fails to guarantee the safety of vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers in their plight for protection. One of the most troublesome elements of your government's policy is the failure to ensure detainees will be no worse off in the custody of the Malaysian government. I urge you to pursue talks with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to articulate what measures will be taken to ensure that detainees are treated humanely with dignity and respect.

I am also concerned about plans to disallow unaccompanied minors entry into Australia. Matters relating to refugees and asylum seekers should be assessed on a case by case basis, rather than assuming that the motives of every arrival are suspect. We should be seeking to protect the most vulnerable, not isolating them and refusing them shelter from persecution. I urge your government to review its current policy and reflect upon the positive contributions that refugees and asylum seekers past and present have made to our country.

Sincerely,

ME

Australia's politicians are still trying to out-do each other on being tough on asylum seekers. A lot of our population would not be here if this country had not accepted them or their relatives as asylum seekers, refugees or migrants. I always wonder how most of us would try and convince another country to accept us if we experienced natural disaster or war that made our country unliveable?

Here is a link to the UNHCR list of prominent refugees:

http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49c3646c74.html?gclid=CJKZtZCX0qgCFc2DpAodwClJfw

Dear Minister

I am writing you to urge you to reconsider plans to reopen the Manus Island Detentention facility in Papua New Guinea.

Your government's decision to expand detention programs is inhumane and unjust. If detainees are here unlawfully they should be sent home. If the are not, we should be releasing them and integrating them into Australian society as occurred in past eras. More humane approaches are needed in this area as innocent people fleeing persecution do not deserve to be punished without trial in such a way. Money would be better spent speeding up the assessment process and placing people in community programs until their cases have been resolved.

The cost to the community of the current approach is unacceptable -  it places detainees in danger of developing severe mental illness and severe hardship which continues after their release. A more measured response would seek more practical solutions that do not use off-shore processing. 

Yours Sincerely

Me

getting the wind up Ted

 I admit, it's pro-forma again, but I still agree with the content. Usually government departments don't write back to mass letters like this, and if they do they also like a bit of cut and paste action...


Dear Premier Baillieu,

Victoria needs to increase its investment in clean renewable energy – not run it out of the state. Victoria needs wind energy.

Wind energy has become a viable energy alternative, but your government’s proposed planning restrictions will effectively send billions of dollars in regional investment and thousands of new jobs interstate.

Many wind farm companies, such as Pacific Hydro and Keppel Prince have already said that they will move their operations interstate if your proposed restrictions become law. Overly cumbersome planning restrictions will mean that when the Federal government sets stronger renewable energy targets, all new investment will go interstate.



Don’t make it harder to build a wind farm than dig a coal mine or build a freeway. It doesn’t make sense for Victoria from an economic or environmental view point.

Scrap the proposed 2km rule and base planning controls on scientifically verifiable impacts on landholders.

Will you lead us into a clean energy future, or keep Victoria reliant on brown coal for 90% of our energy needs?

Come on Ted - what is your policy on climate change anyway?

Sincerely,

more health...

I thought that I would see what the new Victorian state government would have to say about health issues. I'm still waiting for a proper response, but I'm not holding my breath (so to speak)

Here is a link to the organ donor registry in case you've forgotten to sign up....

 http://www.medicareaustralia.gov.au/public/services/aodr/index.jsp

Dear Secretary.

I am writing to you to urge your government to review the level of
funding and support currently given to Victorian hospitals given the
recent marked increase in registered donors.

I work in a large metropolitan hospital that undertook over 60 lung
transplants last year alone. In the first three months of this year,
there have already been over 30 mainly due to the increased number of
people registered to donate their organs.

Victorian hospitals need more staff and beds to accomodate the
increase in donor activity, and an increase in state government
support for hospitals would greatly assist the wonderful work we are
able to achieve in a new era of public interest.

The increased awareness in the community surrounding the importance of
registering as a donor needs equal support on the ground logisitcally
in our hospitals. I call upon your government to address this issue in
your first term to ensure that the gift that many Victorians have now
chosen to share is not given in vain.

Sincerely,

Me



And the non-response?


Thank you for your email to Nick, Parliamentary Secretary for Health.

Nick will raise this with the Minister for Health, the Hon David Davis MP on your behalf.


Louise Daniel for

Nick Wakeling JP MP
Member for Ferntree Gully
Parliamentary Secretary for Health
Unit 4, 91 Dorset Road
FERNTREE GULLY VIC 3156

Tel:  +61 3 9758 6011
Fax: +61 3 9758 8053
www.nickwakeling.org.au

oh and another thing nicola

 

 I think I must have been on a rampage against Nicola during the 2010 Federal election... this is another letter that I found from back then...

 

Dear Minister Roxon,

 

I am writing to you because I am concerned about your comment relating to mental health funding. I agree with the path that your government is currently taking regarding health reform, however I think that there should be more spent on mental health in a similar way to the Coalition's announcement yesterday 30th June.

 

The comment you made about proposed funding arrangements being 'crazy' is really quite disappointing. The stigma surrounding mental illness is still not acceptable, and the language that we all use can combat this continued discrimination. Please help by carefully considering the approach that you currently take.

 

Can you please tell me what plans your government has to improve the current state of mental health? Do you still intend to reduce medicare rebate funding to social workers and occupational therapists?

 

I know that your government is committed to health care reform, and I believe the right approach will save lives. I would like to see more effort towards reducing delays and gaps experienced by those experiencing mental illness.

 

Sincerely,

 

Me