Last updated: 29 June 2009
| Amnesty International |
| Call for an end to the violent repression of demonstrators in Iran - millions of outraged people have taken to the streets to peacefully protest against the country's disputed election results - only to be brutally silenced by military police armed with batons, tear gas, water cannons and live ammunition.
At least 21 people have been killed, with reports of hundreds injured, and the situation has now escalated into a crisis striking at the heart of Iranian society that threatens to spill over into further bloodshed on city streets.
At this crucial moment in Iran's history, we must urge the Iranian authorities to bring an end to the crackdown, and allow people to protest freely without fear of further violence.
Please email Iran's Supreme Leader - Ayatollah Khamenei - calling on him to end the violent repression of protestors |
| End detention of children on Christmas Island - eighty six children, including 51 unaccompanied minors, are currently
being held on Christmas Island. The detention arrangements in which
children are kept, such as the ‘construction camp’ facility which
currently holds 68 children, is inappropriate for children even for the
briefest period. The ‘construction camp’ consists mostly of metal,
concrete and gravel, with small claustrophobic bedrooms and no ways to
communicate with the outside world. The Federal Government must commit fully to its vision
of creating a more humane refugee system. Australia must not continue
to violate its international obligations under the Convention on the
Rights of the Child (CRC). Contact Senator Chris Evans to let him know this must stop |
| Support the Tiananmen Mothers
- twenty years ago a group of mothers in Beijing experienced the worst
thing a mother could endure - the brutal death of their children, at
the hands of their own government. They call themselves the Tiananmen
Mothers. They are a group of Chinese women who never wanted to
become activists. But when their children were killed in the
violent military crackdown on the Chinese pro-democracy movement 20
years ago, everything changed. Since that dark day in Tiananmen
Square the Mothers have been denied the freedom to publicly mourn the
loss of their children - whilst the Chinese authorities have suppressed
the official death toll, estimated at more than 200 people.
Led by Nobel-peace prize nominee Ding Zilin, they face great personal risk every time they speak out. To date they’ve suffered detentions, repeated interrogations and prolonged house arrest. All they want is the freedom to publicly mourn their children without harassment, and an independent inquiry into what happened on that dark day 20 years ago. Unbelievably, the Chinese authorities have gone to such lengths to conceal the truth behind Tiananmen that the next generation of students don’t even recognise the iconic picture of the ‘tank man’ that dominated coverage of that fateful day. We can never restore what the Tiananmen Mothers lost that day, but we can show them that they are not forgotten. Sign the petition in support of the Tiananmen Mothers and demand an independent investigation into the Tiananmen crackdown |
| Sri Lankan doctors need your help
- the Sri Lankan government is celebrating victory over the Tamil
Tigers, but now three doctors have gone missing. Amnesty International
fears that they are being held in detention for providing eye witness
testimony to the media describing the horrendous suffering of ordinary
civilians in makeshift medical centres. Dr
T. Sathiyamoorthy, Dr T. Varatharajah and Dr. Shanmugarajah were
treating the sick and wounded until they reportedly travelled out of
the “No Fire Zone” with approximately 5,000 other civilians. It has
been reported that they have been accused of giving 'false information'
to the media. The Sri Lankan people still caught in the conflict
zone have had limited access to food, water and medical supplies for
more than two weeks, and at this time we need doctors like Dr T. Sathiyamoorthy, Dr T. Varatharajah and Dr. Shanmugarajah more than ever. Email the Sri Lankan government asking them to release these doctors and allow them to continue their lifesaving work |
| Aung San Suu Kyi needs your help
- on Thursday 14 May, just two weeks before her house detention was due
to expire, Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested
on highly dubious charges. Ms Suu Kyi and two female companions
are now on trial in connection with a recent incident in which an
univited intruder swan across a lake to her home in Rangoon and stayed
there for two days. Email the Prime Minister of Thailand and Chair of ASEAN, Abhisit Vejjajiva, to push the Burmese military junta for the immediate and unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all prisoners of conscience in Burma. |
| Women's rights activist arrested in Iran - Maryam Malek has been arrested and charged with "propaganda
against the system" for her involvement with the Campaign for Equality
and speaking up for women’s rights.Dozens of the Campaign’s activists have been arrested or harassed for their activities. Most recently, Parastou Alahyari was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment on 25 April 2009 for “propaganda against the system” in connection with her peaceful activities for the Campaign for Equality.
The Campaign’s activists travel the country to speak with women about their rights and to collect one million signatures demanding an end to legal discrimination against women. Send an urgent letter to the Iranian authorities |
| OXFAM |
| Big
Noise Petition - help make trade fair
|
| CloseTheGap - Australia has the
worst discrepancy between life expectancy for Indigenous and
non-indigenous Australians. In 2008 there is no excuse for a
difference of 17 years! More than 100,000 people have already
signed the pledge calling on the Government to improve this rate and to
provide better access to healthcare in remote regions. More
funding is needed to ensure that the long-term goals are made possible,
so Oxfam are asking the Treasurer, Wayne Swan, to provide adequate
funding in this year's Federal Budget. Sign
the Pledge or write
to the Treasurer. |
| Sign the petition asking the Australian Government to act on climate change - developed countries are responsible for most of the pollution that has
caused climate change. Australia is one of the worst per capita
polluters. Yet poor communities in developing countries are the ones
that are being hit hardest and don’t have the means to adapt. Sign the petition here |
| Greenpeace |
| Stand up for your rice
- rice is a staple food for half of the global population. It has
been grown around the world for over 10,000 years and is cultivated in
113 countries. Bayer, the German chemical giant, has created a
genetically engineered (GE) variety of rice that will put our health,
our agriculture and our biodiversity at risk. The European Union
(EU) will soon decide whether or not Bayer's GE rice can end up on
European dinner plates. But this will not only affect Europeans.
If the EU approves the import of Bayer's GE rice, farmers in the
US and elsewhere may soon start planting the manipulated crop. Tell the European Union to keep Bayer's hands off your rice |
| Climate emergency
- climate change is happening much faster than predicted. 2009 must be
a year of real action. We need to replace coal with renewable
energy, which will create thousands of new jobs in the process.
We need Kevin Rudd and the Australian government to play a strong
leadership role at the Copenhagen climate meeting, which will take
place in December 2009. Sign the petition and make sure your voice is heard |
| Sign the Stop the Humpback Whale Hunt Petition |
| Write to Japan's Public Prosecutor
- More than 250,000 Greenpeace supporters sent protest emails to the
Japanese Prime Minister calling on him to release the activists
(Junichi and Toru) who uncovered the whale meat scandal and were
subsequently arrested. And it worked - after 26 days in custody,
they were released!
Now Greenpeace is asking for you to write to the Public Prosecutor in Japan asking him to reopen the investigation into the whale meat scandal. Download a template letter or read suggestions to help you write your own |
| Ask US President Obama to end whaling
- according to leaked reports from the International Whaling
Commission's recent meeting, they are considering a proposal to
slightly reduce the quota of whales that Japan can hunt in the Southern
Ocean in return for an increase in minke whale hunting off the coast of
Japan. Of greatest concern is that one of the minke whale
populations in this area is listed as endangered. While on the campaign
trail, President Obama's position was unequivocal - no commercial
whaling and stronger international regulations on whaling. Ask the US to stop negotiating at the expense of endangered whales |
| Wilderness Society |
| Stop Gunns from finding a partner overseas
- Australia's largest woodchipping company has said it intends to make
an announcement on who will be the joint venture partner for the pulp
mill this month. We now know that Swedish pulp and paper company
Sodra is considering becoming a partner with Gunns Ltd to build its
controversial mill. Together we helped ensure that Gunns' own
banker, ANZ, wouldn't fund the pulp miill. Now we need to take
urgent action to make sure Sodra doesn't sign off on the destruction of
Tasmania's world-class, carbon-rich native forests. Send a message to tell Sodra's CEO - Mr Leif Broden - that Tasmania's world-class, carbon-rich forests are a global treasure |
| Become a superactivist - your superannuation could fund the proposed Gunns' pulp mill. In 2005 the Federal Government introduced Super
Choice legislation, which means you now have the right to decide how to
invest your retirement money.
By becoming a Super Activist, you can hold your superfund accountable for the investments they make on your behalf. Take control of your super investment |
| Protect the Wenlock River
- the Wilderness Society has just made a major breakthrough in the
long-term protection of the Wenlock River on Cape York Peninsula.
The QLD Government has released a draft protection proposal for
this irreplaceable river under QLD's wild rivers legislation. A tide of community support is now critical to improve the protection plan and make sure the Government follows through. Send a message to the QLD Premier, Anna Bligh, telling her why you love the Wenlock River and why it should not be destroyed by bauxite mining |
| Say
NO
to Nuclear Waste and YES to Renewable Energy -
"I want my Federal MP to publicly oppose the following in my electorate, and in Australia:
I want my MP to publicly support safe renewable energy and energy efficiency to tackle climate change." |
| Protect the world's forests in
the 'next Kyoto' The world's decision makers are already working on the framework for the next international climate agreement which will replace Kyoto. It's vital that this agreement is based on science and facts, and that all the loopholes are closed if we are serious about keeping the rising global temperature below the safe level of 2 degrees. Groundbreaking research is being carried out here in Australia - in a world-first, the accurate measurement of the amount of carbon that forests can store has been completed, and the research shows that Australia's temperate forests are some of the most carbon-rich in the world. If protected from logging and allowed to reach their maximum carbon-carrying capacity, they could safely store up to 9 billion tonnes of carbon. The results of this research give Prime Minister Rudd a golden opportunity to help other countries protect their own forests as a massive contribution to the climate solution. But we need to keep the pressure on him to stand up against the logging companies and countries that support them. Write to Prime Minister Rudd to let him know that you want the next international climate agreement to be based on science and ethics, and that you want Australia's and the world's forests protected. |
| Mitchell Plateau Region under
threat The Mitchell/Lawley River Region is approximately 350km north-east of Derby in the far north west of the Kimberley, WA. The Mitchell and Lawley rivers drain into the spectacular Admiralty Gulf. An area of high rainfall and unique geography, this region is of very high conservation significance. Norsk Hydro has signed a joint-venture agreement with UMC of Australia, where Hydro intends to mine bauxite and produce aluminia in the Kimberley. Write to Norsk Hydro and let them know that their plans to mine the Kimberley are not compatible with protecting the unique values of the region. Download a sample letter below and use this as a guide, or print it out and add your own personal comments. IMPORTANT: Please forward your letter to Norsk Hydro to: The Wilderness Society WA City West Lotteries House 2 Delhi St, West Perth 6005 or email your letter to josh.coates@wilderness.org.au They will then make sure your letter is sent to Norsk Hydro for you. Remind this huge international company that such a development will meet with strong opposition from the public, who care about the future of one of the world's special places, and that mining the Kimberley would forever tarnish their environmental reputation. Sample letter More info about the Mitchell Plateau Region |
| Don't let Gunns pulp our future! Together
we've helped convince the ANZ bank to do the right thing and say NO to
Gunns' forest-hungry pulp mill. Now none of Australia's big four banks
will touch it, and you may have seen the recent media reports that
Gunns isn't confident of securing funding overseas.
The government approval deadline of 4 October is looming, and Gunns is obviously feeling the crunch. To date, Prime Minister Rudd has supported this shameful pulp mill. But with government support for the mill in Tasmania waning, and with a lack of support for the mill from banks and other financial institutions, we are hopeful that Mr Rudd may be reconsidering his position. Right now I need your help to wake him up to the real cost of the pulp mill, the real cost of logging, and the real cost to our climate, communities and future generations. Send your message to Mr Rudd and let our Prime Minister know that Australians want to protect forests for future generations - not pulp them for short-term profit |
| Rescue the Murray River redgums
- the health of the Murray River and its River Red Gum Forests are
intrinsically linked. In some areas, 75% of the trees are already
stressed, dying or dead and they are being further degraded by
destructive logging and grazing. Often referred to as 'The Kakadu
of the South,' River Red Gum Forests
are also vitally important habitat for a threatened and endangered
species and play host to many thousands of migratory birds each year. The NSW government needs to urgently commit to creating National Parks from the state forests. Urge the NSW government to take action |
| Help protect the Kimberley
- send a public submission to the Northern Development Taskforce asking
them to preserve the natural and cultural values of the beautiful and
unspoilt Kimberley. The Northern Development Taskforce has
released part A and B of its report on potential sites for a major
industrial hub in WA to process Browse Basin gas into Liquid Natural
Gas (LNG) for export. The report has identified four sites in the
Kimberly that will be examined further - and the 28 day cutoff period
for public comment is fast approaching! The Kimberley represents WA's chance to avoid repeating the mistakes made elsewhere - mistakes that have lead to polluted waters, degraded lands, species extinctions and loss of economic opportunities. We can still make informed and intelligent decisions regarding what kinds of development are compatible with maintaining the natural and cultural values of the region. Act now! |
| Act now for Cape York - although Cape York has been recognised as one of the last great wild
places on earth for over 20 years, communities and governments have
struggled to resolve the challenges of providing economic futures for
Cape York's people - alongside protection of its extraordinary beauty
and its World Heritage values. Tensions bubble as different interests
push their vision for the region. The Wilderness Society needs your help in calling on Queensland's Premier Bligh and Federal Ministers Burke and Garrett to provide strong and inspired leadership. Delivering a positive future for Cape York Peninsula and its people requires a big vision and resources to deliver it. Send a message to Premier Bligh and Federal Ministers Burke and Garrett calling for coordinated action and leadership for Cape York's future. |
| Save the Coorong - help protect the future of the globally significant Coorong Wetlands at the mouth of the Murray River.
The
Coorong Wetlands are literally dying of thirst. Years of
over-extraction of water, coupled with changing climatic conditions,
means that these once magnificent world class wetlands, which should be
brimming with water birds, are on the verge of ecological collapse.
They need your help to secure life flows, fresh water that can be released to flow through the system and give our precious wildlife a chance to recover. Sign the petition urging the Federal Government to spend the money it has allocated to buy water, currently available in dams and weirs, and release it through the Lower Murray to the Coorong. |
| Australian Orangutan Project |
| Save Indonesian rainforests from destruction Question: What can you put on your face AND on your toast? Answer: Palm Oil According to Friends of the Earth it is now included in 1 in every 10 products you'll find on the supermarket shelves. That includes cosmetics (your face!), spreads (your toast) and just about every category in between including detergents, chocolate and even bread. And, of course, you probably don't know it's there because the manufacturers aren't obliged to tell you on the label. The demand is huge and it's the major cause of rainforest destruction. Great swathes of forest are ripped up to make way for yet more palm oil plantations. Don't let it happen to Bukit Tigapuluh. Sign the petition asking the Directors of Asia Pulp & Paper/Sinar Mas Group to withdraw its proposal. |
| Write a letter to your local MP
- for some time now AOP has been unsuccessfully trying to get the
attention of the government to help with helping Indonesia and the
Orangutans. We need more letters to bring this issue to the attention
of our elected representatives. Some ideas for your letter may include: - What is the government doing to stop the imminent extinction of the Orangutan? (Mention that we have heard that Australia has spent less than $350,000 on support over the past 5 years) - What is the government doing to ensure that the Aceh Tsunami aid is not being used to chop down rainforests for housing? - What is our government doing to ensure that timber is labelled with country of origin so we don't unwittingly buy Indonesian and Malaysian rainforest trees? - What is our government doing to ensure that we are not unwillingly buying and eating palm oil? Large tracts of rainforest are being destroyed daily to make way for new palm oil plantations. Please send copies of any replies received to AOP so that we can monitor anypromises made by the government. |
| Adopt an
orangutan - only 1 out of 6 orphans are lucky enough to be
rescued. Nearly 1,000
orphaned orangutans are living in rescue and rehabilitation centres,
but care of these infants is costly and requires 24hr staff,
veterinary,
and nurse care to ensure they are in a healthy condition and have the
best chance to survive – and possibly even return to the wild. For the small sum of $55 you can make a real difference and help these infants survive. All adoption money goes directly to helping infants at the various care centres we support in Malaysia and Indonesia. |
| Friends of the Earth |
| No current actions |
| GetUp! Action for Australia |
| End mandatory detention
- the Government has launched an unexpected but long-awaited inquiry
into immigration detention - the system that gave us children in
detention, sewn lips, the Cornelia Rau affair and condemnation from the
international community. GetUp! believes this inquiry signals
that the government genuinely wants to put an end to Australia's
inhuman detention regime, and for the first time they are asking us for
our views. If you have ever despaired at the treatment of asylum
seekers, put your name to GetUp's petition submission and help end this
ongoing national shame. So many times the community has rallied
against mandatory detention and finally we have been given the chance
to consign it to the dustbin of history. Now we must demonstrate
to the government that we demand a humane system. For over a
decade, governments have been so concerned not to appear soft on asylum
seekers that they have denied basic rights and dignity and opted for
the cheap politics of fear. This is our chance to stand up and
demonstrate that Australian's demand decency. Together we will show
that harsh treatment of the vulnerable is unacceptable in our community. Click here to give a mandate for a future of decency and respect |
| Encourage businesses to accept the climate change challenge
- climate change adviser Ross Garnaut has recommended a vastly
inadequate carbon pollution reduction target - merely 10% by 2020.
The target is so low that if adopted, Australia is at high risk
of losing the Great Barrier Reef, Kakadu, our ski fields and more.
We think that Australian businesses are capable of adapting to
meet the challenge. Most businesses understand that investing in
climate solutions creates new industries, new jobs and a stronger, more
efficient economy. Click here to encourage key businesses to make a public statement saying they're willing to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. The Australian community has demonstrated that it's ready, willing and able to face the climate challenge. Now it's time to get business on board. |
| The Great Firewall of Australia
- imagine a government proposing an internet censorship system that
went
further than any other democracy - one that made the internet up to 87%
slower, more expensive, accidentally blocked up to one in 12 legitimate
sites, and missed the vast majority of inappropriate content.
This is not China, Saudi Arabia or Iran - this is the vision of
Senator Stephen Conroy for Australia. Testing has already begun. The community must now move to stop this plan.
The system that Senator Conroy wants is a mandatory filter of all internet traffic, with the government of the day able to add any unwanted site to a secret blacklist. Already, the wrangling has begun for the inclusion of material relating to anorexia, euthanasia and gambling. It isn't difficult to see the scheme is open to abuse. Even when it comes to preventing child p-rnography, the filter will not prevent peer-to-peer sharing and is very simple to sidestep. The protection of our children is vitally important - that's why we can't afford to waste funds on this deeply flawed system. We should be concentrating on solutions that are more effective and won't undermine our digital economy or our democratic freedoms. This must rank as one of the most ill-thought decisions of the Rudd Government's first year in power. Take action to save the net today |
| International Rescue Committee |
| Sign the IRC Iraq Humanitarian Pledge - for each person who signs the pledge, one of their supporters will donate $1 to provide additional lifesaving services to vulnerable Iraqi families caught in the crossfire of violence. Their goal of“ 60,000 signers this month represents the 60,000 Iraqis who are driven from their homes by the violence of the Iraq war every month, mostly to neighboring Jordan and Syria. Women, men, and their young children - fearing deportation from neighbouring countries - are living precariously, many in hiding. They desperately need food, medicine, education, jobs, and a safe place to live. The IRC is on the ground providing humanitarian relief to thousands of Iraqi refugees. But there is still much more to be done. |
| Human Rights First |
| Challenge President Obama to end Guantanamo military commissions
- despite the fact that military commissions have a notoriously poor
record of dispensing justice and lack legitimacy even among many of the
military lawyers who have worked there, US President Obama has
announced that commissions will continue in a modified form. He is also
considering holding some detainees indefinitely without trial. He
must get the message that military commissions are the wrong choice for
human rights. So what options are facing President Obama as he
decides how to try prisoners at Guantanamo Bay? He can either continue
to try detainees through the Bush Administration's slow and extra-legal
system of make-it-up-as-you-go miliatary commissions, or he can try
them in the effective and internationally respected federal courts.
It's not a hard choice. Write to US President Obama to let him know you want an end to miliatary commissions |
| Put in prison for seeking protection in the US - Right now, thousands of men and
women are being held in prisons without basic legal safeguards
– jailed while they are seeking asylum in the United
States.
Each year the United States detains thousands of asylum
seekers who have requested refuge from political, religious or
other persecution abroad, jailing them in prisons and
prison-like facilities – and in the last years it has
gotten much worse. Since 2005, the Department of Homeland
Security has increased immigration detention beds by 78%. The new leadership of the Department of
Homeland Security has an opportunity to make things right. Email the US Department of Homeland Security today to urge immediate improvement in the treatment of asylum seekers |
| Physicians for Human Rights |
| Tell Iran that treating AIDS is not a crime -
Drs. Kamiar and Arash Alaei, pioneers of harm reduction and
HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment in Iran, have been detained
for almost a year and sentenced to prison in Tehran. The Iranian
government says they used trips to AIDS conferences worldwide to
foment a velvet revolution. Sign the petition asking Iran to free the Docs |
| Act today to stop torture - the full disclosure of a confidential
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) report on
CIA treatment of detainees confirms what PHR has been alleging
for years. Health professionals violated their ethical duties by
participating in the torture and abuse of detainees in US
custody. The Bush Administration weaponised medicine by using health
professionals to break the bodies and minds of
detainees. Sign the petition today urging Congress to restore medical ethics by authorising a non-partisan commission to probe these crimes. |
| Become a human rights monitor for Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe, once Southern
Africa’s bread basket, is starving for food, for
water, for justice, for peace. There can be
no peace and rebuilding without human rights protection.
Zimbabwe’s security forces are infamous for brutally
silencing political opponents and violating human rights: this
kind of impunity cannot continue. Human rights monitors are
needed to bolster the stability of the unity government as
Zimbabwe tries to rebuild its health system, its infrastructure,
its politics, and the very fabric of society, which has been
ripped apart by years of violence. Sign the petition Submit a photo for the photo petition |
| Australia-Cuba Friendship Society |
| Sign
a petition against the US-backed "civic coup" underway in the Bolivia,
which poses a threat to democracy and all nations' right to political,
economic and social sovereignty. Sign the online petition in support of President Evo Morales and the Bolivian people. Additional information is available at: 1. Fascist coup in Bolivia: http://www.greenleft.org.au/2008/767/39595 2. Eyewitness to Pando massacre: http://incakolanews.blogspot.com/2008/09/just-for-record.html 3. Eyewitness to Santa Cruz violence: http://www.marxist.com/orgy-fascist-violence-bolivia.htm 4. Ongoing news and information: http://boliviarising.blogspot.com 5. Solidarity needed with Venezuela: http://www.venezuelasolidarity.org |
| Stop The Traffik |
| March on Mars
- Mars make global sales of about $22 billion (US) and proclaim
Freedom as one of their 5 core principles. Mars committed to
eradicate the worst forms of child labour from the cocoa industry by
2005. Mars, as part of the industry process, failed to deliver by
2005. Stop the Traffik is asking everyone to write to or email
Mars to ask whether they can confirm that their chocolate is
traffik-free. Write a letter or email Mars |
| Project SafeCom |
| Write to the Immigration Minister
- following the screening on SBS of the Edmund Rice Centre's
documentary 'A Well Founded Fear', Project SafeCom is asking for
everyone who is concerned about Australia's treatment of asylum seekers
to write to Senator Chris Evans. Officials of the Immigration
Department, as well as staff of the
International Organisation for Migration, have told hundreds of asylum
seekers on Nauru as far back in 2003, not just that 'Afghanistan was
safe to go back to', but more disturbingly, they have applied undue
pressure, coercion, and even veiled threats in their attempts to force
those asylum seekers to accept the 'repatriation package' of $2,000,
offered to those Afghan asylum seekers if they would sign up to be
deported back to Afghanistan. The evidence of both case mismanagement as well as errors in refugee assessment is strong, not just as portrayed by the Edmund Rice Centre work and documentary, but also from other facts: for example, 20 children were deported, amongst them seven 'unaccompanied minors', who had been scheduled to go to New Zealand - but a mistake was made, and they were instead deported back to Afghanistan. "The Edmund Rice Centre has documented the deaths of "as many as nine men returned from Nauru" and "three children of people sent back from Nauru". According to Phil Glendenning, as many as 20 returnees from the Pacific Solution could have been killed." (David Corlett) Write to Senator Chris Evans to call for a full inquiry |
| Time for climate change action
- write to the Prime Minister, the Environment Minister (Peter
Garrett), and the Minister for Climate Change (Penny Wong). Following
the Victorian bushfires and the flooding in Queensland, Project SafeCom is urging people who are concerned about climate
change to write to the government. Kevin Rudd's 5% reduction targets are not enough, and Australia's worst
polluters should stop getting obscene subsidies from Australian
taxpayers! Click here for background information to include in your letter |
| Oaktree Foundation |
| Throw a barefoot party
- 70% of the population in East Timor is under the age of 30 and 43% of
them are unemployed. At the moment their future is looking pretty
uncertain because there is no dole or Centrelink and there are over
15,000 young people looking for work, but only 400 jobs on offer.
Oaktree is partnering with the Youth Livelihoods Project to train
groups of unemployed young people in East Timor to start their own
business, create jobs and take control of their futures. Oaktree wants you to lose your shoes and host a Barefoot Party to raise money for Oaktree and help fight world poverty. A Barefoot Party can be anything from a movie night with a couple of friends to a big event run by a uni club, from a formal lunch to a Wii tournament. It can be almost anything, so long as it follows these four rules: 1. It must be an event 2. Raise money for Oaktree 3. Be in May 4. Without shoes For more info or to register your party, visit www.theoaktree.org and download a host pack. |
| WSPA |
| Save Bali's dogs
- in a kneejerk reaction to six suspected human rabies fatalities, the
island's authorities have killed over 1000 dogs. The animals'
suffering is acute - strychnine is being used to poison some of the
dogs, leaving them conscious and convulsing until they eventually
suffocate. The majority of the dogs being killed are pets that
are allowed to roam freely.
Reliant on tourism, Bali must prevent the spread of rabies. But a dog cull does not attack the root cause and cannot safeguard human health.
The
World Health Organization recognises that the most effective way to
eradicate this fatal disease is mass vaccination of dogs alongside
rabies prevention education. This has been proven to eradicate
rabies in many countries; mass killing has consistently failed.
The Bali Rabies Forum, a coalition of animal welfare groups including WSPA, has developed recommendations on humane, effective rabies prevention for Bali. But this cannot work without the commitment of the authorities. Sign the petition calling for humane measures to control the rabies outbreak. |
| Cancer Council WA |
| Tell the Government to get behind bowel screening - bowel cancer kills 80 Australians every week – yet nearly all cases can be cured if found early. The
Australian Government operates a national screening program, but it is
only available to a limited number of people. Around five million
Australians are missing out on a test that could save their lives. Cancer
Council needs your help to convince the Australian Government to make
bowel cancer screening free for all Australians aged 50 and over. Email your local MP to let them know you support the introduction of this program by 2012 |