GetUp! Action For Australia

News: Political party participation

Posted by

Kelsey

We’ve received many emails in the last week from GetUp members who are joining new political parties that are starting up. In an election where millions of Australians are fed up with the politics as usual, it seems quite a few Australians are simply starting their own parties.

Some you may have heard of, like Clive Palmer’s — but not everyone is a billionaire with media attention galore. Some of these parties are being run by single parents standing up against cuts to their parents’ payments; by locals against Coal Seam Gas; or by community groups for voluntary euthanasia

To register a new party requires 500 members to join, and the deadline for that is tonight.

The power of GetUp is our independence — our ability to criticise or applaud all parties without fear or favour. We’ll never be a political party, nor endorse one. But GetUp is all about giving Australians opportunities to participate in our democracy. So here’s an opportunity. We can’t vouch for, and certainly don’t endorse, any of these parties, but we thought you might be interested in finding out more and making a decision for yourself.

Here are some new parties you may not have heard of. They are free to join online. We’ve taken these statements from their websites:

Stop Coal Seam Gas – (need more members to reach 500 today) “The Stop CSG Party will work to protect communities and farmland from invasive coal seam gas mining by pressuring government to ban CSG.”

Single Parents’ Party – (need more members to reach 500 today) “Parenting is hard. Especially for the 950,000 single parent families living in Australia. Its becoming even harder as the government continues to cut support for single parents and their children. We will advocate to reverse the cuts that are forcing families like ours below the poverty line.”

The Lamington Party – “For an Australia… where the regional cities are connected to the capitals … our government is a case study for democracy and efficiency… and one where we all have a strong social safety net and equal opportunity to succeed in life.”

Voluntary Euthanasia Party – “Over four in five Australians are in favour of new legislation and we wish to allow that sentiment to be clearly demonstrated at the ballot box. The Voluntary Euthanasia Party aims to ensure dignity in the final years of life, by raising the profile of this issue in order to engender the necessary political will for change.”

Australian Sovereignty Party – Stand for “no carbon tax”, “no personal income tax”, and “no GST”; “no more wide open borders”, and “no treaties without referendums,” among other policies.

The Future Party – “The Future Party is a new movement of people who are dedicated to thinking of long term solutions to advance our society. The Future Party believes quality of life is improved primarily through technological developments, sourced through a scientific approach to knowledge in the context of democracy and peace.”

WikiLeaks Party – “The WikiLeaks Party stands for unswerving commitment to the core principles of civic courage nourished by understanding and truthfulness and the free flow of information.”

Palmer United Party – Clive Palmer’s party with policies including “Abolish carbon tax;” “ensure refugees are given opportunities;” “creating mineral wealth;” and “develop right across Australia where the wealth is.”

And here’s some others that members have already written to us about today:

The Australian Children Rights Party – The ACRP’s objective is to ensure as much as is possible that the Commonwealth Government fulfils its obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

These are the new parties we’re aware of (parties that are not yet listed on the AEC’s website), but there are doubtless more. Let us know if we’ve missed one in the comments, or by emailing us at tips@getup.org.au.

And here are some parties you’ve probably heard of already.

More established parties are also gearing up for the election and preselecting candidates in the coming months. Whichever party best represents you, being a member means you can influence what they stand for, and who stands for them as candidates. Click here for a full list, including major parties like the Liberals, Nationals, Labor, and the Greens — or smaller groups from Animal Justice to Family First.

AEC Registered parties list: aec.gov.au/Parties_and_Representatives/Party_Registration/Registered_parties/index.htm”

GetUp is all about participating in politics. Joining a political party is by no means the only, or the best, way to do that! But it’s one way, and we thought you might find these parties interesting regardless. In an age when many teenagers have more Facebook friends than political parties have members, having more people involved in the organisations that represent us could be a great thing.

Of course, we strongly believe that you don’t need to join a party to make a difference! GetUp will never be a political party, and we don’t endorse particular parties. In fact, we believe that politics is too important to be left to politicians. That’s why we exist: to give Australians opportunities to come together on important issues and take targeted, strategic action. Together, we praise and criticise politicians of all stripes without fear nor favour, based on the issues GetUp members care about. Your actions make the campaigns powerful, and your donations fund the organisation’s costs and campaigns.

Thanks,

the GetUp team.

View Comments

Campaign update: Manus, Australia’s disgrace

Posted by

Jess

Shut it down.

That’s what politicians need to hear loud and clear from as many Australians as possible as the evidence continues to mount against the inhumane, Manus Island processing centre in Papua New Guinea.

Filthy drinking water, cramped living arrangements, inescapable heat and humidity, hordes of disease-carrying mosquitoes and the torment of not knowing why you are there or how long it will be before you are free. These conditions are unimaginable to most Australians – yet thirty children, some as young as ten, and their families still remain on Manus Island.

Sign the petition calling for the immediate closure of the Manus Island processing centre: www.getup.org.au/shut-down-manus

• This week, ABC’s 4 Corners released exclusive footage exposing the conditions inside Manus. Dr John Valentine said the conditions were “a disaster, medically”. He warned they were unacceptable for anyone, especially children.¹

  Yet Immigration Minister Brendan O’Connor has since rejected these claims, saying families would remain on Manus Island because of its “deterrent” effect – despite concerns from Opposition immigration minister Scott Morrison, who said it was obvious families shouldn’t be there.²

• Two weeks ago the Immigration Department released a damning assessment of its own processing centre citing “problematic living arrangements”, which included no reliable power supply, limited access to drinking water, high temperatures and humidity, mosquitoes, and risk of self-harm and mental health problems.³
• Three weeks ago, government adviser, Houston panel member and refugee expert Paris Aristotle slammed the Manus Island processing centre, saying it should be shut down if the recommended safeguards were not put in place.⁴
• Last month GetUp and child advocacy group, ChilOut, first exposed the conditions on Manus by obtaining an exclusive interview with a young woman inside the processing centre. Thousands of GetUp members chipped-in to run this ad on the air, which also aired as a Channel Ten exclusive.

Enough is enough. To continue to operate this facility in light of all that we now know, should be criminal.

It’s time to shut it down. Sign this petition so that next week GetUp members can deliver it in person to Immigration Minister Brendan O’Connor and Shadow Immigration Minister Scott Morrison, demanding the immediate closure of Manus Island. You can help to free the children who shared their heartbreaking stories with us.

Yours in hope,

Erin for the GetUp team.

PS — Is there a question you’d like to ask Brendan O’Connor and Scott Morrison? Now is your chance to ask those burning refugee questions of both parties. We’re collating the top five questions and delivering them, along with the petition, to both ministers next week. Send your questions to sydneyoffice@getup.org.au.

[1] View the full ABC 4 Corners story ‘No Advantage’, which aired on 29 April 2013, here
[2] ‘No plans to move families off Manus Island’, 30 April 2013. Available here
[3] ‘Refugee Expert Slams Manus Island Processing Centre’, 5 April 2013. Available here
[4] ‘Immigration criticises own Manus asylum centre’, 16 April 2013. Available here

View Comments

New campaign: Your say on a difficult choice

Posted by

Jess

Right now there’s a brief window for real change on a new campaign before us, change capable of relieving unimaginable suffering for many Australians. Before we take any action, we’re looking to you, the members who make up the GetUp movement, for guidance on this important campaign.

Dying with dignity in the face of an unavoidable terminal illness and horrific suffering is something that many GetUp members have told us matters deeply to them.

Here’s the opportunity: there’s a bill about to be introduced into NSW State Parliament that would give patients the legal right to request a humane, medically-assisted death (voluntary euthanasia). This option includes robust legal safeguards and would only apply to individuals suffering from painful terminal illness.

Unfortunately we already know that too many Australians choose to end their suffering by the only legal means available to them. Options such as ending life support treatment, cutting off food and water or suiciding, often violently. These options are distressing, prolong suffering and cause further grief and anxiety. They can also push family, friends and medical support away when they’re needed most.

We would really like to hear from you regarding this important campaign. Please click here to take a few minutes to fill out a short survey to tell us your thoughts or share your personal story: www.getup.org.au/share-your-story

The most up-to-date polling shows that more than 80% of Australians support assisted dying where appropriate safeguards are in place. ¹ For those who are faced with the choice to end their suffering on their own terms, it’s a difficult decision. In places such as Oregon in the United States (where assisted dying accounts for less than 1% of deaths) the knowledge that patients are able to end their suffering in the most dignified and controlled way possible has made provided great comfort to many approaching the end of their lives.

In researching and considering this campaign, we’ve heard from medical professionals, lawyers and academics about the critical safeguards in place, which will ensure people are capable of making the decision themselves and multiple doctors have affirmed their condition is indeed terminal.

We’ve heard from GetUp members who’ve been in that dire situation and their stories will stay with us forever. Stories like that of Gabrielle, who had to watch her mother die a slow and excruciating death from cancer at age 67, palliative care staff powerless to relieve her suffering.

We watched the video appeal from Angelique Flowers, who pleaded with then-Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to reconsider Australia’s assisted death laws before bowel cancer caused her horrific and unavoidable death, at just 31. We listened to members from all over the country about their experiences watching a loved one endure unimaginable suffering that can’t be cured, leaving them with no choice but to painfully wait for the inevitable. We have cried listening to their stories.

Now, we’re asking for your help, and your thoughts. While it’s something the majority of Australians support, and steps have already been taken in states and territories all over the country to change the laws, it’s here in NSW that a new bill stands the best chance of succeeding – if we decide to help politicians overcome the barriers. To do that, we need to bring this issue out of the shadows, summon the courage to talk about death openly and with compassion and launch a campaign with the support of the powerful GetUp movement that has the ability to bring about real change for the people who rely on our support.

We know your stories are powerful, and we honour and respect your views on this difficult subject. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts: www.getup.org.au/share-your-story

With gratitude,

The GetUp team

PS. If you’d rather not hear from us again on this issue, take the survey to share your thoughts, or reply to this email and let us know.

[1] Newspoll 2007, view here.

View Comments

Campaign update: Immigration slams Manus asylum centre

Posted by

Jess

You know something isn’t right when even the Australian Immigration Department is criticising immigration policy.

The Immigration Department’s assessment of its own detention centre this past week has found what we’ve known all along – the conditions in the Manus Island asylum seeker processing centre are inhumane.¹

It’s time to close Manus for good. Will you sign the petition demanding Immigration Minister Brendan O’Connor and Shadow Immigration Minister Scott Morrison to immediately shut down the Manus Island detention centre?

http://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/refugees/shut-down-manus

This damning report will come as no surprise to the tens of thousands of GetUp members who helped share the story of a young woman detained on Manus, and joined our campaign to expose the truth. However, what is surprising is that since the release of the assessment two people from opposite sides of the political aisle have come out in opposition to the detention centre.

It’s a rare moment indeed when politicians from across the political divide agree on anything, but this week both Labor Senator Doug Cameron and Liberal backbencher Judi Moylan went out on a limb to defend the human rights of asylum seekers.²

Senator Cameron has called for asylum seekers to be processed in Australia and condemned the conditions on Manus Island.

“If we have people in conditions where their health is in danger, that they are physically in danger because of the humidity and an electric shock, then we need to do something about it.” ²

“It’s expensive, it’s repulsive and it’s repressive,” were the words used by Ms Moylan to describe offshore processing, saying parliament has taken the “easy option”.

“It’s a matter of putting these people out of sight, out of mind.” ²

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. The “Out of Sight, Out of Mind” campaign, run by tens of thousands of GetUp members in partnership with child advocacy group, ChilOut, brought attention to the conditions facing the men, women and children living inside the Manus Island detention centre. Our exclusive interview with a young woman inside the detention centre was viewed by over a million people when it aired as a Channel Ten exclusive, a national television ad and on this website.

GetUp members made the children dance and laugh with excitement when they learned their voices were finally being heard.

The public pressure built by our movement influenced the government’s decision to fly all pregnant women and their families out of Manus Island to have their claims processed in Australia. A sure sign that this facility is completely unsuitable for the children still living there.

It’s obvious conditions inside the detention centre aren’t improving, in fact they’re only getting worse. The Immigration Department’s submission highlights numerous problems – no reliable power supply, limited access to drinking water, high temperatures and humidity, mosquitoes, risk of self-harm and mental health problems – the list goes on.

These conditions are unsafe, unsanitary and unacceptable – especially for children.

Call on Immigration Minister Brendan O’Connor and Shadow Immigration Minister Scott Morrison to shut down the Manus Island detention centre now.

Sign your name to the petition to let them know that shipping asylum seekers offshore might put them out of sight, but they won’t be put out of our minds.

We won’t sit by while they suffer: http://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/refugees/shut-down-manus

With hope,
the GetUp team.

[1] “Immigration criticises own Manus asylum centre”, 16 April 2013. Available here.
[2] “Labor Senator seizes on Manus Island report”, 17 April 2013. Available here.

View Comments

5 things you might have missed this week

Posted by

Elliot

View Comments

Communities in action: DIY Rainbow Crossings

Posted by

Kelsey

View Comments

Campaign update: What happened when John Laws accepted your request…

Posted by

Kelsey

Great news! Thanks to you, the campaign calling for John Laws to apologise and for 2SM to ensure its presenters receive some education on why reckless remarks about survivors of sexual abuse are so damaging, was a success.

Last month, Laws’ appalling comments to a listener who suffered sexual abuse as a child prompted a fierce outcry among the community, with nearly 40,000 Australians signed the combined GetUp and Destroy the Joint petition. Last week we surprised John Laws and 2SM by delivering the petition in person and requesting that Laws speak, on the air, with Dr Cathy Kezelman, President of Adult Survivors of Child Abuse.

Yesterday, Laws accepted your request and had Dr Kezelman on his show. She let him know why comments such as his are so detrimental to survivors of abuse and explained that by “just making the suggestion that someone’s provocative or talking about their appearance is suggesting that the victim has, in some part, a responsibility for what happened to them and that’s never the case” .

To his credit, Laws admitted that “the size of the problem is greater than a lot of people would think” and conceded that as a result of the interview he is now “better informed and better educated.”

A huge thank you to Dr Cathy Kezelman for having the courage to speak out and educate John Laws on just how damaging shaming and blaming survivors of sexual abuse can be.

It’s always important to recognise when someone does the right thing, so we’d like to commend 2SM and John Laws for honouring our request and endeavouring to learn more about how to avoid victim blaming in the future. You can email thefortress@johnlaws.com.au if you’d like to do the same.

This is proof that together, our actions can and DO make a difference. Keep up the fight to put the blame back on the perpetrators of sexual abuse.

– —- —- —- —- —- —- —- –
Hear the full 2SM interview: Dr Cathy Kezelman on 2SM, 10 April 2013

View Comments

Campaign update: A sign of things to come?

Posted by

Kelsey

Share the campaign on Facebook | Share the campaign on Twitter | Donate to the campaign

It was the most exclusive of events: a $500 minimum per head gala fundraising dinner last week for a right-wing think tank. Tony Abbott, Gina Rinehart and Rupert Murdoch took turns sharing the stage. Andrew Bolt was MC. Tony praised his fellow key-note speakers, especially Rupert, and promised the crowd a “big yes” to many of a certain think tank’s list of 75 policies to radically transform Australia.

So what, exactly, is on this think tank’s wish list? Independent media – gone. The ABC to be broken up and sold off, SBS to be fully privatised. Corporations to be allowed to make secret payments to political parties, Medicare gone for most Australians; a return to WorkChoices, just by another name. The clean energy fund and the renewable energy target – scrapped. Funding for sport and arts – including the Australian Institute of Sport – axed.It goes on. Never before has the extreme conservative agenda been laid out so clearly.

Here’s the full 75 point list:

• Repeal the carbon tax, and don’t replace it. It will be one thing to remove the burden of the carbon tax from the Australian economy. But if it is just replaced by another costly scheme, most of the benefits will be undone.
• Abolish the Department of Climate Change
• Abolish the Clean Energy Fund
• Repeal Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act
• Abandon Australia’s bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council
• Repeal the renewable energy target
• Return income taxing powers to the states
• Abolish the Commonwealth Grants Commission
• Abolish the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
• Withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol
• Introduce fee competition to Australian universities
• Repeal the National Curriculum
• Introduce competing private secondary school curriculums
• Abolish the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA)
• Eliminate laws that require radio and television broadcasters to be ‘balanced’
• Abolish television spectrum licensing and devolve spectrum management to the common law
• End local content requirements for Australian television stations
• Eliminate family tax benefits
• Abandon the paid parental leave scheme
• Means-test Medicare
• End all corporate welfare and subsidies by closing the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education
• Introduce voluntary voting
• End mandatory disclosures on political donations
• End media blackout in final days of election campaigns
• End public funding to political parties
• Remove anti-dumping laws
• Eliminate media ownership restrictions
• Abolish the Foreign Investment Review Board
• Eliminate the National Preventative Health Agency
• Cease subsidising the car industry
• Formalise a one-in, one-out approach to regulatory reduction
• Rule out federal funding for 2018 Commonwealth Games
• Deregulate the parallel importation of books
• End preferences for Industry Super Funds in workplace relations laws
• Legislate a cap on government spending and tax as a percentage of GDP
• Legislate a balanced budget amendment which strictly limits the size of budget deficits and the period the federal government can be in deficit
• Force government agencies to put all of their spending online in a searchable database
• Repeal plain packaging for cigarettes and rule it out for all other products, including alcohol and fast food
• Reintroduce voluntary student unionism at universities
• Introduce a voucher scheme for secondary schools
• Repeal the alcopops tax
• Introduce a special economic zone in the north of Australia including:
• a) Lower personal income tax for residents
• b) Significantly expanded 457 Visa programs for workers
• c) Encourage the construction of dams
• Repeal the mining tax
• Devolve environmental approvals for major projects to the states
• Introduce a single rate of income tax with a generous tax-free threshold
• Cut company tax to an internationally competitive rate of 25 per cent
• Cease funding the Australia Network
• Privatise Australia Post
• Privatise Medibank
• Break up the ABC and put out to tender each individual function
• Privatise SBS
• Reduce the size of the public service from current levels of more than 260,000 to at least the 2001 low of 212,784
• Repeal the Fair Work Act
• Allow individuals and employers to negotiate directly terms of employment that suit them
• Encourage independent contracting by overturning new regulations designed to punish contractors
• Abolish the Baby Bonus
• Abolish the First Home Owners’ Grant
• Allow the Northern Territory to become a state
• Halve the size of the Coalition front bench from 32 to 16
• Remove all remaining tariff and non-tariff barriers to international trade
• Slash top public servant salaries to much lower international standards, like in the United States
• End all public subsidies to sport and the arts
• Privatise the Australian Institute of Sport
• End all hidden protectionist measures, such as preferences for local manufacturers in government tendering
• Abolish the Office for Film and Literature Classification
• Rule out any government-supported or mandated internet censorship
• Means test tertiary student loans
• Allow people to opt out of superannuation in exchange for promising to forgo any government income support in retirement
• Immediately halt construction of the National Broadband Network and privatise any sections that have already been built
• End all government funded Nanny State advertising
• Reject proposals for compulsory food and alcohol labelling
• Privatise the CSIRO
• Defund Harmony Day
• Close the Office for Youth
• Privatise the Snowy-Hydro Scheme

It goes on. Never before has the extreme conservative agenda been laid out so clearly, but as they get more arrogant and brazen, our movement has the opportunity to do something we can’t count on the other parties to do alone: fight back, effectively.

Click here to become a core supporter of GetUp’s pepole-powered election campaign, and help stop this radical conservative vision of Australia in its tracks. Click here to share the campaign on Facebook, or here to share the campaign on Twitter.

Fortunately, the conservatives aren’t the only ones with an agenda for our future. While their elite right-wing donors were busy bidding on the chance to visit Fox news headquarters in America or go behind the scenes of Andrew Bolt’s show, ordinary Australians have been gathering in living rooms, cafes, libraries and pubs around the country to talk about what matters to us this election. Our top priorities are taking shape, and the two visions for our nation couldn’t be more different:

• Climate change: expand renewable energy, keep a price on carbon and cut massive public subsidies to fossil fuels.
• A humane policy on refugees and asylum seekers.
• More funding for education and a high quality education system.
• A progressive tax system and effective mining tax.
• Stopping the expansion of the coal seam gas industry.

Our vision is worth fighting for, and we can change this election if we try. The last thing we want is to look back and think, ‘we could have done more.’ Become a core supporter, and join thousands of other Australians refusing to give up, and deciding to GetUp. www.getup.org.au/join-our-core-membership

Share the campaign on Facebook | Share the campaign on Twitter | Donate to the campaign

View Comments

Campaign update: Superannuation reform

Posted by

Kelsey

Good news in our campaign for fairer superannuation: on Friday, the Treasurer announced improvements to Australia’s superannuation scheme, reducing the inequitable tax concessions handed out to Australia’s richest people.

Tens of thousands of GetUp members helped make that happen by paying for influential economic research; by petitioning Wayne Swan calling for a more equitable super system; by writing letters to the editor correcting misleading claims being made by media commentators; and by making our campaign video one of the most watched in Australia in the last month (watch it here). Well done.

We didn’t get reforms affecting the wealthiest 10%, 5% nor the 1% we were calling for. Today’s announcement will affect 0.4% of Australians. This means 16,000 of Australia’s top earners will no longer have their retirements subsidised by poorer Australians*. Read below for more detail on that. It may be a small step, but it’s a step in the right direction.

This is an example of how powerful it is when GetUp members come together. Campaigns like this one are funded entirely by a corps of GetUp members who donate small weekly donations to power our campaigns. They pay to commission the independent research behind this campaign; for the costs of our website that made this possible; the high-production video for this campaign that became one of the most viewed in Australia. It doesn’t take much to make a huge difference when your donation leverages the power of a huge social movement. This campaign cost approximately $32,000 in total, but it generated dozens of newspaper articles, TV reports and radio interviews, and helped tip an important outcome. Together, our small change can add up to big social change. If you’d like to join those who sustain GetUp, please make a small weekly contribution here.

http://www.getup.org.au/superforall

There’s so much more to do this year. For example, just on superannuation: the Coalition has indicated they would cut the ‘Low Income Superannuation Contribution’. Over 3.1 million Australians on low wages (two thirds of them women) would see their super shrink, leaving them with less money to retire. It would also put more pressure on public services like housing and health. Let’s get to it.

Thanks for being part of this,
the GetUp team.

*People whose superannuation investments pay them more than $100,000 a year in interest or dividends will be taxed 15% on that income over $100,000. The total savings to taxpayers generated by these announcements is about $900 million dollars.

View Comments

Campaign update: End Victim Blaming

Posted by

Jess

Trigger Warning: Sexual abuse, victim blaming, assault, childhood abuse, rape

Thanks to thousands of GetUp and Destroy the Joint members, we’ll be delivering a petition with more than 38,000 signatures to 2SM tomorrow during the live John Laws show.

Laws’ insensitive comments regarding the sexual abuse a listener suffered as a young girl provoked an outcry from the community that cleary demonstrates victim blaming will no longer be tolerated. President of Adults Surviving Child Abuse, Dr Cathy Kezelman, will be joining GetUp and Destroy the Joint members at the station where we’ll request that John Laws give her a chance to educate him about why his comments are so damaging to survivors of sexual abuse.

You can help ensure this message rings loud and clear. Can you find one other person who you think would support an end to our culture of shame and blame surrounding sexual abuse victims to sign the petition? If each of us recruits one person we can grow the petition to over 60,000 by tomorrow morning!

Click here to share on Facebook.

Let’s make it known that victim blaming has no place in our society, much less on our airwaves.

Thanks for speaking up!
The GetUp team.

View Comments