Another day, another action - 06-06-2008 12:15
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I've been busy taking all kinds of actions since my last blog post, but realised how I've been missing that step in the action cycle - telling others about what I've done! So, while I don't have the time right this minute to post a proper reflection story, I thought I'd mention two actions that I've completed about issues I'm particularly passionate about...
Firstly, a couple of years ago - I worked with some good friends of mine in Perth to set up an advocacy/lobby group for transgender people (see the WA Gender Project Organisational page). One of our first major actions involved making a submission to the HREOC committee's 'same sex - same entitlements' inquiry. We outlined a range of areas where trans* people are affected by laws that discriminate against same-sex relationships, but argued more broadly, that the terms of reference for the inquiry should be expanded to investigate disciminatory legislation affecting trans* people more broadly. Anyways - the awesome news is that HREOC listened to our concerns and have agreed to investigate trans* discrimination further! They even referenced our original submission to the same-sex same entitlements inquiry on their website as part of their rationale for why it is a worthwhile cause - how rad is that?!
Right...on to the second action - a much mroe low-key but equally important one. Today I wrote to my local MP as part of a GetUp call to urge pollies to stop arguing about petrol prices and look at fixing up public transport. Here's what I wrote:
Hi,
I moved to Sydney from Perth a little under two years ago and am currently a resident in ******. Upon moving here, I made the conscious decision to not own a vehicle and instead choose to live in an inner city/central area. I made this choice to a) reduce my 'carbon footprint' and b) esnure I get the recommended amount of daily exercise (as per national physical activity guidelines) - and thus, reduce my risk of health problems in later life (as well as therefore reduce my contribution to the burden of lifestyle related morbidity and mortality).
When I chose inner city Sydney as my new home, I had envisaged it being much easier to access public transport - something, as a non-driver, I am completely dependent on in order to get around. However, day after day, I watch 4,5,6 or sometimes even more, buses pass me between 7.30 and 8.30am, too full to stop and allow me to jump on. On my way home, I have the opposite problem - waiting, sometimes up to 50 minutes between 5pm and 7.30pm (during which buses are scheduled every 10 mins or so) - with no city-bound buses stopping.
Based on my experience, it seems that the public transport system in Sydney is struggling to cope with the demands of our city's population. This concerns me at a time when it is so important that more people choose public and active transport over driving to reduce environmental and health problems. That all said - right now, it's easy to understand why fewer residents make this choice - and to be honest, I'm currently considering purchasing a car because I am increasingly unable to depend on public transport to show up or for there to be a free spot for me to jump on.
I urge for you to take action on this now - reorient the current political debate about petrol prices to the bigger picture - transitioning Australia away from oil and building public infrastructure (cycle ways, public transport) to make the environmentally (and healthy) option more accessible for individuals.
Sincerely,
Atari
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Procrastin-action - 13-05-2007 02:03
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With the end of semester looming I'm looking down the barrell of lots of uni work and probably a couple of near-all-nighter's...
And, as usual, it seems the home stretch has kicked off with a fair bit of procrastination. Which, is not all bad really...especially when procrasination leads to catching up on taking action on issues I care about!
Today I signed two petitions and enquired about membership to ANTAR which is a national organisation that promotes native title and reconciliation.
The first petition I signed was all about urging the WA Government to get cracking on taking up the recommendatinos proposed by urban strategy expert, Charles Landry, on Perth's future development. Landry spent 7 weeks researching Perth and put forth some great suggestions on how the city can grow its creative capital and reach its potential as a great city. Being a pethling myself, and one who was lured to Sydney for bigger and brighter things, I was heartened to see a grassroots movement campaigning for change! (see
form.net.au/creative_capital/)
The other petition I signed was the online 'Sea of Hands' for reconciliation (see
www.antar.org.au/sea_of_hands/). This is a pretty nifty way of presenting a petition - visitors can design their own hand and add it to the virtual sea alongside the other thousansd of hands :D
Anyways...I've procrastinated enough already! I'd better get back to writing boring stuff about economies of scale and the domestic airline industry in Australia *yawn*
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