arbilp3

Rose petals? Have you heard of sarcasm?

Here is the reply I got from GetUp:

It’s true that councillors can’t simply cancel a development because of a petition. Planning decisions still have to go through a formal approval process and be assessed against planning rules.

But that doesn’t mean petitions are useless.

What petitions do is show the scale of community concern before and during that process. When councillors, planners and governments see that thousands of people are paying attention, it often leads to much closer scrutiny of a proposal and can influence how decisions are made, what conditions are applied, or whether projects move forward at all.

Community pressure has played a role in many planning debates in Australia. Petitions are one way people can make sure their voices are part of that conversation.

So the honest answer is: a petition won’t decide the project on its own, but it helps demonstrate that the community cares and wants decision-makers to take a careful look. We're also considering delivering the petition directly to the mayor – we've got over 15,000 signatures already and climbing, we're sure this will show the community doesn't want the tower to go ahead.

Ok, we'll just have to stick to our points of view. Just wanted to add that Change.org gets a lot of air play because it is the largest petition platform, to my knowledge, in the English-speaking world. Also that petitions can be very useful and effective as part of broader campaigns.

I learnt a lot myself as I was responding to you, so thank you for the exchange.

Here's a couple of items to broaden perspective that show why petitions are useful and have broader implications that are important for democracies. https://theconversation.com/not-another-online-petition-but-heres-why-you-should-think-before-deleting-it-110029 https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/lifematters/from-slacktivism-to-real-change-are-petitions-still-effective-/105805264

Over the years I have signed many petitions. Positive outcomes have been because petitions are mostly part of a multi-pronged 'campaign'. One example is the Free Julian Assange petition on your pet peeve, Change.org. I signed the original petition plus just about every other online means of support I could. Julian was finally brought back. I am sure the original petition was not the cause alone but it helped to make the issue broadly dispersed and became an integral part of the campaign as the number of signatories went from tens, to thousands to nearly 800,000. Another is https://www.change.org/p/introduce-arnie-s-law-stronger-penalties-for-crimes-against-pets which you can read for yourself is now closer to being tabled in the Qld Parliament as the petition initiators have been hard at work advocating to MPs.

You seem to want a very mechanical cause and effect. Nothing stands alone in relation to the ways we can benefit our society. It's all process and persistence. Petitions do not solve a problem on their own but are a straightforward tool that can be used to engage people in issues they care about but don't know how to improve on their own. They are also a straightforward way for authorities and advocacy groups to get an idea of what people think. Why do you think our govts are so poll-driven? What people are thinking does matter. Some petitions will never make a difference but some most certainly do.

This photo doesn't even do justice to the beauty of this marsupial. I had the privilege of seeing one up close last year.

The word critter (which I sometimes use myself) is pretty reductive really. It's like we relegate all wildlife to an indiscriminate lot, whereas each and every single one is as unique as we are (and aren't we 'critters' too?).

That's ok, I'm just giving an alternate point of view. You don't have to be convinced.

By calling the SMH article a puff piece and only picking the outcome of one petition and disregarding the other 13 you do not make much of a case for your argument, however.

As to your last point, which is important, I'll get back to you. I've made an enquiry because I also want more clarification. Thank you for that.

BTW, why the double title?

I forgot to add that environment and other activist organisations find that if their petitions to government are well supported by the general public it gives them more ammo to advocate for causes.

You make very valid points but I don't think they are the end of the story. Petitions form a number of functions (this list is not comprehensive). They:

• can and have influenced outcomes. The following is a fairly old article but it gives you an idea: https://www.smh.com.au/national/people-power-14-online-petitions-that-changed-australia-in-2015-20151222-gltgyb.html
• bring awareness about issues to people and communities who may not have been aware previously
• give people the opportunity to become involved, even if at arm's length. There is a great deal of apathy in Australia. People who don't even sign petitions are hardly likely to get really active as you indicate. People who are active will be the first to sign and share petitions for the issues they care about. I say this because I know such people
• give politicians and planners a sense of where people are at and what sort of issues they feel strongly about.
• may be used by politicians (cynically or not) to identify sectors of the population to address
• are used by social historians to map community development and salient issues over time (see for example, https://www.aspg.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Petitions-a-voice.pdf)

Finally, the above petition is for all Australians to sign, not just Gold Coast locals. It is very unlikely that someone living in Perth would contact their MP or one covering the Gold Coast to follow the situation. I am one of those people who write individual letters to politicians about issues. More often than not, they fob you off with unctuous polliespeak, so, that IS a waste of time.

To sign a petition is to put a small amount of energy into a significant cause (usually) and join others rather than not put in energy at all and sit on the side lines feeling helpless, alone and grumbling.

I'd just like to please ask you to keep your language less vulgar.

We have a greater glider nest box project happening in the area where I live and where there's a lot of large trees being cut down for residential development. If it wasn't for the care and commitment of a few, we would have lost many more endangered species by now. That's why it's so important that many more people get on board and do what they can to save our amazingly unique and beautiful native animal species. Here's a pic of a GG joey to prove the point:

That's a tough one 😜