On Saturday, Anna Rose Richards drafted a letter Australians can send to their local MP demanding action in the wake of our bushfires. Having worked in parliament for four years, Anna felt it was important that Australians know that in the long term, legislative change is crucial. She approached the letter from a non-biased, non-political perspective, simply urging Australians to remember that their elected representative wants and needs their vote. These representatives need to be spoken to directly in order for them to understand that their electorate is mobilised, engaged, and passionate when it comes to fighting climate change.

In the days since Anna drafted it, the letter has gone viral, with names like Celeste Barber sharing the letter on their platforms.

The letter is respectful and clear, and a tangible way of doing something to make your voice heard when it comes to Australia’s environmental issues.

You can find your local MP by entering your suburb and postcode here, and then selecting ‘view district profile’. You can then find your MP’s contact details on this list.

Print the following letter and mail it to your MP. Make your voice heard. You can also share Anna’s Instagram video on social media, to urge those in your network to act, too.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Australian’s – if you’re scared / mad / upset about the Bush Fires in Australia, & feel the Government isn’t taking enough action … I lovingly encourage you to watch this live where I share how we can make (hopeful) impactful legislative change (& then send the letter!) ????

A post shared by Anna Richards (@annarose_richards) on Jan 2, 2020 at 1:33am PST

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Dr / Mrs / Mr / Hon { insert your MPs name here} MP
Member for {insert your electorate name here}
PO Box { number }
SUBURB STATE POSTCODE

Dear { insert your MP’s correct name here – including if they have Hon. In their prefix },

Re: OUR NATION’S CHANGING CLIMATE / AUSTRALIA’S BUSHFIRES.

My name is {your name}, and I am a constituent in your Electorate of {insert your Electorate name here}, and an active voter in Federal and State Campaigns.

I am writing to you today as I need my position noted and recorded by your office on where I stand on environmental issues for our nation, so when you represent your constituents in Parliament on any environmental issues, including voting on any environmental legislation you in fact have a correct representation of where your constituents stand.

I am deeply concerned that Australian politicians, yourself included, are not taking the issue of our changing climate and environmental issues in Australia seriously enough. This will be the policy I will be basing my vote on in 2022.

In 2019, we officially saw our hottest Summer on record (2.14 Degrees Celsius above average)* not to mention that 8 of Australia’s top 10 warmest years on record have occurred since 2005^, statistics and facts we can’t ignore as bushfires rage and droughts worsen. As of right now, our nation is currently on fire, houses and livelihoods are being destroyed, and lives being lost and all the while our nation is still warming.

By the Government’s own report findings, “State of the Climate 2018”, page 5, it states “There has been an associated increase in the length of the fire weather season. Climate change, including increasing temperatures, is contributing to these changes”. In that same report, it warns that the changing climate, with Australia seeing an increased temperature having risen by around 1 degree since 1910, and a drop off in cool season rainfall across mainland Australia increasing the risk of extreme bushfires in Australia.

That reality is here, with Australia in the grips of its worst national fire season ever recorded.

From a national health perspective too, this is becoming all of our issue, with air being so toxic in certain areas and cities we are being warned it is the equivalent to smoking more than a pack of cigarettes a day.

I’m asking that you don’t sit idle in your office or in Parliament house on ANY and all environmental issues. I respect and understand you may see two sides of the climate change debate. But we cannot ignore the facts now at hand that our country is burning, and we were warned. I respect and understand there are comprehensive issues in industry and jobs to do with climate change legislation, that granted I as a constituent may not fully comprehend, however, to me right now, reading and understanding from the Government’s own reports, I will not ignore anymore, the fact that the oceans are warming, the temperatures are rising, and Australia is burning. And if we don’t all do our part, both legislatively and personally to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on that same report, this fire weather will continue to become more frequent and severe.

We were warned, and we are still being warned. We now must act.

I am asking you to lead. I am asking that you stop thinking that the changing climate is not Australia’s problem, because we can do so much better as a nation.

I trust as a Member of Parliament you are in fact doing your very best when it comes to representing us, your constituents, but I am asking as a voter, in 2020 for you to do better. To do all you can to promote strong cuts to our carbon pollution, to even create the legislation on how to do that from an industry perspective if you don’t believe that legislation exists yet as a matter of urgency, and to reinvigorate and innovate the renewable energy industry.

I look forward to receiving a reply from you on this matter.

Kind regards,

{Your name here}
{Your address here}
{Your mobile here}
{Your email here}

References:
* https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/2018-19-angry-summer-infographic/
^ http://www.bom.gov.au/state-of-the-climate/State-of-the-Climate-2018.pdf

… And there’s more.

Mamamia Out Loud, our bi-weekly podcast, is coming to Melbourne for a live show, with 100 per cent of all ticket proceeds going to the Australian Red Cross disaster relief and recovery fund.

It’s a brand new show, full of laughs and news and opinions and a few special surprises, with Mia Freedman, Holly Wainwright and Jessie Stephens, on February the 11th. You can buy tickets right now at mamamia.com.au/events. See you there! 

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For more from Anna Rose Richards, you can follow her on Instagram, or visit her website.