NEWS
Friday, October 30, 2020
Cairns Local News
|7
CJAG urges major parties there’s still time NICOLE GIBSON The Crime and Justice Action Group’s (CJAG) Convoy for Crime last Saturday failed to secure a commitment from the major parties to action its 12-point Crime Prevention Plan if elected. CJAG, which experienced a meteoric rise to prominence since launching in March 2020, invited politicians vying for office in this weekend’s State election to sign a pledge committing to action their plan to tackle youth crime. CJAG Spokesperson Aaron McLeod said he continued to urge candidates including those from Labor and the LNP to sign the pledge before the election. “The invitation’s out there to all the parties,” Mr McLeod said. “There’s still time and they can sign if they want to.” To date, three Far North
Queensland candidates have signed the pledge including One Nation candidate for Cairns, Darrin Griffith and Independent candidates Yodie Batzke in the seat of Cook and the seat of Hill’s Peter Campion. “This crime prevention plan is calling for policies and resourcing across five priority areas focused on the core responsibility of nurturing, discipline and accountability of children, parents and bureaucrats before they become offenders, and providing a firm deterrent for serious offenders by acknowledging victims of crime,” Mr Griffith said. CJAG is non-profit association formed by residents after a spate of youth crime in the Cairns region earlier this year. CJAG’s Mr McLeod said it worked tirelessly with Townsville counterparts - One Community, One Standard, to bring about common-sense
changes in response to the community’s fears and to project a strong voice that people are fed up with crime in the North. “The more that people come on board and support the initiatives that we’re putting in place the louder our voice will become,” Mr McLeod said. In addition to overwhelming community support, youth rehabilitation pioneer, 93-year-old Geoff Guest AM, lent his voice to the cause to help facilitate a solution. “I’ve been helping people for a long time and am passionate about Australia as a great country and there are problems,” Mr Guest said. “We’re getting more and people in jail and youth and we’re not bad people, there’s something wrong.”
Independent candidates Yodie Batzke in the seat of Cook and the seat of Hill’s Peter Campion signing CJAG’s 2020 State Election Crime Prevention Plan Candidate Pledge at the Convoy for Crime last Saturday.
Lights, Camera, ACTION on the Environment
tainability and the circular economy.
NICOLE GIBSON INTERNATIONAL and national experts to star alongside local earth heroes proving Cairns change-makers are world class.
“Everything is connected energy and we need to start perceiving how we act, what we do and what we use differently in every single sense, from material objects to how we interact with each other,” Ms Van Staveren said.
When Cairns documentary filmmakers Shay Ryan Douglas and Thomas Lowth decided to make a film showcasing local organisations doing great things for people and the earth, they had no idea the big names that would get involved. Internationally renowned cell biologist, Dr Bruce Lipton, top American soil regeneration expert, Dr Zach Bush, and Australian science guru Dr Karl Kruszelnicki feature alongside leading local organisations and experts including Reef Restoration Foundation, Organic Motion, Parley Australia,
The duo’s goal for the film is to waken peoples’ awareness to the number of projects and actions being taken on a daily basis to bring about a better future.
Local documentary filmmakers Shay Ryan Douglas and Thomas Lowth permaculturist Annaliese Hordern and author Lesley Van Staveren. Creative Director Mr Douglas said the film had eclipsed all expectations of what the duo thought was possible when they started
filming two years ago. “Obviously we had an idea leading into the film of what we were looking to capture and who we wanted in it,” Mr Douglas said. “However,
what
we’ve
created now is a complete Committee for Waste Reevolutionary, mind-blowing duction President and author progression from what we set Lesley Van Staveren. out to achieve.” Ms Van Staveren said she The documentary, called whole-heartedly stood by the The Regeneration, is on filmmakers and their vision track to be released in De- because there is so much we cember this year featuring can do for the planet, sus-
“Our main intention is to elevate the stories of inspiring people in the local community who are working towards a more positive, regenerative future,” said Mr Douglas. The trailer for the film can be viewed via the Facebook page Earth Heroes or at earthheroestv.com.
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