Dear friends,
However you first came to GetUp, whether to demand justice for David Hicks, help halt climate change, secure ABC funding, or stop the detention of refugee children - you've helped build a movement that's putting people back into politics. This is the year we will change the country.
The federal election is coming and campaigns are already in full swing. But we have something the corporate lobbyists, right-wing pundits and even the political parties themselves don't: numbers. With more than 160,000 of us, we have the power to influence party rooms and press galleries and fight for the issues we care about.
GetUp staff are off to Canberra as Parliament reconvenes. And if we all take a minute now to email our friends about GetUp, we will grow to 200,000-strong in time for key, agenda-setting meetings with politicians from all parties. So the most significant action you can take today isn't signing a petition or writing your MP - it's inviting a friend, colleague or Australian living overseas to join GetUp. Our new system makes it easier than ever - just click on the link below or the button above:
www.getup.org.au/campaign/TwoHundredThousandin2007
This is your movement. You have the power to make it even stronger immediately, by reaching out to all those people you know who wish things were different but don't know what to do about it; those people who dread the idea of another election won or lost on self-serving agendas and backroom party deals.
But we can demand a positive agenda for our country instead. Help grow our GetUp community so we can force them to tackle the real issues: climate change and sustainable economic prosperity, a fair go for all, integrity in our relationships with other nations, and the guts to face our most pressing problems at home - such as overwhelming rates of Indigenous poverty, the lack of essential services in the bush and the surreal costs of childcare, education or a decent home in the city.
Without endorsing any one party, we can work together and make this election year about our needs and our vision for Australia, instead of their spin-doctoring and scare-mongering. Numbers = power, and if each of us takes a moment to spread the word now, we will change the country.
www.getup.org.au/campaign/TwoHundredThousandin2007
And in case you think you've seen it all before, this year there'll be more ways than ever to have an impact. We're planning new initiatives and adding new features to the website like crazy. You'll have the option to create your own GetUp profile, meet up with other GetUp members in your area, organise events, lobby MPs and blitz your local press and talkback radio, all at the touch of a button.
Enough talking from us - it's over to you to tell your friends to GetUp! Help us grow to 200,000 members today.
www.getup.org.au/campaign/TwoHundredThousandin2007
Thank you for being part of this,
The GetUp Team
PS: The person who invites the most friends to join GetUp will win the chance to visit Canberra with GetUp this year, to work the halls of Parliament House - all expenses paid. And if that's not to your liking, we have a pack of great film tickets to give away. Email your details and the number of people you've told about GetUp to
[email protected]
PPS: David Hicks is the focus of our campaigning this week - we're launching a national TV ad, our Bring Hicks Home mobile billboard is traveling around Canberra, and if you're in the nation's capital meet up at 11am outside Parliament Tuesday 6th for a peaceful rally.
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If you have trouble with any links in this email, please go directly to
www.getup.org.au.
GetUp is an independent, not-for-profit community campaigning group. We use new technology to empower Australians to have their say on important national issues.
