According to International Law every human being has a right to seek asylum, notably in countries that belong to the UN Refugee Convention.  Australia is committing an international crime, yet  the UN is pathetically unable to enforce its own laws.

At the ALP conference members voted in favour of turning the boats around.  It's not surprising as  Paul Keating started  locking up innocent people, including very young and orphaned children in 1992.  Gillard, Abbott, Turnbull and Shorten; they're all the same.  

Do we really believe that locking them up or turning boats around has stopped deaths at sea? Banning any mention of it hasn't stopped large numbers of people dying, especially when they've been turned back to face watery graves or starvation in an Asian jungle. Why isn't the Australian public outraged?  

Liberal and Labor use the term 'border protection' in relation to refugees. Our borders should be protected from criminal activity and invading armies, not from persecuted, suffering human beings.

Recently $55 million was spent resettling four refugees in Cambodia. The government has spent billions of dollars of our taxes on mistreating refugees. If you sincerely want  sensible, humane, sustainable policies you'll have to look beyond the two party system. Lisa Owen, Warrnambool

Last weekend I stood alongside the residents of Cape Bridgewater and Cashmore. They declared that they did not want their communities to be taken over by mining companies, looking to extract gas from the ground.

For those who are wondering why the community rallied together to make this declaration, there are two items that I would encourage you to research. The first is “PEP167”. A quick google search will show that it's the title of a mining exploration permit which covers Warrnambool and extends across to Port Fairy. You can also search “PEP150” to see an exploration permit extending from Portland to just below Hamilton.

The second thing I would encourage you to research is “fracking”, which is a process used for extracting unconventional gas from the ground. Examples from across the world and to our north in NSW and Queensland have shown many risks associated with the practice, particularly to groundwater.

The upcoming by-election, along with the selected candidates, is shaping up to be one of the most bizarre elections we may ever see. But regardless of political differences, I hope that all candidates, and their respective parties, will unite with the community and declare their opposition to the gas industry and the threat of fracking to our area. Our soil and our water have value in perpetuity and are vital for our future.

On Sunday September 20, I will be marching on the Victorian Parliament with people from south-east and south-west Victoria in opposition to this industry. It’s our water, our soil, our air, our farming land and our future that need to be protected - and whether I’m fighting inside or outside the Parliament, I refuse to see south-west Victoria turned into a gasfield.

Thomas Campbell, Greens Candidate for South West Coast, Warrnambool.

Hydraulic fracturing or ‘fracking’ is the process of injecting millions of litres of chemically laden fluids underground under high pressure at multiple sites to create thousands of tiny earthquakes usually within rock or coal seams. Most of this chemically laden fluid, which may become contaminated with radioactive compounds and heavy metals, then returns to the surface for collection and is subsequently injected deep underground at sites usually distant to the ‘fracking’ site. 

Recent concerns in the USA over ‘epidemics’ of earthquakes have led to a number of scientific studies being conducted to ascertain what has triggered these quakes. In particular, major concerns exist over the risks of changing the state of stress in pre-existing underground faults which may lead to points of structural failure i.e. an earthquake.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), an average rate of 100 earthquakes per year above a magnitude 3.0 occurred in the three years from 2010-2012, compared with an average rate of 21 events per year observed from 1967-2000. (Seismological Society of America 2014).

In Harrison County, Ohio, 400 small earthquakes occurred between Oct. 1 and Dec. 13, 2013. 190 of these earthquakes were found to occur over a two-day period, just hours after hydraulic fracturing began on a well. The timing of the earthquakes suggest a unique source for the cause of the earthquakes - the hydraulic fracturing operation. The fracturing likely triggered slip on a pre-existing fault. (Seismological Research Letters 2014).

Other countries such as England, Switzerland, Germany and Australia have also had earthquake events that have been linked to ‘fracking’ or wastewater injection wells. (Nature 2011)

Given the various risks associated with fracking I believe the short and long term economic, health and social risks of fracking outweigh its potential benefits and therefore I strongly support a permanent ban on fracking in the state of Victoria. 

Michael McCluskey, Independent candidate South-West Coast, Warrnambool