Why Lobby?

Energy companies like ExxonMobil are some of the most pofitable companies in the world and have huge influence. They do however need permits and directon from our governments and that's where you come in. Members of Parliament will listen intently when they think they could be voted out of office and your visit or letter to your MP flexes a mussle that no corporation has, the vote, it's your right and can mean more than all their money.

Fossil Fuel Lobby

We as individuals need to voice our concerns to what Ross Garnout says is "the most pervasive pressure on the policy process from vested interests since the Scullin government, and of the most expensive, elaborate and sophisticated lobbying pressure on the policy process ever in this country."

They have been successful in grants and the CPRS (see page on grants). Ross Garnout says "There is no public policy justification for $3.9 billion in unconditional payments to generators in relation to hypothetical future "loss of asset value". Never in the history of Australian public finance has so much been given without public policy purpose, by so many, to so few."
Source: http://www.theage.com.au/national/australia-counts-itself-out-20081219-72ei.html

Politicians openly court business donations in return for the opportunity to plead their case it what is called 'cash for access'. "There is a feeling that you have to do it ... It has become a racket" said former Reserve Bank of Australia director Dick Warburton. (reported in BRW August 13, 2009 page 11)

Know your Members of Parliament

Firstly you will need to know your electorate (both state and federal) to find your specific parliamentarians.
As one of their constituents you have the greatest leverage with these MP's because your vote can directly effect their job prospects.

Secondly you'll need the contact details of your state and federal environment ministers and the premier and prime minister. Neither major party has a great reccord on the environment so it's worth writing to both sides of politics, especially those in government as they have the power to make changes.

Clearly tell them why you are not happy

Visit, phone and write your relevant members of parliament. Calmly and politely explain your concerns and ask for specific action to be taken.
Staff at a politician's office rate the importance of your message by the amount of inconvenience you went to in order to communicate it. Emails will get the least attention with personal visits the most, so if you have the chance walk into your elected MP's office.

In order of importance here are some tips to make the most of your time and effort:

• Face to face meeting:
  Face to face meetings with your Member or a relevant person on their staff is the most effective. A meeting usually needs to be arranged at least a week (and often more) in advance, and may be particularly difficult to organise for a day during weeks when Parliament is sitting. If this it too much trouble a 'walk-in' off the street has a lot of impact. Tell the office staff of your issue and if you can't talk to the member directly (very likley) ask that your concerns be passed on.
• Letter:
  A handwritten or typed and signed letter with your address is an effective means of communication. Avoid photocopied form letters or postcard campaigns. Some politicians regard handwritten letters more highly than typewritten letters but for convenience most of us will write them on our computer. Examples of letters you can add your details to are under the 'Lobby' tab on the menu bar.
  If you are writing a letter ask a question and insist on a full written answer to it. Remember politicians are the servants of the public and not the other way round
  See tips for writing letters later herein.
• Telephone call:
  A phone call to your representative's office (local electorate office or at Parliament House) is generally more effective than sending email, but is less effective than writing and mailing a letter.
• Fax:
  The effectiveness of fax communication is higher than email, but less than a mailed letter and roughly equivalent to a phone call.
• Email:
  Email is by far the least effective way of communicating your views to your representative/s.

  Some politicians regard email as "second class mail" (as reported by the Commonwealth Department of the Parliamentary Reporting Staff in the 2000/01 Annual Report) and some do not even read email. Others receive so much email that they and their staff have difficulty managing it.

  However, when you are unable to find time to mail a letter or make a phone call, it is better to send an email than do nothing.

  See tips on sending email later herein that will help maximise the probability of your email being read and considered. It is also worth bearing in mind comments made by several politicians in an article titled Getting pollies' e-ttention (by Selina Mitchell, The Australian IT, 8 May 2001) which include:

  "...Some [politicians] The Australian spoke to will simply delete all email from people living outside of their constituency, while others will open emails with subject lines indicating an area of interest. Most will not forward emails to colleagues. Many say they are wary of bandwidth-hungry email postcards and form-letter style bombardments.

  'I think the view amongst parliamentarians is that if you get an influx of email from different people but it is the same letter word for word, all it says is that someone has a good network,' POITAG chair and Liberal MP Kevin Andrews says.

  'A personal representation is much better than one that is mass produced - don't just regurgitate what someone at the head of a lobby group says.'

  But politicians have different ideas about what constitutes spam. Shadow IT spokeswoman Senate [sic] Kate Lundy says she doesn't receive much, but she does receive up to 200 emails every day. And, unlike many of her colleagues, she regards email postcards and form letters as a useful way of getting a message across.

  'We should value email because of its ease, not devalue it because it can create more work for us,' she says.

  But she admits that she struggles with the 'resource' sometimes. ..."

  (For full article see: Getting pollies' e-ttention, Selina Mitchell, The Australian IT, 8 May 2001)

  Edit the material below and incorporate into a letter

  http://heartsandminds.org/articles/lobby.htm

Resources:

How to Contact & Effectiveness of Methods

From www.efa.org.au/Campaigns/lobby.html#who
The effectiveness of methods of contact from most effective to least effective are:

WWF page on campaigns http://passport.panda.org/about/toolkit.cfm?uNC=41156731

Tips from We www.wecansolveit.org/content/pages/56/

Follow this link for tips from a strong lobby group on contacting your lawmakers