How can I help?
The key to bringing Kylie home is exerting significant pressure on the Australian government. Kylie is an Australian citizen, and our government needs to use every political and diplomatic tool at its disposal to bring her home. We need to make this a political issue for the Australian government. So far, there has been very little publicity or public discussion around Kylie’s case in Australia, which means that there have been few improvements in Kylie’s situation. We need your help to change this!
There are many ways that you can tell our government to bring Kylie home! Within Australia there are many media organisations that you can contact to draw attention to Kylie’s plight. We’ve listed some ideas below – If you would like to get involved, Electronic Frontiers Australia provides a general guide here. We have also put together some talking points to help get your message across loud and clear!
Talk to the Foreign Minister and your local MP
As someone living in Australia, you have the right to communicate with cabinet ministers, as well as your local federal member of parliament or senator. This includes sending a letter expressing your concerns about Kylie, or requesting a meeting to hear what your MP is doing/is willing to do to bring her home. This could be particularly powerful if your local MP is a member of the Liberal/National coalition.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne is the most effective person to write to, as she oversees the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. You can find her email and mailing address here. If you’re not sure what to write, consider using this template.
You can also support Kylie by writing to your local members of parliament. If you are unsure who they are, the Parliament of Australia web site provides an easily accessible guide to find who your local member is, check here. Email and mailing addresses are also available on that site.
If you’re not sure how to word your email requesting a meeting with your MP, feel free to use this template.If you’re not sure what to say once you’re in the meeting, here are some suggested talking points.
If you’d like help writing an email or a letter expressing your concern, use this template. Sometimes members of parliament take snail mail more seriously, so consider sending a physical letter via post!
Call your local talk-back radio program
Radio can be a very direct and effective form of communicating to a wide audience. In order to make finding your favoured station’s details easier, Commercial Radio Australia has an easy to navigate guide to give you a list of FM stations and their contact details.
Another direct way to discuss issues with radio are via talk back radio programs. The Commons have compiled a list of talk back radio channels, the times presenters are on, and how to contact them. Note that it is not up to date with the following presenters:
ABC Melbourne Mornings with Virginia Trioli (replacing Jon Faine) – Open line from 9:45am weekdays
Phone: 1300 222 774 | SMS: 0437 774 774
2GB Ben Fordham Live (replacing Alan Jones) – 5:30am – 9am weekdays)
SMS: 0460 873 873
ABC News Breakfast (TV – ABC News 24) – 6am – 9am weekdays
Email: breakfast@your.abc.net.au
If you’re not sure what to say, feel free to use some of our radio talking points.
Write a Letter to the Editor
Letters to the editor of newspapers are another effective way of drawing public attention to certain issues. The following is a small list of some publications from across Australia and the email addresses of the ‘letter to the editor’ pages:
National:
The Australian – letters@theaustralian.com.au
Good Weekend – goodweekend@goodweekend.com.au
New South Wales
The Daily Telegraph – https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/letter-to-the-editor
The Sydney Morning Herald – letters@smh.com.au
Victoria
Herald Sun – http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/letter-to-the-editor
The Age – letters@theage.com.au
Canberra
Canberra Times – letters.editor@canberratimes.com.au
Queensland
The Courier-Mail – cmletters@qnp.newsltd.com.au
South Australia
The Advertiser – advedit@adv.newsltd.com.au
Tasmania
The Mercury – mercuryedletter@dbl.newsltd.com.au
Northern Territory
Northern Territory News – https://www.ntnews.com.au/news/opinion/letter-to-the-editor
Western Australia
The West Australian – letters@wanews.com.au
Talking points
If you need help, feel free to use our templates:
Email to your local MP template requesting a meeting
Email to a your local MP template to express concern
Suggested talking points for calls to radio stations/meetings with MPs
Write to Kylie
Send Kylie a postcard to let her know you’re thinking of her! The address is:
Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert c/o The Australian Embassy
No. 11, Yekta Street, Bahar Street
Shahid Fallahi Street, Valie Asr Avenue
Tehran 1973633651
IRAN
Alternatively send her an email c/o consular.tehran@dfat.gov.au
General change.org petition
We’re extremely grateful that a separate group of supporters have created a petition on change.org, which is open to everyone (including non-academics and international supporters). Please sign the petition here, but if you are in Australia we ask that you also write to your MP/call your local radio station (above) as we believe these efforts will have a greater impact in raising Kylie’s profile at home.
You can also join their Facebook page here.