We release the open letter tomorrow

Dear ,

Thanks for being a signatory to the open letter to Australian Heads of Government urging them to open up the country and reform governance in the area of advice on epidemics.

If I don't know you, that will probably be because Paul,Frijters, Gigi Foster or perhaps Peter Swan was the one who asked you to sign the letter. This has been a joint effort.

This email is to let you know that I have been handling the media and the letter should feature in tomorrow's Australian newspaper. By 5:00 am EST the other journalists on my distribution list should also have a copy, and hopefully that will generate some media during the day.

It has already gone to the addressees, and by 9:00 am it will start to go out to every member of every parliament.

I've attached a copy of the letter with a full list of current signatories for your information. We number 30.

Please approach any media that you regularly deal with, and if you are at a university, that would include your internal media department, to see whether they are interested in talking to you about the letter. 

If you know of media that might be interested, but don't want to talk to them yourself, then please contact me and I'll see if I can organise someone else. Gigi is available, and Paul is also available, time-zones between here and the UK willing. I can also handle media if required.

We are also looking for further signatures, so I have put the letter on the AIP website, in the form of a petition, which you might direct colleagues and friends to. The URL is https://aip.asn.au/2020/06/open-up-our-country-sign-the-open-letter/.

I  will be using social media to promote signing of the letter, which is something else you could do, if you are so incilned.

My thanks to Paul, whose presentation to our think tank -  which you can view here on YouTube - was the spark that led to this letter. You can also download his PowerPoint presentation from here. 

You can contact me by return email, or call me on 0411 104 801 if you need to.

Looking forward to a more open Australia,

Regards,

GRAHAM YOUNG
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE FOR PROGRESS