Senator Hollie Hughes is a passionate advocate for generating accessible means for people to affect change. As such, she has initiated the following campaigns:

Bushfire Support for Children with Autism

Senator Hollie Hughes has spent the New Year sourcing hundreds of sensory items to send to autistic children in fire affected areas.

The emotional, physical and environmental impact of the bushfires affects everyone differently. For children with autism in fire affected areas, processing such a big and life changing event can be extra challenging.

Senator Hughes’ son has autism so she has an understanding of how difficult it can be to comprehend an unexpected event, “Being evacuated can be traumatic for anyone but autistic people rely on routine and predictability so this situation can be even more challenging for them and their families.”

“By offering access to some sensory objects hopefully we can provide some relief, and for those families who were forced to evacuate quickly having to leave special interest objects behind, be it Thomas the Tank Engine train sets to train timetables, I’d like to help source a replacement for them while these families get back on their feet.” Senator Hughes said.

If you are a bushfire affected family with a child with autism or you know of a family that could benefit from this, we will endeavour to get the sensory items to them as soon as possible.

Go Country for Christmas

Due to the devastating impact of the drought in rural Australia, Go Country for Christmas was launched today to encourage fellow Australians to support our rural and regional communities by purchasing their Christmas presents from a business based in the country.

Senator Hollie Hughes, has invited senators and members on both sides of the house and the political divide to join her in privately funding this project to get it off the ground.

At the launch, Senator Hughes was emphatic in encouraging Australians to think outside the box when buying presents this Christmas, “The internet allows us to purchase our presents from anywhere!

“We don’t need to buy from the usual suspects, just go to gocountryforchristmas.com.au and get the same thing you had in mind but buy it from a small regional business.

“These businesses mainly exist because of the agriculture around them and when drought is devastating the land, we need to think laterally about other ways to support rural and regional economies and this is a very effective way to do that.”

“I’m very grateful to my colleagues who have supported this website, which gives consumers a very easy and accessible directory enabling them to buy their Christmas presents from one of the country businesses that have registered on the site.” Senator Hughes said.

Senator Hughes closed the launch by saying, “The difference so many Australians can make if they choose to buy from a country business will spread a lot of goodwill to our hard-working families in the bush.”

“We need to remind our rural and regional communities that we haven’t forgotten about them this Christmas, we know they are doing it tough and this is one way we can show our support.”

For those businesses that have an online presence and haven’t yet registered on the website, you can do so via the registration page on the www.gocountryforchristmas.com.au website.

For any consumer or retailer taking part in Go Country for Christmas, don’t forget to use the #gocountryforchristmas on your social media accounts to spread the word.