The invention of the Fax/Modem has at last empowered the average computer owner to lobby members of Parliament and Council. (Editors note: e-mail may be faster and cheaper but that piece of paper in front of a politician cannot be ignored without some redress.)
With the use of a fax/Modem every member of parliament can be sent a one page fax for the total cost of one phone call if you live within local phone call distance of Parliament House.
The cost of sending 89 faxes could be as low as $1.00. (Australian)
The method is simple
Using a word processor with a merge facility, type the letter you want to send to every member of parliament or council.
Also type in to a list every member of parliament's name and address c/- of Parliament House using the correct and necessary merge codes as necessary for your word processor. (List of members is available from the Clerk of Parliament upon request)
Using the merge command produce individual faxes for each member in one file.
This file of individual faxes can be transmitted as one fax of many pages. In Queensland we have 89 members of Parliament.
Information necessary before transmission:
The faxes sent to Parliament House can only be delivered to each member only when Parliament is sitting. Information about sitting days can be obtained from the Clerk of Parliament. The Clerk can also advise as to what telephone number faxes to members of Parliament should be directed to. Also enquire about the phone number of the nearest phone to that fax machine in case there is trouble with your fax transmission.
Late in the evening is the best time to transmit the fax when all normal parliamentary business is completed.
The faster your computer and the faster the fax/modem the quicker the generation of the merge letter, the faster the generation of the fax file, and the transmission of all the faxes. Generation of the transmission file can take over half an hour on a 386 DX 33 and about one minute per fax to transmit means about one and a half hours to transmit all the pages. But it still cheaper than printing, signing, folding, envelopes, envelopes, labels and postage costs for 89 letters.
Unfortunately the paper in the fax machine at Parliament House is not always full and therefore does not always accept all the faxes sent. In this case contact must be made next morning to discover how many faxes were received or who the last fax received was addressed to.
The remainder of the faxes can be then sent that evening. Unfortunately a new fax file will need to be generated for those letters (fax) which were not sent the night before. (Re-merge the form letter with only the names of parliamentarians whose faxes were not received in Parliament the night before).
Beware 89 pages of fax file requires a substantial amount of hard drive space. DOS fax programs don't require as much hard drive space or take as long to generate. Keep the use of logo's and graphics to a minimum in these faxes to save time and space.
Alternately it may be possible to fax a single copy of your letter to the Clerk of Parliament and ask if he would make the necessary copies and distribute one to each Member or place one copy on the Members Notice Board.
This page is maintained by
The Rivermouth Action Group Inc
E-mail: activist@rag.org.au
as a community service.