Now in its 29th year, with next year being our 30th anniversary, The Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal is Australia’s largest and longest running Appeal, benefiting countless children, adults and seniors at a time where support is needed most.

To date, more than 33 gifts have been donated to our store for people who would otherwise go without this festive season.

The Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal has collected more than eight million gifts over the past 28 years. The Appeal could not be a success without the support of the local community.  

Christmas can be a very stressful time of year, and for those doing it tough, many are unable to provide their family with a gift on Christmas Day.

Gifts given to the Appeal can alleviate this pressure and allow families to focus on crucial needs such as shelter and food.

The Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal draws to a close on Christmas Eve and while our gift tally is encouraging, more gifts are need in order for us to reach our National goal of 500,000 gifts.

We encourage the community to help us make Christmas brighter for those in need by giving to the Appeal. 

Anyone can participate in the Appeal by:

1.    Giving a gift in store

2.    Making a monetary contribution in store

Donating online at www.kmart.com.au/wishingtree 

For more information, please contact

Wishing Tree champion: Nicole Hall

Kmart store: Mount Isa

Telephone: (07) 4744 0700

KMART Mount Isa

May I thank the posties of Mount Isa for using our temporary mail box while we had Mr and Mrs Bird doing a spring renovation in our usual mailbox.  

The Bird family has grown and left home, leaving Kim and I feeling an empty nest syndrome.

I will update you if we receive any more tweets.

George Harley 

Mount Isa  

The significant new earthquake off the coast of Fukushima prefecture has highlighted both deep safety concerns and the need for urgent Australian government action on the industry that directly fuelled the continuing nuclear crisis. 

In October 2011 Robert Floyd, the director general of DFAT’s Australian Safeguards and Non-Proliferation Office, confirmed to the federal Parliament that "Australian obligated nuclear material [uranium] was at the Fukushima Daiichi site and in each of the reactors".

Rocks dug in Kakadu and northern South Australia are the source of the Fukushima’s radioactive fallout. There is a clear chain of consequence from a stricken reactor complex on Japan’s East coast to the back of a big yellow truck at an Australian mine-site.

The federal government has failed to address this and also remains resistant to an independent cost-benefit assessment of Australia’s uranium trade, as directly requested by the then UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon in the wake of Fukushima.

To date there has been no meaningful response from any Australian government, uranium company, uranium industry body or regulator. Instead there has been a retreat from responsibility and a fast-tracking of risky new uranium sales deals, including to India and Ukraine. Fukushima is a game changer with Australian fingerprints. 

Dave Sweeney

Australian Conservation Foundation