How far would you walk for a good cause? For this passionate Melbourne teacher, who is seeking more compassion for refugees, the answer is 720 kilometres.
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Jessica Hackett has endeavored to walk from Melbourne to Canberra to deliver a petition to parliament on February 23 calling on the government to welcome asylum seekers to Australia.
Setting out on her grueling 33-day trip in mid-January, Ms Hackett has walked through towns including Albury, Culcairn and Henty and will reach Wagga on Monday, where she will continue to gather signatures as part of her campaign.
Ms Hackett said she was constantly liking and sharing pro-refugee material on social media, but soon found this wasn't enough to satisfy her desire to help.
"I realised I wasn't really doing anything tangible and I just felt powerless and hopeless," she said.
"I was brought up to believe Australia was a welcoming, multicultural country, and I’m proud of that, so I decided to actually do something that would get noticed and make a difference to these people’s lives.”
