Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Today I present the 18th report of the Petitions Committee for the 45th Parliament, together with 58 petitions and 13 ministerial responses to petitions previously presented.

This report includes 18 petitions requesting action on climate change and 12 requesting reform for online gambling. These are two well-coordinated and passionate national campaigns seeking the ear of local members on matters of concern to them. The committee is impressed with the level of coordination and community engagement that these campaigns have achieved. As a result of this hard work, these petitions continue to engage members and the communities they represent.

There are 28 other petitions in this report on a diverse range of matters. A total of 19,444 people have signed these petitions. That's a fantastic level of engagement with the parliament that we are seeing come from our local communities.

In keeping with the high engagement in our petitions process, I will take the opportunity to report on a single e-petition that has closed for signatures in this past week, with 48,985 signatures. This is by far the largest e-petition to date, and it's a clear indication that our e-petitions system is working as intended.

Nonetheless, the committee is still looking at ways to improve the system. We are wrapping up our inquiry into the e-petitions system this week by talking to a group of primary school students, by video link, who have recently been engaged in petitioning the House. The committee looks forward to receiving a fresh perspective from these students, and we are excited about their interest in the petitioning process.

I will continue to provide updates to the House on the work of the Petitions Committee and the inquiry into e-petitions.

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