Ken O'Dowd (Flynn, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I present the 33rd report of the Petitions Committee for the 46th Parliament, together with 115 petitions and 14 ministerial responses to petitions previously presented.

Of the petitions I present today, two petitions have collected so many signatures that they are in the top 10 of the largest e-petitions the committee has ever received. Another, scheduled to be presented by a different member this fortnight, is the fifth largest e-petition ever received. These three petitions alone together collected over 417,000 unique signatures in the four weeks that they were open.

This is a significant amount of public interaction with the petitioning process in a relatively short amount of time. It is evidence that petitioning the parliament, and participating in democracy, is something that Australians are actively interested in and will continue with vigour.

The committee are pleased to be able to support this high level of public petitioning and continue to consider how the process, the e-petitioning system and the petitioning information displayed on our website can be improved. A project to further improve user experience with the e-petitioning system is due to commence shortly, and I will continue to provide updates to the House on its progress.

Mr Speaker, I would also like to acknowledge this being your last day as Speaker and thank you for your continued support of the work of the committee and the democratic act of petitioning. I wish you all the best as you transition to your new/old role, and I look forward to providing updates to your incoming successor. Thank you very much.

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