John Murphy (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Deputy Speaker, during the parliamentary calendar the Petitions Committee schedules public hearing activities in its ongoing program of work, as you know. A little over a week ago the committee visited Western Australia to hold hearings—and we are sorry you could not join us. Today I would like to discuss some aspects of these most recent public hearings.

Firstly, I thank all the people who met with us to discuss petitions that they had been involved with either as the principal petitioner or as a representative of the principal petitioner. I am sure our committee colleagues will agree with us that these were very constructive meetings, which bring a truly human dimension to the petitions process and the committee’s work.

As I have stated on previous occasions, the committee's public hearings are not designed to investigate details of petitions, to enable recommendations to government about petition requests. However, these hearings further expose and elaborate on the petitioners' concerns and often clarify issues for not only the committee members who were present but also the general public and the executive government, through access to public hearing transcripts. Often, discussion also enables the clarification of issues and processes for the principal petitioner.

The first day of the Perth hearings was held in Applecross, which is a suburb south of the Perth CBD; followed by a hearing the next day in the nearby suburb of Attadale, at Santa Maria College. As is the case at Petitions Committee hearings, the subject matter of petitions discussed varied. We also had a diversity of age groups representing petitions over the two days of the hearings. This aspect alone highlights the great value in this type of parliamentary engagement and serves as a reminder to the many ways that Australian people of all ages can exercise their democratic rights.

The petitions discussed in Perth covered topics ranging from conservation, healthcare, air traffic safety and humanitarian concerns to the Australian Constitution. These matters all represented federal issues which were close to the hearts of the petitioners and, as such, one would expect a high degree of commitment and passion. I and my committee colleagues continue to be impressed by the pre-hearing preparation of people presenting petitions, the time they devote to travel and to attending the hearings and the courteous and considered manner in which they participate.

Another aspect of hearings' activity is the transfer of regional and state knowledge in a very direct and personal way, through travel to the locations where petitions are generated and interaction between petitioners and the committee members, who represent a range of electorates across this large country of ours. The benefit of this knowledge transfer is evident from the transcripts of these two days, in particular the transcript of the school hearing. Another side-benefit of conducting hearings is the direct opportunity for feedback about the petitioning process per se, and I will speak more about these hearings in my next statement.

I take this opportunity to thank the deputy chair of our committee, Dr Dennis Jensen, the member for Tangney, who certainly did a great job to see that these public hearings could be organised in a very appropriate way. I sincerely thank you, Dennis.

In conclusion, I am proud to be part of a process which brings many issues of the Australian public before the plenary and provides the conduit to executive government. But I am also pleased that this process enables the committee to engage with selected petitioners at a local level in a very authentic way. Thank you.