Dennis Jensen (Tangney, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, last week, as Chair of the Standing Committee on Petitions, my statement covered the origins of Australia’s petitioning system, and I stressed the importance of petitions meeting the standing order requirements, to help ensure they get the benefits of petitioning the House. Today, I will continue to outline the practicalities of petitioning and speak about the role and responsibilities of members.

Members have an important role to play in assisting constituents to engage in the House’s petitioning process, although standing orders prohibit members from being a principal petitioner and from signing a petition to the House. Constituents often approach their members' offices for advice on preparing and/or presenting a petition to the House. So it is important to be aware that petitions to the House must meet the requirements of standing orders. Information about petitioning the House, including a sample petition, is available on the petitions committee’s webpages, and all petitions must be considered by the Petitions Committee, to certify whether they meet standing order requirements, before being presented in the House or Federation Chamber. Prospective petitioners who seek assistance early—that is, before they collect signatures—will be in the best position to ensure that their petitions comply with the House’s requirements. I invite members and their staff to direct prospective petitioners to the Petitions Committee secretariat for assistance.

While the minimum number of signatures required for a petition is one, that of the principal petitioner, most petitioners gather more than that. Gathering additional signatures is often a worthwhile exercise for petitioners who wish to engage with their communities on the matter they are raising and to demonstrate the level of support in the community for the issue. Once the principal petitioner—the coordinator and contact person for the petition—has completed their petition, they can forward it either directly to the Petitions Committee secretariat or through their federal member.

Whenever members receive petitions on behalf of constituents they should forward them to the Petitions Committee for consideration before they are presented in the House. Petitions that are found to meet the requirements can then obtain the benefit of a ministerial response, after they have been formally presented. When providing a petition to the committee secretariat for consideration, members should indicate whether the petitioners wish for them to present the petition—subject to the petition meeting House requirements—or whether it is to be presented by me as chair.

Madam Speaker, as you know, standing orders provide that petitions can be presented by me, as chair of the Petitions Committee, during this timeslot on sitting Mondays or by a member at the times allowed in the standing orders. Members may choose to present a petition themselves so that they can discuss the subject of the petition when they present it to the House. The opportunities for members to present petitions are during 90-second statements or an adjournment debate in the House or Federation Chamber and members’ constituency statements or a grievance debate in the Federation Chamber.

Original petitions that meet House requirements are returned to a member if that member has agreed to present them. Following presentation, the committee will usually refer the petition to the relevant minister. If a petition is on the same topic as one that has recently been referred to the minister, the later petition may not be referred. The principal petitioner and presenting member will be provided with a copy of the minister’s response, and a copy will be made available on the committee’s webpage, after it has been considered by the committee and presented to the House.

Some members may still wish to present a petition that has not met petition requirements, as a ‘document’. If that is the case, the member must obtain the leave of the House before presenting the document. These documents do not attract the benefits of the petitioning system and will not be referred to a relevant minister for response.

When members and their staff assist constituents to engage with the petitioning system, and when members present their constituents’ petitions, they may or may not agree with the contents. What is important is that in doing so members are performing a role in keeping with the historic nature of petitioning the House and the House’s respect for freedom of speech.