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

Speaker, as you are aware, in my capacity as Chair of the Petitions Committee, each sitting Monday at this time I present petitions and ministerial responses to the House. This morning there is a sizeable amount of petitions, but occasionally—as was the case last week—I may present only ministerial responses. On the rare occasions that this occurs, it does not mean that the committee has not considered any petitions at its previous meeting, rather that they may all be for presentation by members at another time.

Members note 13 has information for members on presenting a petition and is available on the members' portal. Of course, before presenting a petition, members must first refer the petition to the committee to certify that it complies with House standing orders for petitions. After the committee meets and performs its function of checking that petitions comply with the House's requirements, the secretariat very efficiently prepares advice and the petitions for presentation. By the afternoon following the committee's meeting the petitions are usually available for collection from the Petitions office.

If a member has agreed to present a petition, they must make arrangements with the relevant whip for speaking time in either the House or Federation Chamber. Standing order 207(b) provides that members may present petitions during: 90-second statements in the House and Federation Chamber; three-minute constituency statements in the Federation Chamber; adjournment debates in the House or Federation Chamber; and grievance debates in the Federation Chamber.

While it may not always be possible for a member to present the petition straightaway, I would encourage members who have made a commitment to present a petition to do so in a timely manner. One of the reasons this is important is that, where appropriate, under standing order 209 petitions may be referred to relevant ministers for a response. The petitions that I present in this timeslot are promptly referred. However, others awaiting presentation by a member cannot be referred until presented in the House or Federation Chamber.

When presenting a petition, members should indicate that the petition has been considered by the Petitions Committee and found to be in order. Standing order 208 enables members presenting to speak on the subject of the petition. This is something I cannot do when presenting petitions in my capacity as Chair of the Petitions Committee.

The act of presenting a petition does not necessarily indicate members endorse its contents. Members may simply be serving constituents by ensuring their concerns are brought to the attention of the House. For petitions that do not comply with standing order requirements, some members may still choose to present these as documents and discuss the relevant issues. However, they will not attract any of the benefits of the formal petitions process—importantly, these are not referred to ministers for response. As I have often remarked in previous statements, members have an important role to play in supporting the longstanding right of citizens to petition their parliament.