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

During the last year of a parliament there will be a period of time where there is a reduced timeframe for the completion of a full cycle of a petition. The cycle of a compliant petition encompasses petition development and signature collection; Petitions Committee assessment and presentation of the certified petition, either by me as the committee chair or by a member; and the receipt and presentation of the written ministerial response by the chair. This, the last year of the 44th Parliament, is no exception. Today I will outline the impact of this timing constraint on petitioners and on members who receive or hold petitions for presentation or who anticipate presenting a petition which is currently still gathering signatures.

Given the constitutional provisions for general elections, the next general election can be held any time after 6 August 2016. Based on this and the date of expiry of the parliament by the effluxion of time, this parliament would be expected to be dissolved during the second half of this year. This situation has occurred twice since the Petitions Committee was established.

Election years impact the petitions process for a number of reasons. Importantly, there will be a considerably reduced opportunity for the committee to meet and assess petitions during the period the parliament is dissolved and for certified petitions to be presented. Also, in the lead-up to dissolution there are finite opportunities for a petition to be presented and then referred for a written ministerial response. Consequently, there is less time available for a ministerial response to be returned, presented and available to the principal petitioner. Ministerial responses are only made public once presented. There is also the potential impact of petitioning activity intensifying prior to an election, so more petitions may arrive during this period.

Given the winter recess between July and late August, there could be as few as four or five further opportunities for petitions and ministerial responses to be presented by me during this timeslot. Moreover, the committee's last meeting in the autumn sittings, in the week beginning 15 March, has no sitting Monday. Therefore, any petitions certified by the committee this week for presentation by the chair and any similarly certified petitions during the 15 March week must, per the standing orders, wait for presentation until the next sitting Monday on 23 May.

As ministerial referrals occur on presentation of petitions, all petitions assessed in March for chair's presentation and which are certified for referral will be presented in late May and referred at that time. As a result, referrals on 23 and 30 May are the last referral dates which are likely to allow the full extent of the 90-day expected response period before dissolution. Therefore, not only is it important for petitioners to be conscious of the rules surrounding petitioning, as was discussed last week, but also they should be conscious of the time constraints of the parliamentary calendar and the timing of their signature collection and delivery of the petition to the House.

Petitions cannot be assessed, presented or referred to a minister during a parliamentary recess or caretaker period, but a petition does not lapse. It will be received and held for assessment when sittings recommence. Thus, compliant petitions received after the committee's last meeting in the 44th Parliament will be tabled in the House after assessment by the committee of the 45th Parliament some months later; and petitions certified by the committee's last meeting in the 44th Parliament, but before a sitting Monday eventuates, will be presented in the 45th Parliament. It is also worth noting that referrals of petitions for a ministerial response do not lapse.

These timing constraints obviously also apply to members who may present compliant petitions at certain times. I therefore urge all members who receive petitions to deliver them to the committee for processing as soon as possible and, if they choose to present a petition, to do so as quickly as practicable after it has been certified. The timing of presentation is important because the most significant follow-up action, a referral to a minister, can only occur after a petition is presented. Therefore, if a member finds they are no longer able to present a petition, they should return it to the committee promptly so it can be presented in this regular presentation timeslot on sitting Mondays.