Llew O'Brien (Wide Bay, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present the fifth report of the Petitions Committee for the 46th Parliament together with seven petitions, 37 ministerial responses, and two petitions previously presented.

I previously informed the House of recent enhancements made to the e-petitioning system. These enhancements have simplified online petitioning and made sharing petitions through social media more intuitive. We have now seen the benefits of these enhancements as we have watched a petition titled 'Declare a Climate Emergency' reach the highest number of signatures for an e-petition, with over 400,000 signatures. I thank all principled petitioners and all Australians who signed petitions to the House. It is encouraging that so many people are having their say to the parliament. I also thank staff of the Department of Parliamentary Services, who responded quickly to some technical issues that arose during the signing period of this petition.

This petition has increased public awareness of petitions more broadly and prompted questions about what happens to a petition after it's presented. Misinformation played a fairly significant part during the signing period for this petition, with people incorrectly suggesting on social media that a certain number of signatures would trigger a debate in the House. Our thanks go to the House media team, who worked hard to get the correct information out there. The committee will continue these efforts to better inform the Australian public on the petitioning process.

One thing that has become clear through feedback from the public is that Australians expect debate on petitions that reach a certain threshold of signatures. This currently occurs in other parliaments such as the UK and New South Wales. In the 45th Parliament, the Petitions Committee recommended that petitions over 20,000 signatures be considered for debate at a dedicated time in the Federation Chamber. The committee also sought to encourage members to give notice of debate on petitions during private members' business time as this procedure is already available to members in the House. The committee will work to educate members about how to get involved in petitions as part of a wider campaign to increase awareness of the petitions in the House. I look forward to further updating the House on the work of the Petitions Committee.