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

As we approach the end of 2014, I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on the petitions received so far in the 44th Parliament.

Since the 2013 federal election, the Petitions Committee has considered 178 petitions, of which 128 met the standing order requirements for petitioning the House. Only 50 petitions, or 28 per cent of those received, were found not to meet requirements. To compare this to a previous year, between June 2012 and June 2013 the committee considered 164 petitions, of which it found that 21 per cent did not meet the standing order requirements.

These statistics emphasise the importance of the role of the Petitions Committee and its secretariat. A major part of the committee's role is assisting petitioners before they submit their petitions so that they are more likely to meet the requirements and thus attract all of the benefits that petitioning the House can bring. For example, the committee's website contains useful information for people considering starting a petition to the House. The web page has a sample petition which explains the standing order requirements and assists petitioners with the layout of their petitions.

The committee also has a dedicated petitions hotline, which I would encourage all potential petitioners to call before they begin to gather signatures. By doing so, petitioners can receive advice on whether their draft petitions are likely to meet the standing order requirements, or what changes they may need to make in order to do so. The Petitions Committee is committed to doing all it can to assist the Australian community to access this important democratic mechanism for bringing matters directly to the attention of the House.

The committee also facilitates the presentation of ministerial responses in the House. Since the 2013 federal election, the Petitions Committee has considered 93 ministerial response letters. These letters responded to 105 petitions. Considering that, between 1901 and 2007, only 21 ministerial responses to petitions were presented in the House, 93 response letters in a single year represents a considerable improvement. This enhanced engagement by ministers in the petitions process has been one of the real strengths of the current arrangements introduced in 2008. While ministers are often unable to grant the requests made in petitions, the number of responses received shows a genuine dedication to the petitions process from my colleagues in the ministry.

Both the number of petitions and the number of ministerial responses demonstrate a strong and abiding commitment to petitions by both the House and the wider Australian community. The efforts of petitioners help to remind us how lucky we are to live in a democracy like Australia, where any citizen can have a matter placed directly before this House via a petition. I encourage my fellow Australians to continue petitioning the House. In addition to providing a voice to citizens, petitions can help inform members about issues at play in our country and in their electorates, and add to political discussion in this country. If we are to judge from the statistics I have discussed today, it seems that petitions will continue to play an important role in our democracy.