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

In recent statements that I have made as chair of the Petitions Committee, I have discussed the benefits of petitioners receiving ministerial responses to their petitions.

Today, I would like to provide you with an update on the rate of ministerial responses to petitions, their timeliness and outcomes.

As you know, petitions which are presented to the House are expected to receive a ministerial response within 90 days of presentation. Even when a parliament comes to an end a referral does not lapse, meaning that, if a petition has been referred to a minister, a response is still required in the next parliament. This is still the case if there is a change of government or minister.

In 2008, the Petitions Committee was established and standing orders relating to petitions were amended to specify that a 'Minister shall be expected to respond to a referred petition within 90 days of presentation'. This amendment aimed to help ensure that matters raised by petitioners were duly considered and responded to in a timely manner.

Prior to these changes, ministers were not expected to respond within any specified time frame and, as a result, only three ministerial responses were lodged between 1999 and 2007 to more than 2,500 petitions.

The current petitioning system of the House of Representatives has been in operation for more than six years and petitioners' requests are being responded to more efficiently than they were before the 42nd Parliament. However, it is concerning that the number of responses lodged within 90 days has started to decline in recent times.

In the 42nd Parliament, 72 percent of responses to petitions were provided on time. In the 43rd Parliament, it was 70 percent. During this parliament, it is now 61 percent of ministerial responses that are provided within the expected time frame.

These figures do not indicate that petitions have gone unanswered—approximately 90 percent of all petitions have received responses. However, the numbers do indicate that some petitions are not being answered within the 90 days set out in standing order 209(b).

People lodge petitions because they are seeking action on matters which are important to them—some of these matters are time critical—and I would like to emphasise the importance of a minister's response to petitioners.

Petitioning the House is an involved process which can takes months for a petitioner to co-ordinate and once the petition is received, processing it and checking that it complies with standing order requirements can also take some time. Further, if a petition has been allocated to be presented by me as the chair of the Petitions Committee, it can only be presented on a Monday morning of a sitting week.

It is therefore extremely important for petitioners to receive a ministerial response as soon as possible after the presentation of their petition and I strongly encourage ministers to ensure that, wherever possible, responses are lodged according to standing orders.

I acknowledge that there are many factors which may delay ministers' responses. Recently the committee has undertaken an audit of outstanding responses, and has written to ministers seeking their assistance in getting responses for these petitioners.

Ministers' responses are extremely valuable to the Australian community, and of course to the individual petitioners who have taken the time to raise these matters with the House.

Once responses are tabled in the House and published on the committee's web page, petitioners are better informed about the government's position on the issues they have raised and are more aware of the government's reasons for actions or perceived inaction on these matters.

To respond to a petition is, in essence, a minister's opportunity to explain the details of government policy and how they intend to address the issue in the future.

Whether or not a minster is able to grant the requests made in petitions, part of the committee's role is to publish all ministerial responses on its web page. This helps to ensure that all Australians have the opportunity to be informed of the reasons behind decisions made by ministers.