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

In a previous statement, I spoke about the importance of the committee's engagement with the community and shared some of the highlights of a recent school visit. Today, I will cover public hearings, another very useful forum offering the opportunity for public engagement and scrutiny of the House of Representatives petitioning system.

Public hearings held by the Petitions Committee allow the participants to discuss, in detail, the issues raised in their petitions and to reflect on their experience of engaging with the committee. This feedback provides the committee with an understanding of the effectiveness of our work and our public outreach efforts with the Australian community.

In late April the Petitions Committee held a public hearing in Sydney and met with several petitioners. The committee first heard from a petitioner who had conducted an online petition through change.org. He collected more than 60,000 signatures through this medium. Given that it was an electronic petition, the committee had to find that it did not meet standing order requirements. As a result, it was received by the House as a document and could not be referred to the relevant minister for a response. Nonetheless, the petitioner reported that he preferred to use social media to start a petition and that it had been a successful venture, insofar as it had reached a wide audience rapidly and received a lot of support. The petitioner stated that electronic petitioning 'will become the norm in the 21st century'.

Although the committee cannot currently receive electronic petitions, the committee has inquired into electronic petitioning and recommended its introduction. Earlier this year the government responded to the report and was broadly supportive of this recommendation. Ways of accommodating this predicted 'norm' of electronic petitioning in the House are being investigated. The committee also heard from several other petitioners representing community organisations. These petitions were compiled in the traditional way, with handwritten signatures. They were found to meet standing order requirements and have been presented to the House.

Our questions regarding engagement with the committee and the reason behind choosing to petition rather than another medium received encouraging answers. Generally, petitioners reported that they were satisfied with the key elements of the current petitioning system. However, it appears that we need to enhance public awareness of the role of the petitions committee and the mechanisms by which the committee interacts with the House and ministers, as several petitioners indicated that they were unfamiliar with the committee and the rules associated with petitioning the House. One group indicated that they had viewed the website and contacted the committee secretariat for information directly. The reason they chose to petition was to receive a formal response from the minister. Three groups had approached their federal representatives who suggested that they petition the House. Most petitioners chose to petition because they felt it would raise awareness and show evidence of public support for their concerns.

All petitioners who appeared before the committee wished to elaborate on the particular issues that they had raised in their petitions and, although the committee can neither make recommendations nor endorse or advocate the contents of the petition, I assure all petitioners that the committee does everything in its power to bring these issues to the attention of the relevant minister.

In addition to information on the committee's web page, including checklists and sample templates, when starting a petition many prospective petitioners are often surprised to learn that they can receive feedback on their draft petitions. The committee has received very positive feedback on this and encourages petitioners to use the service before beginning to collect signatures.

I would like to thank those members who promote the option of petitioning to their constituents. It is evident that their efforts help inform the wider community of the role of the committee and make the petitions process worthwhile. I would also like to thank the participants of the hearing in Sydney. Their insights and experiences with petitioning have helped us to develop ways in which we can better engage with the Australian community, assist people to have their petitions presented in the House of Representatives and to receive a response.