Jodie Belyea (Dunkley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

These petitions comprise of 104 e-petitions that were certified in order by the previous petitions committee—but were unable to be presented in the House before the 47th Parliament was dissolved—and three paper petitions certified in order by the new petitions committee of the 48th Parliament.

Petitions enjoy a long history in the Western parliamentary tradition dating back to the 12th century. Today, petitions remain one of the few ways for Australians to raise their concerns directly with parliament, and their popularity has only continued to grow. Over the course of the previous parliament, 1,706 petitions were presented in the House. The vast majority of these petitions were e-petitions lodged under the e-petitioning system adopted by the House almost 10 years ago at the commencement of the 45th Parliament, in August 2016. This represents remarkable growth from the days of paper petitions, when fewer than 300 petitions were typically presented over the course of a parliament. The new petitions committee looks forward to continuing to support this venerable tradition into our modern era and to facilitating a process that supports thousands of Australians to make their voices heard in this chamber on an ever-growing diversity of issues.

As it has in previous parliaments, the petitions committee has started with a large workload that built up during the election period. I thank the many petitioners who submitted petitions during this period for their ongoing patience. I present the committee's first report and look forward to presenting many more petitions to the House in the 48th Parliament.

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