Julia Irwin (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tonight marks another step in the evolution of the way in which petitions are dealt with in this place. I am delighted that the House agreed to a sessional order in June providing for petitions to be presented by the Chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Petitions and also allocating 10 minutes for the presentation of petitions and responses, as well as comments on petitions by the chair and one other member of the committee. Over the coming months I look forward to bringing to the attention of the House a number of aspects of the petitioning process and the petitions we have received.

Given the large number of petitions and the significant number of ministerial responses presented, time is at a premium this evening. Therefore, the committee agreed that on this occasion I would use the time to speak about the operations of the new petitions Committee and the work it has been doing. It is our intention on future occasions that all members of the committee will have an opportunity to speak about petition matters of interest to them.

Before looking at the work of the Petitions committee over the last six months, I would like to place on record the committee’s appreciation for the work of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Procedure in the previous parliament. That committee took a long hard look at how petitions were being dealt with and made a number of recommendations to try and reinvigorate the petitioning process. One of those recommendations, of course, was the establishment of a committee to respond to petitions on behalf of the House. I would also like to commend the government for supporting the establishment of the petitions committee.

As members would be aware, petitioning is a very practical and direct way in which the community brings its concerns to the House. A lot of time and effort goes into collecting signatures and gathering support on particular issues, and we are very keen for petitions to have the maximum impact possible. To this end the committee has been very active in trying to educate not only the public but also our colleagues about the new arrangements for petitions. The committee is happy to provide advice to people on the technical aspects of what is required for a petition to be presented. Information is also available from the committee website, and brochures are available for use in electorate offices.

I would like to say a few words about ministerial responses to petitions. In the past all petitions were sent to the relevant minister but there was no formal requirement for a response—and in fact only three ministerial responses to petitions were received over a 10-year period. Now, under the new arrangements, there is an expectation that ministers will respond within 90 days of the petition being presented. As you will see from the list of responses presented to the House this evening, most ministers have been very diligent in meeting that time frame. I commend the way in which ministers have engaged in this process. The responses have been informative and provide valuable feedback to petitioners, even if the response may not always be what the petitioner might have wanted.

Today is also significant in that we held our first public hearing in Canberra this morning to discuss a number of petitions in more depth and provide an opportunity for an update on responses. This information will similarly be publicly available and provided to petitioners. The committee will also be holding hearings in the states and territories, speaking to petitioners and again providing a forum for their input into the policy development process.

I have been very pleased with the first six months of operations of the committee and thank all of the members for their enthusiasm and hard work. We have embarked on an inquiry into electronic petitions, and that will complete the range of recommendations arising from the Procedure Committee inquiry. I look forward to briefing the House on other work of the committee on future occasions.