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

In the time remaining to me this evening, I would like to notify the House of some of the upcoming activities of the Standing Committee on Petitions. As part of its rolling program of hearings into petitions presented, the committee will be inviting officials from three government departments to attend a public hearing this Wednesday here in Canberra. Officials will be in attendance from the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government; the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts; and the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. On Monday, 23 March the committee intends to visit the Central Coast, where arrangements are being made to speak with petitioners from the area and from further afield in New South Wales.

On Monday, 30 March the committee intends to travel to Brisbane, where it will take the opportunity to speak with petitioners from Queensland as well as to the clerk and officials from the Queensland parliament about the system for receiving electronic petitions which is currently being used in that state. As part of this committee’s inquiry into electronic petitions for the House of Representatives, we have been receiving evidence on and exploring ideas of how an electronic petitions system might be adapted or developed for our own parliament. I look forward to being able to advise the House in more detail on these and other developments in the near future.