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

Today I am going to talk about time lines associated with petitions and how these time lines interact with the parliamentary calendar. This is of particular relevance as we near the end of the 2015 sittings.

A petition has two distinct phases of action and processes—and both of these need to be considered by petitioners in the preparation and finalisation of their petition. The first and primary time frame is that governed by the petitioner's organisational plans or the subject matter's requirements. The second is the time frame for the House to receive and consider petitions and for valid petitions to be presented—and, where petitions are referred to the executive, for a response to be received.

The first phase of a petition is the development and signature stage. This is the period where the terms of the petition are drafted by the petitioner and the petition's content and formatting is prepared in line with House requirements. Then the principal petitioner organises their process for collecting signatures on the petition. Finally, the petitioner decides when to stop collecting signatures and sends the completed petition to the Petitions Committee. They may also wish to approach a member and request that they present the petition.

The time frames involved in this important phase are largely a matter for the principal petitioner to decide. If the petitioner has pressing external constraints—for example, there is urgency surrounding the issue being petitioned about—they may need to forgo a longer signature collection period in favour of an earlier assessment and hopefully a presentation soon after.

Examples of petitions which have been presented to the House that fall into these categories include petitions regarding government approval processes or closure dates, matters that are seasonal and issues associated with medical conditions. However, petitioners must be aware of the timing issues of the House after their petition has been submitted to avoid unrealistic expectations and consequential disappointment.

Petitioners should factor in the time to consider and research the petition issue themselves and then summarise the key reasons for petitioning, and their request of the House, into 250 words. They will need to allow time to understand and work within the House's petitioning requirements—available on the House and committee website—and liaise with their local member or the secretariat if necessary. It is unrealistic to expect to draft and set up a petition at the last minute.

Once a petition has been submitted, it is prepared for consideration by the committee at an approaching meeting. This includes undertaking manual signature counts. The petition may not be considered at the committee's very next meeting because some petitions are delivered too late to be processed in time for the imminent meeting, whilst other petitions are so large that it takes many man-hours to count the signatures. Petitions are best posted well in advance of sitting weeks. In particular, petitions with very high signature counts should allow ample administrative time, and these petitioners are advised to liaise with the secretariat beforehand.

After the committee meet and certify that a petition meets the House's requirements, the petition will either be received by a member for their arrangement to present it or bundled for inclusion in the next petitions announcement by the chair. This means that petitions which are certified for the chair to present have a known time frame for presentation and, if relevant, a known referral date.

The timing of members' presentations of certified petitions is a matter for members to decide. Members should of course be abiding by the standing orders which permit petitions to be presented during specified speaking opportunities. However, whether a member presents one day or the next is their choice.

The other timing factor in the life cycle of a petition is the House's sitting calendar. If a petition is assessed at a committee meeting just before a long recess in the sitting calendar, then considerable time may elapse before a petition can be presented by the chair. This will happen in the last sitting week of this year—the week commencing 30 November. Only petitions which are certified for member presentation at the committee's meeting in that week can possibly be presented that week.

The last prong in the petitions cycle is the receipt of a ministerial response. The response is registered at the time the committee receives it, but a recess period will mean a delay in making the response public—when presented—and available to the petitioner. The House standing orders encourage ministers to respond to petitions within 90 days of referral. Most petitions receive responses well within this time frame.

In conclusion, I encourage all members who hold certified petitions to make arrangements for presenting these in the next few sitting weeks before the summer recess. The alternative is to send the petition to the committee to arrange for petitions to be presented during this timeslot instead.

I also suggest that all petitioners keen to have their petitions presented this year should finalise their petitions and deliver them promptly.