Ken O'Dowd (Flynn, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Both petitions I present here today are endorsed by petitioners who have chosen to add their signature in support of the issues raised, but one petition in particular, regarding a matter of foreign diplomacy, has received considerable interest. The committee has examined the data of signatories to this petition and noted that many are from IP addresses registered to countries other than Australia. This indicates that some signatories may not be genuine citizens or residents of Australia, which is a requirement to petition.

Petitioners make a self-declaration of this status when adding their signature and that is a requirement that the committee examined during its recent inquiry into petitioning security and accessibility. The committee looked at whether more robust identity verification methods should be introduced, such as the use of official records, and considered the practice of other jurisdictions with similar requirements.

In the report of the inquiry the committee concluded, and I quote:

Self-declaration by electronic petitions and paper petitions has proven to be the least onerous way to provide for residency checks while maintaining accessibility. The Committee continues to support the current arrangements for self-declaration of residency or citizenship.

For this petition, the committee is satisfied that the balance of accessibility and a genuine intention to petition legitimately has been met. However, the committee has agreed to investigate other options for reducing false declarations on petitions.

Thank you, Mr Speaker, and I look forward to further updating the House on what these options may be and on the future work of the Petitions Committee.