17. PETITIONS
A petition is basically a request for action. Any citizen or resident,
or group of citizens or residents, may petition the House of Representatives
to take action. For example, petitions may ask the House to introduce
legislation, or to repeal or change existing legislation, or to
take action for a certain purpose or for the benefit of particular
persons. Rarely, a petition from an individual citizen may seek
the redress of a personal grievance—for example, the correction
of an administrative error.
The subject of a petition must be a matter on which the House has
power to act—that is, it must be a Federal rather than a State
matter and one involving legislation or government administration
in some way.
A petition may be presented to the House only by a Member of the
House (S.O. 126). This can be any Member, including a Minister,
and does not have to be the petitioners local Member. It is the
practice of the House that the Speaker does not present petitions
but rather arranges for another Member to do so on his or her behalf.
A Member cannot present a petition from him or herself.
Although a Member is not bound to present a petition sent for presentation,
it is traditionally accepted that he or she will present it, irrespective
of personal views. Presentation of a petition by a Member does not
mean that the Member necessarily agrees with its content.
A Member intending to present a petition must write his or her
name and electoral division and the number of signatories at the
beginning of the petition (S.O. 127), and lodge it with the
Clerk of the House by 12 noon on the Friday before the proposed
day of presentation (S.O. 112). It is the responsibility of
the Member to ensure that the petition complies with the standing
orders (S.O. 128). Before a petition can be presented the Clerk
or Deputy Clerk must certify that it is in conformity with the standing
orders (S.O. 113). Petitions are checked before certification
and a petition that is not in order is returned to the Member who
lodged it.
Presentation
Petitions are announced in the House by the Clerk of the House
following question time on Mondays. For each petition the Clerk
announces the name of the Member presenting it, who the petition
is from, the number of signatures and a short summary of the action
requested by the petition (S.O. 129).
At the time of presentation no discussion of the subject matter
of a petition is allowed (S.O. 129), although a Member may
move one of the following motions: That the petition be not received;
That the petition be printed, or That the petition be referred
to a committee. A petition is deemed to be received unless the
motion that it be not received is agreed to by the House (S.O. 130).
A Member may not move that a petition be printed unless he or she
intends to take some action on it and informs the House of the action
he or she proposes to take (S.O. 131). The moving of any of
these motions is rare.
Subsequent action by House
After a petition has been announced in the House the full text
of the petition is printed in the Hansard for that day (S.O. 129).
Every petition presented is referred by the Clerk to the Minister
responsible for the matter which is the subject of the petition
(S.O. 132).
Each of the general purpose standing committees has the power to
consider and report on petitions referred to it by the House (S.O. 324);
however, to date none have been referred. In earlier years there
were cases of petitions being referred to select committees specifically
formed for the purpose.
Responses by Ministers
Ministers may respond formally to a petition by lodging a response
with the Clerk for announcement at the end of the petitions announcement
(S.O. 132). The terms of the responses are printed in Hansard
(S.O. 129).
Rules on form and content
There are detailed rules relating to the form and content of petitions
(S.Os 115125). Although at first glance these requirements
might seem tedious, their purpose is to protect the interests of
both the petitioner and the House by ensuring that the authenticity
of petitions can be established.
-
Form
- The text of petitions must be clearly written, typed, printed
or reproduced by mechanical process, such as photocopying. They
should not have any additions or alterations and they should be
on paper.
- A petition must:
- be addressed to the Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives
assembled in Parliament;
- state the facts which the petitioners wish to bring to the notice
of the House; and
- conclude with a request (traditionally called a prayer) that
the House take, or not take, some course of action. Petitions
stating that the petitioners ask, request, or respectfully
urge, that certain action be taken, or not taken, by the House
are acceptable. It is not necessary to use the traditional form
of words humbly pray.
- No letters, affidavits or other documents may be attached to
a petition.
- Any petition not in English must be accompanied by a translation
certified to be correct, with the name and address of the certifying
person shown on the translation.
- Petitions must be free of any indication that they may have
been sponsored or distributed by a Member of the House; petitions
which include a Members photograph or name or address on the
page on which the petition is written are not in order.
Language and content
-
No reference may be made in a petition to any debate in Parliament;
however, petitions relating to matters currently on the Notice
Paper, bills before the Senate and the repeal or amendment of
Acts are generally acceptable.
-
The standing orders require petitions to be respectful and
temperate in their language. The practice of the House is that
petitions must not be critical of the Queen, members of the
Royal Family, the Governor-General, members of the judiciary,
or Members and Senators.
-
Petitions must not contain irrelevant statements.
Signatures
-
A petition must contain the signature and address of at least
one person on the sheet on which it is written.
-
A petition must be signed in their own handwriting by the persons
whose names and addresses appear. A person who is unable to
write must put his or her mark in the presence of a witness,
who must sign as the witness.
-
A petition must have the signatures and addresses written on
the same page as the petition or on sheets containing the request
or prayer of the petition. Signatures which appear on an otherwise
blank page or on the reverse side of a valid page are not recognised
and should not be counted. Signatures must not be pasted on
or transferred, for example, by photocopying.
-
A petition of a corporation must be made under its common seal.
If it is not, but is otherwise in order, it may be presented
simply as the petition of the individual(s) who have signed
it.
Example format of a petition
PETITION
TO THE HONOURABLE THE SPEAKER AND MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ASSEMBLED IN PARLIAMENT:
The petition of certain . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . .
(Here identify, in general terms, who the petitioners are,
e.g.
citizens of Australia,
or
residents of the State of . . . . . .
or
electors of the Division of . . . . . .)
draws to the attention of the House
or
points out to the House
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(Here give the circumstances of the case)
Your petitioners therefore request the House
or
ask the House
or
pray that the House
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(Here outline the action that the House should, or should not,
take)
(Signatures) (Addresses)
|
