Preparing a petition
204 Rules for the form and content of petitions
i.
be addressed to the House of Representatives;
ii.
refer to a matter on which the House has the power to act;
iii.
state the reasons for petitioning the House; and
iv.
contain a request for action by the House.
b.
The terms of the petition must not contain any alterations and must not exceed 250 words. The terms must be placed at the top of the first page of the petition and the request of the petition must be at the top of every other page. The terms of an e-petition must be available through the House website.
c.
The terms of the petition must not be illegal or promote illegal acts. The language used must be moderate.
d.
An e-petition must be in English. A paper petition must be in English or be accompanied by a translation certified to be correct. The person certifying the translation must place his or her name and address on the translation.
e.
No letters, affidavits or other documents should be attached to the petition. Any such attachments will be removed before presentation to the House.
f.
A petition from a corporation must be made under its common seal. Otherwise it will be received as the petition of the individuals who signed it.
205 Rules for signatures—paper petitions
a.
Every petition must contain the signature and full name and address of a principal petitioner on the first page of the petition.
b.
All the signatures on a paper petition must meet the following requirements:
i.
Each signature must be made by the person signing in his or her own handwriting. Only a petitioner incapable of signing may ask another person to sign on his or her behalf.
ii.
Signatures must not be copied, pasted or transferred on to the petition or placed on a blank page on the reverse of a sheet containing the terms of the petition.
c.
A Member must not be a principal petitioner or signatory to a paper petition.
205A Rules for e-petitions
a.
A principal petitioner for an e-petition must provide the petitioner’s full name and address.
b.
The posted period for an e-petition is to be four weeks from the date of publication on the House website.
c.
Once published on the House website the terms of an e-petition cannot be altered.
d.
Once the posted period for an e-petition has elapsed, the petition shall be presented to the House in accordance with standing order 207.
e.
Names must not be copied, pasted or transferred on to an e-petition.
f.
A Member must not be a principal petitioner or signatory to an e-petition.
Presentation of petitions
206 Submitting a petition for presentation
a.
Petitions may be submitted:
i.
on paper, directly to the Standing Committee on Petitions or via a Member; or
ii.
electronically, through the House website.
b.
The Standing Committee on Petitions must check that each petition submitted for presentation complies with the standing orders, and if the petition complies it shall be approved for presentation to the House.
207 Presenting a petition
A petition may be presented in one of two ways:
a.
The Chair of the Standing Committee on Petitions shall present petitions and/or reports of that committee, and the Chair and one other Member of the Committee may make statements concerning petitions and/or such reports presented, in accordance with standing order 34 (order of business). The time provided may extend for no more than 10 minutes.
b.
A Member may present a petition during:
i.
the period of Members’ statements in the House or in the Federation Chamber, in accordance with standing order 43;
ii.
the period of Members’ constituency statements in the Federation Chamber, in accordance with standing order 193;
iii.
adjournment debate in the House in accordance with standing order 31, and in the Federation Chamber in accordance with standing order 191; and
iv.
grievance debate in accordance with standing order 192B.
Action on petitions
208 Action by the House
a.
Discussion on the subject matter of a petition shall only be allowed at the time of presentation as provided for under standing order 207(b).
b.
Each petition presented shall be received by the House, unless a motion that it not be received is moved immediately and agreed to.
c.
The only other motion relating to a petition that may be moved is a motion on notice that the petition be referred to a particular committee.
d.
The terms of petitions shall be printed in Hansard.
e.
The Standing Committee on Petitions shall respond to petitions on behalf of the House and report to the House.
209 Petition may be referred to a Minister for response
a.
After a petition is presented to the House, the Standing Committee on Petitions may refer a copy of the petition to the Minister responsible for the administration of the matter raised in the petition.
b.
The Minister shall be expected to respond to a referred petition within 90 days of presentation by lodging a written response with the Committee.
c.
The Chair of the Petitions Committee shall announce any ministerial responses to petitions. After the announcement, ministerial responses shall be printed in Hansard and published on the House’s website.
220 Standing Committee on Petitions
a.
A Standing Committee on Petitions shall be appointed to receive and process petitions, and to inquire into and report to the House on any matter relating to petitions and the petitions system.
b.
The committee shall consist of eight members: five government and three non-government members.