{"id":229260,"date":"2019-02-22T11:51:06","date_gmt":"2019-02-22T01:51:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=229260"},"modified":"2020-06-22T17:28:07","modified_gmt":"2020-06-22T07:28:07","slug":"proposal-to-debate-federal-petitions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2019\/02\/22\/proposal-to-debate-federal-petitions\/","title":{"rendered":"Proposal To Debate Federal Petitions"},"content":{"rendered":"
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House Petitions Committee chair Lucy Wicks MP (Photo: Twitter)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

February 21, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Petitions to the Federal Parliament with more than 20,000 signatures would be debated in the House of Representatives if recommendations made by the House Petitions Committee this week are adopted.<\/p>\n

Committee Chair Lucy Wicks MP said the recommendation was based on a similar system in the United Kingdom\u2019s House of Commons, which has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the public.<\/p>\n

“In the UK, the Petitions Committee can schedule a debate on a petition in Westminster Hall if it reaches over 100,000 signatures,” Mrs Wicks said.<\/p>\n

“Our Committee proposes using similar criteria to the UK in selecting petitions for debate, once they have gathered over 20,000 signatures.”<\/p>\n

The report makes a number of other recommendations around simplifying the process of petitioning Federal Parliament, and educating the public about how to lodge or sign a petition.<\/p>\n

“We hope these changes will encourage more Australians to engage with petitioning the House, which is the most direct way of having a matter heard by the Parliament,” Mrs Wicks said.<\/p>\n

The full report is available on the inquiry webpage<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n