Mr ALBANESE (Leader of the House) (9:34 AM) —I move:

Amendments to standing orders 207 and 209 as they appear on the Notice Paper seek to permanently adopt the orders that were introduced in the 42nd Parliament as sessional orders for the term of the previous parliament. For the information of members, on 12 February 2008 the government introduced amendments to the standing orders which saw the creation of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Petitions. The committee was established to receive and process petitions and to inquire into and report to the House on any matter relating to petitions and the petition system.

The government sought to increase ministerial accountability in responding to the issues and petitions of concerned citizens. On 24 June 2008 standing orders 207 and 209 were first adopted to allow for the effective operation and performance of the Petitions Committee. Standing order 207 dealt with the manner and options available to members to present a petition to the House. Standing order 209 allowed for a presented petition to be referred to a minister by the Petitions Committee for ministerial consideration and response.

After an original six-month trial period the standing orders were extended on 1 December 2008 for the remainder of the 42nd Parliament. The amendments today simply seek to permanently adopt the sessional orders and incorporate them into the standing orders.

The establishment of the committee shows that the government is committed to ensuring that the voices of concerned citizens are heard and, more importantly, that ministers are accountable in responding to such concerns. During the 41st Parliament 761 petitions were received on various subjects of concern and contained a total of 598,877 signatures. Of these, only two received a ministerial response from ministers of the previous coalition government. With the parliamentary reform introduced by the Labor government in 2008, during the 42nd Parliament 327 petitions were received, containing a total of 488,776 signatures. Of these, 203—or 62 per cent—received a ministerial response from ministers.

This is an amendment that has the support of the House. Members have appreciated the fact that they are able to inform those citizens in their electorates who sign petitions that they do go somewhere and do get a response. The Petitions Committee introduced in the last parliament has therefore been, I think, a successful reform which all members are keen to see continue. I pay tribute to the former Chief Government Whip and former member for Chifley, Roger Price, who was really responsible for driving this reform. I am sure he will be pleased to note that it is now being introduced as a permanent reform into the parliament. These amendments are necessary to allow the continued effective performance of the Petitions Committee, which we will of course form when we set up the committee processes in the current fortnight. That is why I am bringing this forward this morning. I commend the motion to the House and I thank the opposition for their support for this reform.