E-Petitions

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon. S.L. Game:

That this council—

1. Recognises that e-petitions are accepted by the federal parliament and all state parliaments, except for South Australia;

2. Acknowledges that petitioning is one of the traditional forms by which citizens can make requests directly to parliament;

3. Recognises that e-petitions are easy to create, easy to share, and will help citizens bring issues directly to the attention of the Legislative Council; and

4. Calls on the matter of e-petitions to be referred to the Standing Orders Committee for consideration and report.

(Continued from 1 May 2024.)

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (22:30): I rise on behalf of the Greens to support this motion on e-petitions. The love continues. The South Australian parliament currently only accepts hard copy petitions. The Greens have long believed that this is an outdated way of accepting petitions in our state. While some may argue that allowing for e-petitions may increase the number of petitions considered by the parliament, the Greens believe we should be encouraging maximum participation in our democracy.

We believe that transparent and fair mechanisms should be used to translate community views into changes in our policy and our law. If e-petitions are good enough for our federal parliament and other state parliaments, why are they not good enough for South Australia? We are sometimes in the Dark Ages in this place when it comes to engaging with the broader community, and the idea that a paper petition is the best way of engaging with our constituents I do think is old fashioned.

It makes sense that the Standing Orders Committee should look at how we can move into the 21^st century. I am a member of that committee and I am certainly keen to look at how we can bring South Australia into line with other jurisdictions to improve democratic processes and support newer technologies for engagement with our constituents.

Indeed, irrespective of the outcome of this motion I am happy to raise that matter at the committee level and see what can be done in terms of trying to modernise our standing orders and open up opportunities to bring the community more into our parliament.

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (Leader of the Opposition) (22:32): I rise as the speaker for the opposition in support of this motion, which seeks to refer the subject of electronic petitions, or 'e-petitions', to the Standing Orders Committee for consideration.

The Liberal Party supports measures aimed at enhancing and preserving the voice of the voting public to our parliament. It is a core Liberal value that we, the elected representatives in this place, work for all people. This is a key principle of our parliamentary system. As such, the voting public must be able to exercise their democratic right directly to elected representatives. One mechanism to achieve this is a petition.

The current system, where petitions may only be lodged in hard copy and with handwritten signatures, has many disadvantages in terms of accessibility for some community members. It seems incongruous that in this day and age handwritten petitions are the only formal way in which members of the electorate can petition their parliament.

It makes sense that the Standing Orders Committee conclude what adjustments need to be made to take advantage of improvements in technology. In doing so, it has the potential to empower and engage people in the community who may find the current system a deterrent through the existing requirements. The process of petitioning the South Australian parliament should be easy, efficient and equitable.

South Australia is one of few jurisdictions that do not currently offer the ability to lodge e-petitions. It is high time for that to change. If, as we believe, the inclusion of an e-petition platform on the parliament website will enable greater participation and engagement in the democratic process for South Australians, then it is a strong reason for it to go ahead.

In regard to the choice between developing a bespoke program from scratch or buying an off-the-shelf product, the Liberal Party believes the latter is preferable. There is no doubt that there are commercial products that could be modified for appropriate parliamentary use. I understand parliamentary petitions require a high degree of both data security and input scrutiny.

I am also cognisant that the system will need to fit in with current back-end IT systems, but there are companies that specialise in this, and I am sure the procurement team and the parliamentary network team can find the best-fit solution based on any recommendations of the Standing Orders Committee without having to start from absolute scratch. Given that this system has been used in other jurisdictions, I am confident that our parliamentary team will find something to adapt and serve.

I agree that data security should be key for any e-platform, and that is especially true for parliamentary petitions. This includes careful consideration regarding the validity and integrity of signatures as well as tightly managing the access of any completed petition and its data. We found no evidence that the adoption of an e-platform would be less secure in validity than the current paper-based system, so we find no reason to oppose this motion on security grounds.

In summary, the opposition supports this motion, and we especially look forward to any recommendations that may be put forward for consideration by the Standing Orders Committee as a result. I commend the motion to the chamber.

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (22:35): I rise on behalf of government members to indicate that we will support the passage of this motion. The government is always keen to develop new ways to engage and listen to the views of the community. One of the key ways we engage with the public is through the YourSAy platform, an initiative of a previous Labor government, which provides a one-stop shop for South Australians to have their say on issues across all areas of government.

I think many members, particularly in the other place, would have some sympathy for the proposal from the Hon. Ms Game. Many community groups have experienced challenges in collecting and delivering paper-based petitions and meeting all of the style and form requirements to be accepted as a petition to parliament. Parliamentary e-petitions have been implemented in other Australian jurisdictions, including in the federal parliament, however it is clear to us that more work is needed before they could be implemented in the South Australian context.

The federal government has significantly greater resources available to it to deliver and administer the commonwealth parliament electronic petitions platform. Generally, these resources are more constrained at state and territory level. The government would therefore need to further consider the practical, technological and resourcing issues involved with delivering an e-petition system.

Many petitions are also delivered by constituents to their local member in the other place rather than to the Legislative Council. We therefore consider that work between the houses would be necessary before such change could be implemented. However, we remain supportive of making it easier for South Australians to engage with government and parliament. For that reason, we will support the passage of this motion today and further work through the Standing Orders Committee.

The Hon. S.L. GAME (22:37): I thank all the honourable members for their contributions today—the Hon. Robert Simms, the Hon. Nicola Centofanti and the Hon. Russell Wortley—and for the support for this motion. South Australia is the only jurisdiction in this country that still does not facilitate electronic petitions, and as we all know, petitioning the parliament remains a traditional, trusted way the citizens we serve can make direct requests. It remains an important part of democracy.

E-petitions are easy to create and share, help engage more people in the political process and subsequently bring more issues to the attention of elected officials. Changing standing orders will allow the Legislative Council to accept e-petitions, and as such I am glad to see this matter will be referred to the Standing Orders Committee for consideration and report.

Motion carried.