PARLIAMENTARY PETITIONS

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27192, 9 November 1953, Page 10

PARLIAMENTARY PETITIONS

“Important Right Of - Every Citizen” MR HOLLAND EXPLAINS PROCEDURE (New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, November 7. /‘I think my friend Dr. O. C. Mazengarb is quite wrong in his comments concerning the fate of Parliamentary petitions when he says that ‘should a petitioner follow the matter up by tuning the department or Cabinet to act on the report of the Parliamentarv Select Committee which considered the report, he would probably receive a polite letter restating the same old reasons why his request cannot be granted, and that the matter usually ended when the report of the committee was discussed in the Hbuse’,” said the Prime Minister (Mr Holland) today. “The position is very different from what Dr. Mazen garb has said, ”■ Mr Holland said. “I and my colleagues have always taken a serious view of Parliamentary petitions as being a fundamental right of any citizen to bring matters for consideration before the

Parliament of his country and we try most zealously to safeguard those rights. “That is not to say. of course, that if an unsuccessful petitioner keeps on petitioning Parliament he will eventually win through,” said Mr Holland. Explaining the procedure with petitions, Mr Holland said: “A petitioner has his petition prepared and presents it to Parliament through his local representative in the House, who is by long-established tradition and custom obliged to bring it to Parliament whether he agrees with it or not. We quite recently had the case of a member presenting petitions with which the member was in the strongest disagreement.

‘’Each petition is referred to a Select Committee of the House, specially chosen for dealing with various subject matters. The local member of Parliament, while not acting as an advocate in support of the petition, is obliged to keep in touch with the petitioner and to advise him when it will be considered and to assist the petitioner in presenting his case. “The Select Committee hears the petitioner either verbally or in writing. The committee is composed of members from both sides of the House, approximately in proportion to the representation in the House.

Recommendations of Committee **After all evidence has been heard, the committee prepares its recommendations to Parliament and the whole question may at that point be debated on the floor of the House. “The petition is then referred to the Government with an appropriate recommendation such as *no recom-

mendation,’ which is equivalent to a rejection of the petition. ‘Consideration’ is slightly, but only slightly, better than ‘no recommendation’,” said Mr Holland. ‘Favourable consideration’ is a strong recommendation. ‘Most favourable consideration’ is the strongest recommendation that can be made.

“All petitions are then carefully considered by a special committee of the Cabinet which, after studying the whole case, takes it before the Cabinet and then the Cabinet decides.

“Tha + ensures every petitioner that his petition is very exhaustively examined in the various stages and in the final analysis the Government dispenses what it considers to be justice. “It is quite wrong to say the matter ends with the debate in the House and that we merely write nice letters. "The system of Parliamentary petitioning is an important constitutional right of every citizen and as a Government we endeavour to safeguard those rights and to dispense British justice,” said Mr Holland.