Petitions soon to be accepted online

The Government may soon accept a recommendation from a parliamentary committee that will see the House of Representatives accept petitions online.

The committee has also said there is a possibility for Parliament to host an online discussion forum, with prime minster Kevin Rudd saying the recommendation will be looked at after next year’s election.

But Liberal Party member Wilson Tuckey has said the move to accepting online petitions will “Devalue the currency” of letters sent from voters.

”When you get complaints from a constituent, if they’re in their own handwriting and clearly have been written at a kitchen table and an envelope purchased and a stamp applied, they’re fair dinkum.,” he said.

But the committee chairwoman, Labor backbencher Julia Irwin, said the petitions will give voters “greater access” to their representatives.

”Electronic communications has opened up a brave new world that enables a connection of every citizen to the process of government,” she told the Herald Sun.