Clover Moore signs off on her pet hates : News
posted by Angie on Friday 11 March 2005.
BANNING sow stalls, stopping the sale of animals in shops and outlawing the consumption of dog and cat meat are some of Clover Moore's pet projects.
By LILLIAN SALEH Political Reporter
The Independent MP has presented more than 145 petitions to State Parliament over the past six months, including 25 dealing with pets.
An investigation by The Daily Telegraph reveals state politicians submitted more than 800 petitions to Parliament since August last year.
But they are using a loophole which lets them submit the same petition over and over again one page at a time with as little as four signatures on each page.
MPs submit the petitions on constituents' behalf and don't necessarily share their views.
Ms Moore was by far the busiest petitioner.
In her latest petition to Parliament last week, Ms Moore put forward one which requested that pets be allowed on public transport.
Other serial petitioners include little-known Liberal Hawkesbury MP Steven Pringle, with more than 120 petitions including calling for the purchase of a weed harvester for the Hawkesbury-Nepean river system and for a bridge to be constructed over the Hawkesbury River.
Mr Pringle's Liberal colleague, Hornsby MP Judy Hopwood, has presented more than 40 petitions, and Nationals MP Katerina Hodgkinson more than 60 petitions.
It is the role of the Parliament's archivist Robert Lawrie and his team to store the petitions once they are tabled.
He said one of the more prestigious petitions is a leather-bound book with more than 60,000 signatures calling for the extension of the railway line from Redfern to Central at the turn of the century.
Today, petitions will be accepted by the parliament provided they are worded in accordance with parliamentary rules and as long as they contain at least one signature.
Petitions have been received daily on the State Government's controversial poker machine tax, with more than 110 tabled since last August.
Nationals MP Ian Armstrong presented petitions from people opposing the abolition of his Lachlan seat even though his own party supported the boundary changes.
One of the roles of the Clerk of the Lower House is to read out the petitions just prior to Question Time, which on some days can mean the reading of up to 60 petitions. Politicians hosed down plans more than a decade ago to end this practice, instead demanding their petitions be read in parliament.