Current e-Petitions for the Legislative Council

Gold-standard transparency owed on the Voice

Eligibility : Residents of Western Australia Only

To the President and Members of the Legislative Council of the Parliament of Western Australia in Parliament assembled. We the undersigned ...

1. Are concerned that Premier McGowan has twice this year refused to provide Parliament with the briefing note he received about the proposed “Voice”;
2. Recognise that every Western Australian, including the Premier, is at liberty to campaign in favour of or against changing the Australian Constitution to establish an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, if they so wish;
3. Remind the Premier, however, that he, promised that his Government would adhere to a “gold-standard” of transparency;
4. Consider the Premier’s readiness to support the Voice whilst keeping documents secret from Parliament, a gross breach of his promised standard of transparency;
5. Acknowledge that although the Premier last year gave evidence in court that “gold-standard transparency doesn’t apply to every single thing you do”, this national debate on a change to our Constitution deserves that standard to be applied and not ignored;
6. Call on the Premier to deliver to Parliament, within 14 days of this petition being tabled, all briefing notes and similar documents he received on the proposed “Voice” prior to him making his public declaration of support;
7. Request the Legislative Council examine those documents expeditiously and determine if there is any fair reason why they should not be made public so that all Western Australians might be privy to the same level of detail about the proposed constitutional amendment before making their informed decision later this year.

And your petitioners as in duty bound, will ever pray.