Finally Tally: 40,470 signatures as Castle Law Petition Tabled in State Parliament

11 June 2024

Hinchinbrook MP and Katter’s Australian Party (KAP) Deputy Leader Nick Dametto is urging the Queensland Parliament to fast-track the debate and vote on his recently introduced Castle Law Bill, following an overwhelming show of public support.

A petition tabled in the Queensland Parliament earlier today supporting the bill gathered an impressive 40,470 signatures in just over five weeks, highlighting the significant public interest in seeing this legislation passed.[1]

Introduced on 1 May 2024, the Castle Law Bill aims to provide Queenslanders with greater legal protections in their homes. Despite the strong public backing, the bill is yet to be scheduled for a public hearing or briefing by the Parliamentary Committee responsible for examining the bill and reporting back to Parliament with its recommendations.

Mr Dametto said it was bizarre to have a committee report date set for the 1^st of November 2024 in the absence of any public hearings or public briefings.

“This timeline means the bill will lapse before the committee finalises their report, as the current parliament is set to dissolve ahead of the state election on 26 October 2024,” Mr Dametto said.

“We can only hope there are no politics at play here, but excuse my cynicism for considering if the process is being deliberately drawn-out in order to run down the clock to October.

“I can only surmise that the overwhelming public support and momentum gained with Castle Law is causing concern to the two major parties and for many of those marginal seats across Queensland I can only imagine that neither party want to risk Queenslanders seeing what their position on Castle Law is.

“If Labor or the LNP are actively avoiding showing their hand when it comes to Castle Law, that would be deceptive to the Queensland community and particularly the 40,470 signatories of the petition who want to see Castle Law enacted in this state.

“The 57^th parliamentary term is not over yet. There is still ample time to bring the dates of the Castle Law bill forward and finalise the report and allow the bill to be on debated prior to October because this is clearly what the people of Queensland want.

“It is deeply concerning that the Castle Law Bill, which has garnered such significant public support, is at risk of being sidelined.

“The State Labor Government have previously expedited numerous other Government bills within six weeks of their introduction, yet this crossbench bill is being delayed for six months without even a committee report!

This raises serious questions about the government’s integrity but also about their commitment to addressing the concerns of Queenslanders.”

Mr Dametto has made requests for the bill to be prioritised and for public briefings and hearing dates to be scheduled as a matter of priority in order to bring the committee report date forward.

The House then has the power to amend Parliamentary procedures that Private Members Bill must be set down on the Notice Paper for a period of three calendar months.[2] This must be removed to allow the Castle Law Bill to be debated prior to the dissolution of Parliament.

Members of the public can continue to make submissions on the bill until 2 July 2024.[3]

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[1] https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Work-of-the-Assembly/Petitions/Petition-Details?id=4077

[2]Rule 7.12, page 28. https://documents.parliament.qld.gov.au/assembly/procedures/ParliamentaryProceduresHandbook.pdf

[3] https://qldparlcomm.snapforms.com.au/form/cslac—criminal-code-defence-of-dwellings-and-other-premises—castle-law-amendment-bill-2024