Some of you may be interested in signing. Already fairly close to ten thousand have signed.
These petitions are pointless, sorry.
I disagree with you. Not all get their requests met, but many do. Numbers mean votes so a point comes when local politicians see their position at risk when there are very large numbers of people against what they are pushing. Mind you, being Qld, it’s harder to say.
but many do
Do you have any examples if issues where a petition in and of itself has influenced an outcome?
Politicians know that clicking on a petition you saw on social media isn’t going to influence someone’s vote.
Conversely, when people “sign” a petition they feel like they’ve had their say and don’t take any further action.
It’s worse than a waste of time.
Have you called your local government representative? Usually they’re very happy to discuss things. There’s no point just saying what you want. You need to ask them where it’s up to in the process and what the contentious issues are. Often, councillors don’t actually have any ability to intervene. For example they won’t be able to exclude a specific buyer or developer.
You make very valid points but I don’t think they are the end of the story. Petitions form a number of functions (this list is not comprehensive). They:
- can and have influenced outcomes. The following is a fairly old article but it gives you an idea: https://www.smh.com.au/national/people-power-14-online-petitions-that-changed-australia-in-2015-20151222-gltgyb.html
- bring awareness about issues to people and communities who may not have been aware previously
- give people the opportunity to become involved, even if at arm’s length. There is a great deal of apathy in Australia. People who don’t even sign petitions are hardly likely to get really active as you indicate. People who are active will be the first to sign and share petitions for the issues they care about. I say this because I know such people
- give politicians and planners a sense of where people are at and what sort of issues they feel strongly about.
- may be used by politicians (cynically or not) to identify sectors of the population to address
- are used by social historians to map community development and salient issues over time (see for example, https://www.aspg.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Petitions-a-voice.pdf)
Finally, the above petition is for all Australians to sign, not just Gold Coast locals. It is very unlikely that someone living in Perth would contact their MP or one covering the Gold Coast to follow the situation. I am one of those people who write individual letters to politicians about issues. More often than not, they fob you off with unctuous polliespeak, so, that IS a waste of time.
To sign a petition is to put a small amount of energy into a significant cause (usually) and join others rather than not put in energy at all and sit on the side lines feeling helpless, alone and grumbling.
Sorry im not convinced.
The article you linked is a puff piece promoting change dot org.
The first petition it mentions illustrates my point - the medication wasnt even approved for use in Australia. As soon as it was, it was added to the PBS.
If I start a petition saying that the sun should rise tomorrow morning, obviously that doesn’t demonstrate the effectiveness of my advocation.
Besides which, you seem to have e disregarded my points about identifying the mechanism by which a councillor can intervene. An “i dont like trump” petition can not succeed.
That’s ok, I’m just giving an alternate point of view. You don’t have to be convinced.
By calling the SMH article a puff piece and only picking the outcome of one petition and disregarding the other 13 you do not make much of a case for your argument, however.
As to your last point, which is important, I’ll get back to you. I’ve made an enquiry because I also want more clarification. Thank you for that.
Sorry mate im not going to read change dot org marketing material. I assumed they put their best case up top.
I suggested you find some examples supporting your position. If thats the best then youve got nothing, sorry.
Here’s a couple of items to broaden perspective that show why petitions are useful and have broader implications that are important for democracies. https://theconversation.com/not-another-online-petition-but-heres-why-you-should-think-before-deleting-it-110029 https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/lifematters/from-slacktivism-to-real-change-are-petitions-still-effective-/105805264
Over the years I have signed many petitions. Positive outcomes have been because petitions are mostly part of a multi-pronged ‘campaign’. One example is the Free Julian Assange petition on your pet peeve, Change.org. I signed the original petition plus just about every other online means of support I could. Julian was finally brought back. I am sure the original petition was not the cause alone but it helped to make the issue broadly dispersed and became an integral part of the campaign as the number of signatories went from tens, to thousands to nearly 800,000. Another is https://www.change.org/p/introduce-arnie-s-law-stronger-penalties-for-crimes-against-pets which you can read for yourself is now closer to being tabled in the Qld Parliament as the petition initiators have been hard at work advocating to MPs.
You seem to want a very mechanical cause and effect. Nothing stands alone in relation to the ways we can benefit our society. It’s all process and persistence. Petitions do not solve a problem on their own but are a straightforward tool that can be used to engage people in issues they care about but don’t know how to improve on their own. They are also a straightforward way for authorities and advocacy groups to get an idea of what people think. Why do you think our govts are so poll-driven? What people are thinking does matter. Some petitions will never make a difference but some most certainly do.
I forgot to add that environment and other activist organisations find that if their petitions to government are well supported by the general public it gives them more ammo to advocate for causes.
The simplest example that petitions influence government https://www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions
That doesn’t indicate that petitions are effective.
Its just a mechanism to submit a petition, in order to minimise the disruption to admin staff.
Like creating a complaints@ email inbox.
Unhappy voters vs money to politicians pockets? I guess it it obvious what will win.
It takes 2 seconds to sign. Even if it’s ignored it’s an important first step to show resistance.
Upvoting this post only takes a moment. That must mean this is an even more important first step right?
Sure why not
