And your petitioners humbly pray ...

Race

Opium 1884

Presented by Sir Henry Wrixon MP, Henry Bell MP, Robert Harper MP and John James MP

Opium was originally introduced to China from India by the British in the early 19th century. It was widely used by the Chinese in Victoria for recreational and medicinal purposes. By the 1880s, addiction had become a significant problem.

Several petitions were presented by Chinese residents of Victorian goldfield towns requesting that the importation of opium be banned. These petitioners stated that their countrymen had become “slaves to opium-smoking”. They claimed that a person who smoked opium “loses his energy for labour” and develops habits that are “destructive alike to his physical and moral nature”.

Despite receiving considerable revenue from opium sales, the Government banned the use of opium for recreational purposes in 1905. In 1914, the Commonwealth banned the importation of raw and prepared opium.

Racial and Religious Tolerance Legislation 2006

Presented by Tony Plowman MP, Don Nardella MP and Ben Hardman MP

Victoria’s Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001 makes unlawful any public behaviour or statements that vilify people on the grounds of their race or religious beliefs.

This petition requested a repeal of the Act, on the grounds that it threatened free speech and interfered with the religious freedom to "teach, preach and propagate one's beliefs and express opinions about other world-views". The 87 petitioners claimed that the legislation was unnecessary when there were already effective mechanisms for correcting “intemperate or offensive” statements, for example through the media and other forums for public debate.

It was presented to Parliament in May 2006. The same petition had been presented on nine previous occasions. The issue remains controversial in the current political climate.