Petition · past parliament
Make it a criminal offence for politicians to deliberately lie to the electorate
Rejected
20 signatures
What the petition asks
We would like it made that it is a criminal offence for Politicians to deliberately lie to the electorate during the formal campaign before an election or referendum. Where politicians are those people who are standing for election or are members of organised political groups during a referendum.
The objective is to restore the public’s trust in politicians such that the public can be confident that politicians are telling the ‘truth’ as a reasonable man would see it.
It would be up to the courts to establish whether the politician was lying.
The basic premise is that if it can be proven that the politician was in possession of information that rendered their public announcements, in any form, to be reasonably considered untrue then they shall be guilty of the offence.
It would be up to the courts to establish whether the politician was lying.
The basic premise is that if it can be proven that the politician was in possession of information that rendered their public announcements, in any form, to be reasonably considered untrue then they shall be guilty of the offence.
Why it was rejected
There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.
Timeline
| 27 Jun 2016 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 28 Jun 2016 | Rejected by the Petitions Committee |
Key facts
Signatures
20
Status
Rejected
Rejected
28 Jun 2016
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.