Covid 19 coronavirus: Hawke's Bay man takes Tracer campaign to Parliament

Tukituki MP Anna Lorck is due to present her first petition on behalf of a constituent, Havelock North resident Patrick Dingemans. Photo / Supplied

A Hawke's Bay man's petition of one calling for a regulation that would force shops to display Covid-19 Tracer app QR codes at the checkout as well as the entrance is being presented to Parliament.

Patrick Dingemans recently convinced several Hawke's Bay supermarkets to display the codes at the checkout in a bid to reverse waning use of the app in the region.

Now, the 81-year-old Havelock North resident is one step closer to getting QR codes displayed at points of sale nationwide, having presented his petition to Tukituki MP Anna Lorck on Monday.

The petition calls for an amendment of the current regulation requiring that all businesses display a QR code to also display the codes at all exits and any points of sale within that business.

While most petitions have hundreds or thousands of signatures to show the level of support, this petition has just one, which Dingemans said was because of the public's positive response.

"I really didn't want to get involved with hawking around getting signatures, if we can achieve it this way with just one.

"The fact is we had such a good buy-in from the supermarkets and all the people I've spoken to thought it was 'a bloody great idea'.

"We felt the petition was the way to go."

It's not Dingemans' first petition to Parliament, having campaigned for the wearing of cycle safety helmets to be mandatory.

Tukituki MP Anna Lorck is due to present her first petition on behalf of a constituent, Havelock North resident Patrick Dingemans. Photo / Supplied

It's the first petition Lorck will present on behalf of a local constituent.

She said it was an excellent initiative from Dingemans and great to see Hawke's Bay supermarkets getting on board and leading the way.

"As his local MP he's asked me to raise his idea with my fellow colleagues and I've said 'Absolutely'.

"It's certainly getting lots of public support and positive feedback."

She had also spoken with many local retail and café businesses who are also taking up the idea.

Lorck is expected to present the petition to the House of Representatives on Tuesday afternoon.

She said the petition would then go through the formal process.

After being presented to the House of Representatives, it is referred to the Petitions Committee, who will either send it on to the appropriate select committee, deal with it themselves or refer it directly to a minister.