Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, thank you for that withering look! Mr Speaker, on behalf of the government, I offer warmest congratulations on your elevation to the office of Speaker of this, the House of Representatives. The Speaker is, in a sense, the referee of the parliament. Your role is to help us play fair and abide by the rules of the House. You are only the 28th member to have held this office and I have no doubt you will perform this role with dignity and with distinction. Some might say it is in your DNA to do that, since your father, Harry Jenkins Sr, also served in the Speaker’s role on the election of the Hawke government in 1983 through until 1986. Of course, things have changed a little since Harry Sr’s day. With the advent of cameras and webcast in the chamber, we are all under greater scrutiny. Members of the public can act now as a kind of parliamentary video referee, watching and reviewing events and basically voting on the dispensation of justice from the chair. This scrutiny is a good thing for us all—for the speakership and for each of us as members of this place. It adds to our modern democracy.

Mr Speaker, since 1986 you have been a dedicated representative of the constituents of the seat of Scullin. Now, you have the opportunity to serve the whole nation in this important role of Speaker. The chair, of course, is not unfamiliar to you. You have served as Deputy Speaker, Second Deputy Speaker and Deputy Chair of Committees. In fact, this makes you one of the most experienced of those to be elected to the office of Speaker in the history of this place. Therefore, you have seen the good, the bad, the ugly and, from time to time, the very ugly at close quarters from that chair for 18 years. You would have observed the speakerships of Speakers Child, McLeay, Halverson, Martin, Sinclair, Andrew and Hawker. One of the things we have cause to reflect on, running through that list, is that those who occupy that position do not have a particular record of longevity! May that not be the case in your case, Mr Speaker.

From that entire list of previous occupants of the chair, Mr Speaker, you have a rich and innovative set of precedents upon which to draw. I imagine also, as you grew up, there would have been many tales across the dining room table with your father about the reasonableness of government members and the unreasonableness of those opposite in those days. Well, we will see how this parliament unfolds.

You will be aware that the role you are taking on today will not be easy. Many of us are aware of the great story of the first Speaker of this House, Sir Frederick Holder, who, in 1909, rather famously exclaimed, ‘Dreadful, dreadful!’ in response to the events on the floor of the chamber and then collapsed dead on the floor. It has been a common practice and, I think, a good one in this House to remind all incoming Speakers of Sir Frederick’s demise. While you, Mr Speaker, look to be in excellent health, it would be remiss of me not to pass this on to you!

Over the years, this House has seen Speakers of many different dispositions. Each of them helped shape the tone and conduct of the parliament in their times. One thing is certain: at some point all wished for a better behaved House. Let us hope we can all do better. I do not believe in promising the undeliverable, because responsibility for delivering a better behaved House lies with each and every one of us as members. Of course we are going to have robust debates in this place—that is the heart and soul and nature of the vibrant Australian democracy, which we know and love and cherish. There will be passion on display—that has been our way; that is the Australian way. It is written very much into our folklore, our past, our history and our future. But as we express these convictions with passion, let us also show restraint. It is an immense privilege to be part of a democratic parliament where we can express our opinions—a privilege not shared universally across our world—the beliefs we hold to be dear, and express our goals without fear of retribution, except perhaps the retribution delivered at the ballot box.

The office of Speaker is highly esteemed both in our parliament and in the House of Commons, our mother parliament, as it is described. One of the most respected Speakers of the House of Commons, I am advised, was Arthur Wellesley Peel. He was Speaker of the House from 1884 to 1895. We are advised from the record that in an impassioned debate, I think on the home rule bill, a physical brawl erupted on the floor of the House—this was in our mother parliament, where things are supposed to be done better. The House should be thinking of our new Speaker as I briefly recount what followed, as told by an eyewitness and cited in Philip Laundy’s 1964 tome entitled The Office of Speaker. The intervention of the Speaker on that occasion was:

At last the tall, gaunt form of the Speaker, in wig and gown, appeared from behind the Chair and there arose from all parts of the Chamber a loud shout of greeting in which deep relief was expressed …

The cheers were prolonged as the Speaker stood on the platform of the Chair facing the House. He did not present the stern and relentless front to which Members were accustomed in times of disorder, and which they expected to see emphasized at this moment of unutterable shame. He had laid aside even that austerity and remoteness which were habitual with him on ordinary occasions. I thought he looked strangely soft and benignant. He was at once dignified and gentle, with a simple and yet noble seriousness. Not a hard word had he to say. His voice, in asking for explanations of what had happened, was quite caressing.

…       …            …

Like a parent, wise as well as fond, dealing with a fractious child in a brainstorm, he laid a calming hand on the troubled brow of the House and gently soothed it. And the House responded to the caress. It became subdued and humbled, and full of the spirit of reconciliation and atonement. Truly, a striking manifestation of the force of personality and tact.

Mr Speaker, I leave that exhortation from Speaker Peel for you to reflect on.

This is a wonderful day for the members who have today taken their place in the House for the first time. I congratulate them all, both on our side of the chamber and on the opposition side of the chamber. We can have no greater honour than to be elected to this place as the people’s representatives. To be here, each person has fought long and hard in the trenches of our democracy. To come here as the people’s representatives is a high honour indeed and I congratulate each one of you.

No matter how many times we have been part of the first day of a new parliament, we should all remember once again what an honour the Australian people have bestowed on each of us. For you, Mr Speaker, the day will be particularly memorable. The honour the House has bestowed on you is so clearly deserved. In your own first speech in the House, in April 1986, you said you were extremely proud to have succeeded your dad as the member for Scullin, and so you should be. Today you have won the right to feel great pride again in joining him in the ranks of the Speakers of the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth Parliament of Australia. On behalf of the government, I congratulate you.

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