Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Clerk, I move:

That the member for Chisholm do take the chair of this House as Speaker.

Mr Clerk, it is my honour to move the nomination of the member for Chisholm, because that is the orthodox political position of the Westminster parliamentary system. This is the first time that a government has not nominated one of their own to be Speaker of this parliament. I heard the member for Banks trying to find some kind of alibi for what he knows has been an extraordinary day in Australian politics, and I respect the member for Banks. Without reflecting on the member for Fisher, I say that the member for Banks, the member for Melbourne Ports and all members of this parliament with any experience know that it is utterly unprecedented for the government not to follow the Westminster tradition of nominating one of their own members to be Speaker of the parliament.

The member for Banks referred to precedents in past years of members of the opposition who have been nominated for speaker, but the point that he did not make is that on all of those occasions a member of the government was also nominated and that on all of those occasions the opposition could not possibly be successful in its nomination. The tradition of the Westminster system has always been in this country that a member of the government is nominated and a member of the opposition is nominated and that the person who comes second in those ballots usually takes the role of either Deputy Speaker or Second Deputy Speaker. My good friend the member for Cook in those days, Mr Dobie—I happened to be in the parliament in 1993; I have been here almost as long as the member for Banks—was nominated and he knew full well that he would not be elected as Speaker. This is the first time in this country that the government has decided to nominate a member of the opposition, and we all know why.

I nominate the member for Chisholm today because the member for Chisholm is, quite correctly, a member of the government and should take the chair as Speaker. The member for Chisholm has been the Deputy Speaker before in this parliament, from 2008 to 2010. Since that time—since the government did not re-elect her as Deputy Speaker after the minority parliament began—she has served on the Speaker's panel. I have served with the member for Chisholm on parliamentary committees in this parliament for many years. The member for Chisholm is a member of integrity and honesty who would fill the role of Speaker with absolute aplomb. She deserves to be nominated by the government for Speaker, not by the opposition, but I will nominate her in the absence of the government following the Westminster traditions upon which this parliament is based.

It grieves me that the former Speaker, Mr Jenkins, has retired today as Speaker of this parliament. I have had a topsy-turvy relationship with the member for Scullin over the period that I have been Manager of Opposition Business, but I think he has always been fair and reasonable. I have sometimes been known to say to him that, if I were him, I would have thrown me out more often than he did!

In praising the member for Scullin, can I say how disappointed I am, on behalf of the opposition and on my own behalf, that he has chosen to retire prematurely. He should have, in my view, served out his term as Speaker until whenever it finished. He was doing the job as well as anybody could be expected to do in a minority parliament. I will not reflect on the reasons for his resignation. I accept the statement that he has made to the parliament today. In doing so, I conclude my remarks and urge members of the House to support the member for Chisholm.

The Clerk: Is the nomination seconded?

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