Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Communications) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That Mr Mitchell be elected the Deputy Speaker of the House.

I'll be brief. No-one in this parliament has more experience in the chair than the member for McEwen does. Indeed I was reflecting, while listening to the member for Calwell nominate the member for Casey for the Speaker's chair, on the similarities between the pair. Smith and Mitchell is the combination this parliament needs in the Speaker's panel. Like the Speaker, the member for McEwen has a fond appreciation for car restorations. They share the pain of three Carlton wooden spoons in the last nine years. Like the Speaker, Mr Mitchell has not aged a day since he entered this parliament.

Since 2012 the member for McEwen has sat in the chair in both chambers and performed with exceptional clarity and independence. More than that, Rob Mitchell has that rare quality that the Australian public most prizes in their elected representatives: authenticity. There is nothing fake about Rob Mitchell, not his commitment to his constituents, not his passion for the role of the chair of the place, not his friendship and support for those of us who serve with him in this place. As the Deputy Speaker he will serve all of us in this chamber with fidelity. He is a member of the parliament that I admire and respect. I am proud to call him a mate. Rob Mitchell knows all too well the privilege that it is to be here in this chamber. He has fought tough marginal seat campaigns. He has endured multiple recounts and a contested election result in the Court of Disputed Returns.

He knows how special it is to be here in this chamber and the special responsibility it imposes on us all. The member for McEwen has told me that he is passionate about the opportunity to raise the standards in this place when he is in the chair.

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