Ted O'Brien (Fairfax, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I congratulate you on your elevation today. When it comes to the member for Moore, he isn't just good enough; he's the best! He is the best, and I am delighted to second the nomination of the member for Moore as Deputy Speaker of this chamber.

The member for Moore is a first-generation migrant, having arrived in Australia at the age of only nine. He made his own way through school, as a trainee accountant; through business; and, finally, as an elected official here in this parliament as the member for Moore, elected now for his fourth term. I share the views of the member for Bonner in saying that he is well respected on both sides of the parliament, and indeed he has been on the Speaker's panel for eight years. I think his record—unlike, as we just found out, that of the other candidate in this race—is unblemished. Actually, I would go one step further: I would go so far as to say the member for Moore is probably the least likely person in this chamber to be booted out.

Can I also share with the House the importance placed by the member for Moore on the procedures and standing orders of this place. Indeed, it was in the member for Moore's maiden speech, his first opening remarks, that he congratulated the then new Speaker and went on to say that he planned to serve on that Speaker's panel, and serve he did. I think it would be a great honour for him to be the Deputy Speaker, a role he would do a wonderful job at.

Can I reflect also on the Prime Minister's expressed desire for a more gentle, kinder, more courteous parliament and say that now we have our chance. Now we have our chance in the member for Moore, somebody who lives and breathes those virtues when he's in the chair and outside. I would love to think that at the start of this parliament, as a great mark of unity, we could all swing in behind the candidacy of the member for Moore and give the Speaker a deputy, the House a deputy, and show the nation what a true gentle, quietly spoken Deputy Speaker—yet a lion in defence of the standing orders—is all about, and that resides in the member for Moore. I commend him to you—not just to those on the other side but also to those behind me and those who are new to the House. The member for Moore is not just good enough; he's the best!

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