The Clerk:

Honourable members, the next business is the election of a Speaker.

Sid Sidebottom (Braddon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Clerk of the House, Members, it is with great pleasure and much pride that I nominate the member for Scullin, Mr Harry Jenkins, to be Speaker of the House of Representatives. I move:

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

Harry has been in public service for nearly 30 years. He was born in Melbourne in 1952. Harry’s close family life was marked by community service and involvement, most often centred around his father’s medical practice and later parliamentary career. Harry succeeded his father, Harry Sr, as the member for Scullin in 1986, after his father had served the electorate with distinction from 1969 to 1986. Today Harry will further emulate his father, who was Speaker of the House from 1983 to 1986.

Harry Jenkins Jr won Scullin in a by-election in 1986 after a long stint in local government as a councillor, between 1979 and 1986—two years of which he served as shire president. Before entering parliament, Harry graduated with a Bachelor of Science from the Australian National University and worked for the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. His interest in all things scientific, and particularly the environment, has not waned in the meantime.

Harry has been re-elected to what we affectionately call ‘Fortress Scullin’ in eight successive elections, consolidating the seat for Labor in 2007 by 20 per cent—a testimony to his dedicated hard work and also that of his family over many years. Harry has been a great servant of his electorate, his beloved Labor Party and especially this parliament. He has chaired and/or been an active member of over 14 House of Representatives standing committees and joint statutory or joint select committees of the parliament. Equally, his representation of this parliament overseas has been widespread and carried out with distinction.

However, Harry’s special contribution to and recognition within the parliament has been associated with his long-term work as Deputy Speaker and Second Deputy Speaker, roles he has carried out with great distinction, dignity and equanimity. Indeed, many an MP like me—very ignorant of a particular standing order or indeed of parliamentary procedures—has been seen gravitating in the chamber towards the ever-composed figure of Harry to take instruction. ‘Order!’ That is the type of voice you need, Harry. Harry’s warm personality, great depth of character, mischievous sense of humour and calmness of mood and manner, along with his encyclopedic knowledge of parliamentary processes, are richly and deservedly rewarded today. It could not have happened to a better person.

Members, the Speaker-to-be’s star sign is Leo. I ask you to suspend any disbelief you may have in astrological predictions to ponder the following characteristics of Harry’s star sign:

Your fighting spirit is second to none! Nothing gets in the road of your ambitions, so it is quite clear that you will achieve what you set your heart upon. You desire the best, so while you could be happy with a life where you follow other people’s rules and regulations—

read ‘the standing orders’ for that—

mostly you will much prefer your own trail. This means you will carve out your niche and make a name for yourself and you will without doubt make your mark in the world—you can reach the top of the ladder no matter what field you choose.

Harry, you have chosen the speakership as your field, and your peers in this parliament have unanimously supported you in this endeavour. Our very best wishes accompany you in this task, and none more so than mine.

The Clerk:

Is the motion seconded?

Kirsten Livermore (Capricornia, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Clerk of the House, I am delighted to second the nomination of the member for Scullin to be the Speaker of the House for the 42nd Parliament. How wonderful it is to join with the member for Braddon in having this honour. Welcome back, Member for Braddon. All members would agree with me that the member for Scullin is exceptionally well qualified for the role of Speaker. His family will be very proud to see him follow in the footsteps of his father and former Speaker, Dr Harry Jenkins. The member for Scullin has served with great distinction as Deputy Speaker and Second Deputy Speaker since 1993. He will continue to distinguish himself in his new role through his great respect for the parliament and his unrivalled knowledge of the standing orders. Those credentials will give Harry authority over the chamber, but it is the ever so slightly raised eyebrow, the wry smile and the absolutely deadpan delivery that will win our affection over the coming term of the parliament. In nominating the member for Scullin, I wish him every success in his new position and I know that his performance as Speaker will reflect well on the parliament and all of us who serve here.

The Clerk:

Does the honourable member for Scullin accept the nomination?

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Clerk, reluctantly, yes, I do.

The Clerk:

Is there any further proposal? There being no further proposal, the time for proposals has expired. I declare that the honourable member proposed, the member for Scullin, has been elected as Speaker.

Honourable Members:

Hear, hear!

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I wish to express my grateful thanks for the high honour that the House has been pleased to confer upon me.

The Speaker having seated himself in the chair—

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to 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.

Brendan Nelson (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, we join with the Prime Minister in congratulating you on your election to the high office of Speaker of the Parliament of Australia. It is a great credit to you; your wife, Michele; your family; and your colleagues that you have been elected to this position. The respect that we have for you is such that we unanimously across the parliament endorse your election.

It was 22 years ago that you came here, following in the footsteps of your father, who would be very proud. When you came here your priorities were local government; occupational health and safety; child care—which I am sure will hold you in good stead over the next three years—

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Brendan Nelson (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I know not why they laugh!—and a very strong commitment to justice, peace and humanity. In the nominating speeches we were reminded of the very long service you have given to this parliament. In numerous committees you have worked very hard, not only for your constituents in Scullin but right across the parliaments of the world in engaging Australia and our parliamentary processes with those of others.

I came here in 1996 and it has been my observation—and it is certainly that of my colleagues—that you have always treated us with respect, decency and courtesy. You have always been firm but you have always been prepared to give us advice in relation to standing orders and indeed other things. It is said—I think with some justification—that when people eventually do leave the parliament, whatever their political or other skills, they are remembered for who they are, and you are one of those people possessed of those qualities which are so essential in being the Speaker of this parliament.

I welcome also the commitment by the Prime Minister to accountability, notwithstanding the robust nature of the parliament, which is the bulwark of our democracy. We welcome it nonetheless and will be working very hard to see that we conduct ourselves as the alternative government and the opposition in a manner which does honour to the people WHO have elected us all.

In congratulating you and your family—and recognising that it is only those of us who are here, by the way, who have any idea of the sacrifices they have made for you—I would also like to take this opportunity to pay our respects and acknowledge our very high regard for the dignified and very professional manner in which your immediate predecessor, the member for Wannon, conducted himself, with the love and support of his wife, Penny. We look forward to working in the best interests of Australia under your speakership over the next three years and we warmly congratulate you on what you have achieved personally and professionally.

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport and Local Government) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I join the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition on behalf of the National Party to wholeheartedly extend congratulations to you on your election to this high office. You have classically been the Speaker-in-waiting, serving as Deputy Speaker and Second Deputy Speaker over a long period of time, with a family tradition in the sense that you are sitting in the family seat. We know that you bring to the office the best possible practical qualifications, having done so much work as a deputy over a long period of time.

Your practical experience, your warmth of personality, your dignity and your cheery disposition have endeared you to everyone in the House. It is a rarely experienced accolade to be elected unopposed to that position. That demonstrates not just the bipartisan support that you enjoy in this office but the warmth of your colleagues towards you as you assume this office. I read in the papers some months ago that there were others who coveted the position, but I am pleased that you have been selected by your party and the parliament in this way to take that high office.

You are the custodian of the traditions of the parliament and you are the custodian of the rights of individual members, and those are very important responsibilities. The parliament, as others have said, will sometimes be a place of robust political debate and heated exchange, and you will have an umpiring or refereeing role—depending on which code you happen to come from!—in making sure that that is carried out in an appropriate way without in any way unnecessarily or inappropriately restricting the rights of members to have their say on issues that are of particular importance.

We will certainly seek to cooperate with you in your ambition to have a House that is appropriate to the highest pinnacles of the democratic principles of our country, that gives the opportunity to effectively scrutinise the government and that gives members, particularly private members, an opportunity to raise matters of importance to them and make a meaningful contribution towards political debate in this country. It is, as the Prime Minister said, a great privilege for us all to serve in this place. Your leadership in the chair will help ensure that members will be able to effectively carry out their responsibilities to their electorates and to fearlessly represent their people.

Finally, I join the Leader of the Opposition in thanking the member for Wannon for his role as your predecessor. He also brought great experience to the position, as well as dedication and dignity. He faced the challenges under fire and sometimes he was driven to anger, sometimes justifiably, about the sorts of things that happen in the chamber. But he sought to create order and to ensure that the business of the parliament was able to proceed. We thank him very much for his role as the former Speaker and wish him every success in the future.

Congratulations, Mr Speaker, on your elevation. Let me assure you of our desire and willingness to cooperate with you to ensure that there are high standards in this place and, most particularly, that the business of the government, the business of the parliament, is conducted with the kind of decorum that the people of Australia will always expect. I extend my best wishes.

David Hawker (Wannon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I too would like to join with the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the National Party in congratulating you wholeheartedly on your elevation to the high office of the Speaker. I add that I was very fortunate to be able to work with you in your previous role as one of my deputy speakers. I appreciated the way you always, in a totally professional and genuine way, worked to cooperate, to make sure that the business of the House was undertaken in an orderly fashion. We made sure that this great chamber continued to work as we would all like it to.

As has been mentioned, you are a very experienced member of parliament and you had nearly 12 years as Deputy Speaker. Justifiably, you have earned the respect of both sides of this chamber, which is I think an essential part of being able to undertake this very important role. I have every confidence that you will uphold the dignity of the House and I think you will continue to maintain the very important part that parliament plays in the democratic processes of this country.

I was reminded to look in the House of Representatives Practice, particularly when I heard the Prime Minister quoting Philip Laundy. The Practice mentions:

The role the Speaker plays by virtue of the office requires the position to be filled by a dedicated, senior and experienced parliamentarian. The qualities required in a Speaker have been described in the following ways:

It is parliamentary rather than legal experience which is the first requirement of a Speaker. He must have an intimate understanding of parliamentary life, of the problems of Members collectively and individually, of the moods and foibles of the House; an experience which can be acquired only through many years spent on the benches of the House itself. He must have a deep-seated reverence for the institution of Parliament, an understanding of what lies behind the outward ceremony and a faith in democratic government.

I think on all counts, Mr Speaker, you qualify. With your 21 years in parliament prior to becoming Speaker—which, coincidentally, is the same time that I spent prior to becoming Speaker—I believe that your knowledge of procedures, your understanding of parliamentary life, and of course your experience all equip you extremely well for this most important role. You are the 26th person to be Speaker of the parliament, and for that I certainly congratulate you. To clarify: there were two Speakers who served on two separate occasions. It is also significant, I must add, that seven of the last 11 Speakers have come from the great state of Victoria.

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

David Hawker (Wannon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We will leave that one! Mr Speaker, I am sure that you also share with me in saying to all the new members of this parliament, on both sides, that we wish them every success. We trust that they will acquire a deep commitment to this House and become true parliamentarians, as I think all of them would aspire to.

It was a great privilege to be the Speaker in the 41st Parliament, to work with so many fine Australians and to have the privilege of being supported by such a professional team in the House, led by the Clerk and his deputy, by the Serjeant-at-Arms and by all the staff who work in the Department of the House of Representatives and the Department of Parliamentary Services.

I thank the Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the National Party for their kind remarks. I would also like to thank my staff and my wife and family for the support they have given me, as yours will give you, Mr Speaker. For me, this is also a rather unique occasion because almost 25 years ago, after being sworn in as the new member for Wannon, I was welcomed by the then Speaker, Dr Harry Jenkins, the member for Scullin. And today we congratulate the Hon. Harry Jenkins, the member for Scullin, as the Speaker now. Mr Speaker, your father would be very proud of you. I know your family and your mother, who are here today, are very proud of you. I wish you every success in this very important role.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, the Leader of the Nationals and the member for Wannon for their kind remarks. I am not sure that I will be able to emulate Speaker Peel’s Zen-like qualities. Quite correctly, mention has been made of the role that the member for Wannon played in the 41st Parliament as our Speaker. It was a privilege to serve him as a Deputy Speaker. Over the last couple of months, he has exemplified the way in which he conducts himself by being of great assistance in making me feel that I was part of a smooth transition so that the workings of this parliament could continue. I thank David and Penny for their great kindness to me, Michele and my family.

I thank the mover and seconder of my nomination. They join a long list of colleagues that have moved and seconded my nomination for both Speaker and Deputy Speaker. They are amongst the more successful, having engineered an election without opponent—I do not know whether they had anything to do with that. I say to them that, despite their efforts as nominee and seconder, they get no special privileges. Along with the rest of the urgers that are to my right, they are on notice.

I hope that those on my left will allow me a slight indulgence as I indicate my great pride that former Prime Minister Whitlam is in the gallery at the time of my election. For me and for my development in my political career, Gough has been a very important part of my life.

To my family who are in the gallery—my mother, wife, two sons, daughter, daughter-in-law, granddaughter, who has nearly had to absent herself because she is demanding equal time, parents-in-law, brother, sister and niece—I say that I have been very lucky to have the stable support of family. I reflect that I am a product of the northern suburbs of Melbourne and I have the opportunity to represent an electorate that is the northern suburbs of Melbourne. Perhaps I come from a slightly more privileged background than the people I represent, but this is a great honour—and I hope that the people of Scullin see that this is a great honour that is bestowed upon them to have their representative elevated to this high office.

The member for Wannon mentioned the staff of the House of Representatives—the clerks. I should admit that I have been a very difficult occupant of this chair from time to time for the Clerk and the deputy clerks. I hope that they will continue to excuse my stubbornness and understand that I do listen to them. I look forward to a cooperative relationship with them.

Today before the formal proceedings of the parliament, a welcome to country was conducted in the Members Hall. Matilda House talked about proper respect. I think, from all of the comments made today, that members of this House understand that, by the way in which we are able to respect each other, we in turn show that we respect those people that we represent and the nation of Australia.

Mention was made that I follow on from Speaker Dr Jenkins. From the outset it was never my intention that that would necessarily occur, but I acknowledge that it is a footnote in history that is important. Some 25 years ago, I was in the front row of the gallery in the provisional Parliament House. When I looked down on the chamber, there was a much different atmosphere. Three members of this place were there on that day: the father of the House, the member for Berowra, who has had a very distinguished career in this place; the member for O’Connor—I say that his is a much larger footnote in the history of parliamentary procedure; and the third was—and it is impossible to believe with such a youthful looking character as the member for Gippsland—an even younger member for Gippsland, who had arrived in this place for his first day.

As the Prime Minister mentioned, proceedings were much different in the old chamber. They were only broadcast on radio. We now, as the Prime Minister mentioned, have televising and webcast. We are a much more modern parliament than 25 years ago, and that of course is one of the great challenges that we confront.

To all of you, I wish you all the best in your endeavours. I hope that through my actions I am able to assist you in achieving those things that you wish to achieve. I once again thank the House for the great honour that they have bestowed upon me.