Stephen Jones (Throsby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, I start by congratulating you unconditionally and without qualification on your elevation. The most august role you have been elected to deserves no less. With great pleasure, I move:

That the honourable member for Hindmarsh be elected Deputy Speaker.

He has informed me tonight that this is the eighth anniversary of his becoming a member of this place. In the time I have been here, considerably less than eight years, I have known him to be a man of great integrity and a fine parliamentarian. I know that he has served well on the Speaker's panel, that he has been an active member of this place and that he is well respected across the aisle. He has served his constituency with vigour and pride and, when he has come to this place, he has served as a parliamentarian with principle, diligence and honour. I have recently had the great privilege of witnessing the work he has done as a parliamentarian on the important issue of prostate cancer. I am also aware of the great work and energy that he puts into advancing the cause and interests of the Special Broadcasting Service.

One of the things that I have witnessed that I think shows the member for Hindmarsh would do well in the role of Deputy Speaker is the enormous amount of work he put into seeking to achieve a bipartisan solution to probably the issue that has most troubled this parliament: how we discharge our humanitarian obligations to asylum seekers. It was the member for Hindmarsh who reached out across the aisle and to members of the crossbenches to attempt to forge a bipartisan solution which would meet our humanitarian obligations as well as the political interests of this place. Regretfully, we were unable to achieve that, but that is in no way due to any lack of vigour, effort or principle on the part of the member for Hindmarsh.

I am sure he would be a great assistant to you, Madam Speaker, if it is the will of the parliament to accept him as Deputy Speaker. I move:

That the honourable member for Hindmarsh be elected Deputy Speaker.

Peter Slipper (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, I congratulate you on your elevation to the role of Speaker, and it gives me great pleasure to second the motion nominating the member for Hindmarsh as Deputy Speaker. I have known Steve for a long, long time. He is a man who has always behaved with great honour, has always had a lot of integrity and has always been known as a good Labor man. Steve was elected to this parliament eight years ago today, so I would just like to say: happy anniversary, Steve! Since then he has been a champion of his electorate of Hindmarsh and every elector within it. I often get to meet some of Steve's electors as I am out and about in Adelaide, and nobody has ever said a bad word about him. They know that he is standing up for them in this place with all the guts and fight he has in him. I just wanted to reflect on all the great work he does in his electorate.

The member for Hindmarsh has served on the Speaker's panel for five years, and during that time I think he has shown that he has the skills to perform the role of Deputy Speaker. He has shown that he is a very inclusive member of parliament and a very compassionate and very fair person, and I think those values will serve him well in the Deputy Speaker role.

I have had the pleasure of not only knowing Steve for a long time but also serving with him on committees. In the 41st Parliament, he was Deputy Chair of the Standing Committee on Health and Ageing and, in the 42nd Parliament, he became chair of the committee, a role he continues to fill in this 43rd Parliament. I served under Steve's chairmanship during the 42nd Parliament, and I have to say he commanded a great deal of respect from members from all sides of the House as we undertook a number of different important inquiries, which he steered incredibly well.

The member for Hindmarsh would make a great Deputy Speaker. I know that he is very much supported by his beautiful wife, Wendy, and his sons, Alex and George. I think he is an excellent candidate for the role of Deputy Speaker and I second his nomination for that position.

Peter Slipper (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Are there any further proposals?

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

Madam Speaker, I have great pleasure in nominating the member for Maranoa. I have nominated the member for Maranoa on numerous occasions for the position of Deputy Speaker and I hope on this occasion that he might be successful. Without detracting from the member for Hindmarsh, who has been here for eight years, I note the member for Maranoa has in fact been here since 1990. He has served the parliament with great distinction. He served the parliament as a minister for six years in the Howard government—as Minister for Veterans' Affairs and as Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence. He has also served as a chairman of significant committees in this place over a long time and as the Second Deputy Speaker for this parliament and the previous parliament. In fact, there is no better-qualified member of parliament to serve as Deputy Speaker than the member for Maranoa.

I am absolutely delighted that he has been re-preselected to serve as the member for Maranoa in, hopefully, the 44th Parliament, should he be elected. I think they weigh the vote in Maranoa as opposed to counting it, so I assume he will be elected and be back here! It gives me great pleasure to move, particularly after the tumult of the last two years:

That the honourable member for Maranoa be elected Deputy Speaker.

Peter Slipper (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Tony Windsor (New England, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, I congratulate you on your election as Speaker and I second the motion nominating the member for Maranoa as Deputy Speaker. It is a great pleasure to join with the member for Sturt in this motion. There was an occasion only two years ago when we were very close to one another, and I am delighted to be able to support you in nominating the member for Maranoa.

The member for Maranoa has had an outstanding career in this parliament. He knows the job extraordinarily well in terms of the deputy speakership, and I am sure he will be of great assistance to you, Madam Speaker. It is a great privilege and a pleasure to second the motion to elect the member for Maranoa to this position.

Peter Slipper (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time for proposals has expired. In accordance with the standing orders, the bells will be rung and a ballot will be taken. Ballot papers will now be distributed. I remind honourable members that this ballot is for the election of Deputy Speaker. Only one name should be written on the ballot paper. The candidate who has the greater number of votes shall be the Deputy Speaker. The candidates are the member for Maranoa and the member for Hindmarsh. Will honourable members please write on the ballot paper the name of the candidate for whom they wish to vote. The individual's name can be written on the ballot paper—Bruce Scott or Steve Georganas.

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

Madam Speaker, you said members should be in their usual seats. The Leader of the House is in the crossbenches and seems to be filling out another ballot paper.

Peter Slipper (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Could the Leader of the House please resume his seat during the ballot.

The bells having been rung and a ballot having been taken

Order! The result of the ballot is: Mr Scott, 74 votes; Mr Georganas, 70 votes. Mr Scott, the member for Maranoa, is elected Deputy Speaker. Congratulations!

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to congratulate the member for Maranoa on his election. Obviously we do not see eye to eye on a range of political issues, but I have always found him one of the gentlemen in this parliament. I have had the opportunity to speak to him about a range of issues. He has always shown a great deal of courtesy when he has raised issues that are dear to his heart, including some representations he made to me about distance education, which I remember in particular—and the government amended its policy because of the representations by him and a number of others in this parliament—so I am sure that he will serve in this role with great distinction. He is someone for whom there have been some twists and turns in the journey as well, but we welcome his election. On behalf of the government and the federal Labor Party, I can certainly say that we will look forward to working with him. The same caveat applies as I said to Madam Speaker: I cannot always promise you perfection in behaviour, but we will do our very best to work with you in a spirit of goodwill and decency.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I congratulate the member for Maranoa. It is obviously a tremendous honour for an opposition member of parliament to win a ballot in this chamber, and the fact that the member for Maranoa has won the ballot for the deputy speakership testifies to his qualities as a man, as a member of this parliament and as a Deputy Speaker. Yet again we are in unusual circumstances with a member of the opposition is elected as Deputy Speaker. I presume that the standing orders will now operate in the ordinary way and we will have to have another ballot, but I congratulate the member for Maranoa on his election to this high office.

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am delighted to congratulate my friend, colleague, neighbour and partner in the parliament from the class of 1990 on his election as Deputy Speaker. Bruce has spent a lot of time in the chair. He is therefore well experienced and well able to undertake the task. He is a great champion of rural and regional Queensland—and, indeed, of rural Australia generally—and it is appropriate that his service be recognised in this special way.

He moves up one place, and you, Madam Speaker Burke, move up one place. We therefore now have a very experienced Speaker and Deputy Speaker. I am sure that you both will provide great leadership to this House. Congratulations, Bruce, and best wishes in your new position.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to join the congratulation of the member for Maranoa. It has always been a pleasure to visit the member for Maranoa's electorate, which comprises a vast part of south-western and western Queensland and which is big enough to fit a few hundred—if not a few thousand—electorates the size of mine.

The member for Maranoa has the respect of everyone in this House. As Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, I regularly received representations from the member for Maranoa. They were always genuinely put, in a way which was not political but which had him representing his constituents very honourably. I had the great pleasure of being at the Birdsville races with the member for Maranoa and can attest to the high esteem in which he is held by his constituents.

A government member: Is he a good tipster?

He's not a bad tipster, although I think everyone in our party did okay that day! But the Birdsville races are not just about the racing; they are a great, iconic, Australian event. I also got to open the Birdsville community centre that day and visited other centres in his electorate on a number of occasions. I congratulate the member for Maranoa on his election as Deputy Speaker, and I welcome the opportunity to continue to work with Mr Scott. He has been a very good Deputy Speaker, and I am sure that he will continue to be so.

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

I have nominated the member for Maranoa on numerous occasions to be the Deputy Speaker. It is nice to have a win. Congratulations to the member for Maranoa on his election. He will fulfil the role of Deputy Speaker of this parliament perfectly, and I look forward to working with him in the chair.

Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I also congratulate the member for Maranoa on his elevation. I hear a lot of heckling coming from that part of the chamber, but I must say that when the member has been in the chair I have never known anything but impartiality, and I presume that it will continue. I congratulate him.

Alby Schultz (Hume, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I do not want to put a motza on the member for Maranoa, but I have to say that Bruce Scott was one of the best ministers of the portfolio that he held in the Howard government. I have known him to be a very honourable and honest individual and, believe it or not, I very much admire Bruce Scott. The fact that he is a member of the National Party—in fact, now he is a member of the LNP—does not really matter to me. He is a special individual, as is his wife, and I know that he will do a 100 per cent job as the Deputy Speaker in the House of Representatives for all members.

Bruce Scott (Maranoa, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I congratulate you, Madam Speaker Burke, on being the second female elected to the Speaker's role this place. You certainly deserve it. I have worked with you for a number of years now, and you have always brought dignity and a spirit of cooperation to the role. Meeting every morning, as we have in the past, we run through the blue to see what is coming up in case some 'blues' occur in the House, and we have been able to discuss them in the role of Speaker and Deputy Speaker as we should do.

I thank my nominators, the member for Sturt and the member for New England, for their confidence in me. I also thank the House for showing confidence in me and my ability to take over the role of Deputy Speaker. I am one of those lucky people here tonight whose wife is up there in the gallery. I am not sure that she recognises the person you are speaking about! It is quite by chance that my wife is here to experience this tonight; and I know, Madam Speaker, that your family could not be with you.

Madam Speaker, I have worked as deputy to you, but I think we all learnt a great deal from Harry Jenkins. He was in many ways a mentor to many people in this place, including those on the Speaker's panel. I think we were able to bring the quiet confidence and the quiet respect that Harry instilled in us as his two deputies at the start of this parliament, and we can certainly bring those things in this role that we both have now.

I thank the former Speaker, the member for Fisher, for his very kind words about me today. Unfortunately, I was not in the chamber at the time. I was at the Telstra function here tonight, lobbying Telstra to get more mobile phone coverage in western Queensland—in a quiet and dignified way. They did listen to me. I do thank the member for Fisher for his comments in very kindly speaking about me tonight.

I want to assure the House that in my role as the Deputy Speaker I will be, as I have always been, impartial and will make sure that you are all heard in silence, though that is not always possible. There are standing orders that govern the role that we take in this place, as you know, Madam Speaker, and it is the one that I believe gives this chamber the great power that it has. I respect the standing orders. Those standing orders that have been amended a little in this parliament have only made this a better place.

I certainly look forward to working with all of you in this chamber. Thank you for the confidence you have shown in me tonight. I can assure you I will not be letting you down. To the Leader of the House, all I can say is that I have taken former Speaker Jenkins to Birdsville, I have taken the Leader of the Opposition to the Birdsville races, but we still have your shirt, which has hamburger juice all down the front, to auction one day. I hope it will be worth enough money to enable us to seal a few kilometres of road out in western Queensland. I thank the House.

Peter Slipper (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I also congratulate the member for Maranoa. We have worked for many years together. He is an honourable Deputy Speaker and I know he will do the position proud. I congratulate him.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I say to the Deputy Speaker: what goes on tour should stay on tour!

House adjourned at 22:25