George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That Mr Coulton be elected Deputy Speaker of this House.

It is my pleasure to nominate the member for Parkes as the Deputy Speaker of the House. Farmers bring to this place a strong connection to the country in the industries that made this country what it is today. The member for Parkes has maintained a very strong connection with the land for generations, particularly around the Warialda and Gravesend districts—so much so that every second name in the local paper, TheWarialda Standard, is a Coulton. The name 'Coulton' is now regularly mentioned in more than 40 newspapers across New South Wales, as the electorate of Parkes takes up nearly all of it, covering 393,000 square kilometres. But the Coulton in those stories never actually planned to be a politician. He knew from birth that he wanted to be a farmer, and he spent his first full day driving a tractor at the age of 10.

The member for Parkes has spent 30 years as a farmer and grazier. He and his wife, Robyn, owned a farm producing cereal crops and beef cattle before he became the inaugural mayor of the Gwydir Shire Council in 2004. Those who know the member for Parkes will well understand the important role that his wife, Robyn, has played throughout his political career, giving up her career as a school teacher to dedicate her time to serving the electorate of Parkes as well. I have to say, she has also been a dedicated organiser in the Nationals chief whips' office. They are probably valuable traits that prompted the member for Parkes, some 35 years ago, to sell his best horse for an engagement ring. Should the member for Parkes be elevated to the role of Deputy Speaker, I have no doubt Robyn will be a tireless worker for this parliament as well. We can only hope that the member for Parkes is able to go as good a job in the Speaker's chair as he did horsetrading in the past.

He has been the Nationals' whip for the past three years in government. He was the Nationals' whip for three years prior to that, in opposition. For the better part of those past six years the member for Parkes and I have been seated together in this House. He has provided wise counsel. He was probably seated there to keep an eye on me! However, given that he knows my propensity to interject, I am sure I am going hear a bit from him in the future when he is sitting in your seat, Mr Speaker. Speaking of your seat, Mr Speaker, taking up his new seating arrangement is probably going to be one of the highlights of parliament for the member for Parkes, because we were complaining only this morning about how we have not really moved much in the seating arrangement since we have been here—two to the left every time. Now he gets to go to the front of the parliament and sit in the box seat, and that is certainly a move that was worth waiting for.

One thing that everyone will say about the member for Parkes is that he puts on a pretty good Christmas party. While it might be the Nationals' Christmas party, members from the Liberal Party, the Labor Party and Independents alike have all joined in the entertainment which the member for Parkes has arranged. I am not sure we will see any karaoke machines in the Deputy Speaker's office, though.

In all seriousness, the calm nature, grace and measured approach the member for Parkes has brought to parliament since his election in 2007 are welcome attributes in the Deputy Speaker. He is widely regarded as a voice of reason in the House. One of his favourite lines is: 'You get more done here with honey than with vinegar.' He is also a man of vision. He has long promoted the need for inland rail to open up for the future of this country—a passion of his before coming to this place. That dream that he has pursued is becoming a reality, with funding now available for preconstruction planning and for the purchasing of a corridor, and, hopefully, during his time as Deputy Speaker he will see that work commence.

The member for Parkes is not in this place to be a politician. He is here to represent his local region and to bring to parliament his strong belief in agriculture and the land in inland Australia. I have no doubt that the member for Parkes will carry out the role of Deputy Speaker with great professionalism. I wish him all the very best in discharging those duties.

Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is an honour to second the nomination of the member for Parkes, Mark Coulton, as Deputy Speaker of this House. We know that we all bring two things to any position we have: our experience and our character. The member for Parkes scores mightily well on both of these traits. With regard to character, he is widely respected on both sides of this House. He is a person of great integrity and someone I respect very much.

In relation to experience, he has been a member of this House for nine years. He has served in many capacities: as shadow minister, the National Party whip for six years—as the member for Dawson has just said—and he has been the chair, or the member, of many standing committees. He has been the chair of the Standing Committee on Publications and a member of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Appropriations and Administration. He has also been on the Standing Committee on Indigenous Affairs, the Joint Committee on the Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings, Standing Committee on Health and Ageing and many more.

Being the member for an electorate that spans nearly 400,000 square kilometres brings some unique skills. The role of Deputy Speaker, like the Speaker, very much sets the tone of this chamber. Given his sense of a fair go, his stability and his compassion for others, I know the member for Parkes would make a fine Deputy Speaker—one that would uphold and promote the importance of our democratic traditions and processes for the governance and future of this great nation. I commend the member for Parkes' nomination to the House.

Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That Mr R. G. Mitchell be elected Deputy Speaker of this House

Mr Speaker, I join the Leader of the Opposition, the deputy leader and the Leader of the House in congratulating you on your re-election to the chair of the House of Representatives. As referenced by the member for Watson when he spoke this morning, in a spirit of bipartisanship the opposition quite deliberately supported your election as Speaker. Your unanimous election came about because we valued the role you played as an independent Speaker in the 44th Parliament and wish to see it continue. It is in hope of that same spirit of bipartisanship and for those same reasons that I commend the member for McEwen as Deputy Speaker.

Like you, Mr Speaker, the member for McEwen is someone who has shown the ability and the experience to be even-handed, reasonable and capable of considering the other's point of view and argument. He is in fact the most experienced person in this House at presiding over the House's daily proceedings. This experience began during the 43rd Parliament, when the member for McEwen served on the Speaker's panel. He also served as deputy chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Regional Australia and as the deputy chair of the Joint Committee on the National Broadband Network. He is nominated because he genuinely believes in the institution of parliament, which we all serve, and because his passion for better parliamentary standards holds him in good stead for the position of Deputy Speaker, as does his sense of humour. The member for McEwen has been a valuable mentor to new members in this place, helping them to learn and understand proceedings and standing orders and giving generously of his time, encouragement and support to new members joining the Speaker's panel in the 44th Parliament.

I commend the member for McEwen into the House as someone in the mould of former Speaker Jenkins, who I think was adept at presiding over the House through goodwill and by earning the consent of members rather than through the use of the rule book. In this respect, I think that the member for McEwen has been demonstrated in his time presiding in this place to have the right qualities. He is liked by both sides of the House, is respectful of varying points of view and, as he has demonstrated in this place, is diligent in applying the standing orders objectively when the pressure is on.

I hope the House will put aside partisan politics and consider the member for McEwen for this position today. I commend him for this role, not as a criticism or because of any perceived shortcomings of the member for Parkes, whom I congratulate on being nominated. Like many here, I admire the member for Parkes, having been a teller with him for the 44th Parliament, and wish him well. I commend the member for McEwen because, like our current Speaker and unlike, perhaps, others in the past, he would come to this role not as compensation for dashed opportunities but as a willing servant of the parliament, committed to fairness and objective rulings in this, the people's House.

With the House's indulgence, in just one more reference to the Bard, today, I would proffer that the member for McEwen is our everyman, our Falstaff, in the people's House. It is in celebration of that and in recognition of those qualities that I urge the House to support this nomination

Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the nomination of the member for McEwen as Deputy Speaker. The opposition today has shown a tremendous display of bipartisanship in accepting the government's choice for Speaker unopposed. Will the government now reciprocate that approach and support the opposition's nominee for Deputy Speaker? Given that the member for McEwen is the most experienced person for this position, it should.

The member for McEwen has served in both the state and federal parliaments. In this place he has served on the Speaker's panel, been a government whip and served on several committees. In the 44th Parliament the member for McEwen served as the Second Deputy Speaker in the House of Representatives. The member for McEwen has always been a passionate advocate for improving parliamentary standards and the working of this place. He is well regarded by members on all sides for his level of professionalism and integrity and the impartial way in which he chairs. His commitment to the role cannot be questioned. The member for McEwen is aware of and understands the Australian people's view that parliamentary standards need to be improved. In working in this position as the Deputy Speaker alongside the member for Casey, the member for McEwen would maintain the dignity and respect of the chair that the 45th Parliament needs. His becoming Deputy Speaker would be in keeping with the view of the member for Sturt, who championed the view that the Deputy Speaker should be a member of the opposition. In this context, obviously, the Deputy Speaker should be the member for McEwen. We support that position put forward by the member for Sturt in the spirit of bipartisanship championed by the Prime Minister.

The member for McEwen and I are neighbours. I know how well respected and regarded he is across his electorate. The member for McEwen has vast experience in the chair and in representing his community. I wholeheartedly second the nomination.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time for motions has expired. The question is that the question be now put.

Question agreed to.

In accordance with standing order 11, the bells will be rung and a ballot taken.

The bells having been rung and a ballot having been taken—

Order! The result of the ballot is: Mr Coulton, 77 votes; Mr Mitchell, 71 votes. Mr Coulton is elected Deputy Speaker and Mr Mitchell shall be the Second Deputy Speaker.

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the government, I congratulate Mr Coulton on being elected Deputy Speaker. He stands in the boots of Bruce Scott, his predecessor, another National Party member and great farmer. As Deputy Speaker he will bring all of that wisdom and experience of the land to support you in your role, Mr Speaker, so we are delighted by his success in this ballot.

Our congratulations, too, to the Second Deputy Speaker, Rob Mitchell, the member for McEwen. I would say to the honourable member that his numbers might have been a bit better had the member for Bendigo not described him as the Labor Party's Falstaff. Of course, Falstaff—

Opposition members: Lalor!

I do beg your pardon—Lalor. Falstaff had almost none of the qualities required of a Speaker, so that may have undermined his candidacy. Nonetheless, we congratulate the member for McEwen on his election and look forward to him too supporting the Speaker in this House.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I congratulate the member for Parkes. I congratulate the member for McEwen.

Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

After that loquacious endorsement by the Leader of the Opposition, I would like to also add to the comments that the member for Parkes has had an exceptional career. He is seen as the person who has the capacity to reach out to both sides of the House. He is absolutely recommended and commended by his colleagues. I am sure he will do an exceptional job, and I put his success down to the marvellous speech given by the member for Dawson.

Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to start by congratulating the member for Parkes on the win that he has just had. There is a vacancy in my book of favourite Nationals, so I am hoping he will take over from his predecessor, Bruce Scott, who took over from Paul Neville. Of course, that will rely on you being a very good and unbiased Deputy Speaker. I have high hopes on that score.

I also want to congratulate the member for McEwen. Youse was robbed, Rob! We know you would have made a great Deputy Speaker, because you are a person with a very professional background who is deeply committed to his community and deeply committed to representing the people of McEwen in this place—a man who takes our democracy very seriously, but does not mind having a laugh with his friends too.

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As the Leader of the House, I join my colleagues in congratulating the member for Parkes and the member for McEwen on their selection as the Deputy Speaker and the Second Deputy Speaker. Obviously they are both very important roles, especially in a parliament where the numbers are much closer than in the previous parliament. I am pleased to see that the Labor Party has agreed to join the Speaker's panel as well, in order to have some of their members find out what it is like to be in the chair and be able to take part in those proceedings. It is a very important role, and I do look forward to the member for Parkes being in that role. He deserves to be the Deputy Speaker, and to follow in the footsteps of the member for Maranoa, with his experience of the House. The member for McEwen acquitted himself well in the Second Deputy Speaker role in the last parliament, and I am sure he will continue to do so into the future.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Congratulations to both the member for Parkes and the member for McEwen. Both of them are well regarded and well liked on all sides. This will be a parliament that tests people's patience on many occasions. I do not know why people nominate for that particular role. We very much wish them both well; they enjoy goodwill across the House.