By Jesse Graham
CASEY MP Tony Smith will sit in the Parliamentary Speaker’s chair until 2019, after being re-elected to the role unopposed late last month.
On Tuesday 30 August, the first sitting day of the new Parliament, Mr Smith was re-appointed to the role of Speaker of the House of Representatives in Canberra.
He was nominated for the role by Deakin MP Michael Sukkar, and seconded by Robertson MP Lucy Wicks and was escorted to the chair after no other nominations were put forward.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull congratulated Mr Smith on his “re-elevation” to the role, after being elected as speaker last year.
“You have conducted this vitally important office with elegance, intellect, dignity, charm and impartiality,” he said.
“This is a very robust chamber, as we all know, and sometimes in question time even people that are naturally very reasonable will become unreasonable and even intemperate.
“But you, sir, have risen above that, and you project a calm that reflects so well on our house and so well on our democracy.”
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, Deputy Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek and Leader of the House Christopher Pyne all gave congratulations speeches to Mr Smith.
He told the Mail that he was still “first and foremost” the member for the Casey electorate and would continue to travel back and forth between his home in the area and Parliament.
“Unlike speakers overseas, I don’t live in the Parliament,” he said.
“As a local member, I’m really acting the same as a backbench Member of Parliament in pretty much every respect – if I was a minister, I’d be needing to travel right around the country to each state a lot more.
“My ability to advocate on behalf of the electorate is just as strong as it’s always been.”
It was an interesting first week of Parliament for Mr Smith as Speaker, with the Coalition losing votes on in the House of Representatives on Thursday 1 September after ministers left for the day, leaving Labor with a majority on the floor.
A Coalition MP, Mr Smith used his casting vote as speaker to allow debate to continue – which he said comes from tradition.
“There are various principles that have been established throughout history on how a Speaker should use a casting vote … and the principle in a tied vote, if it’s tied, there’s obviously not a majority to shut down debate,” he said.
“The Speaker should use their vote to allow debate to continue – that’s what I did.”
He said legislation to protect emergency services workers, proposed by Mr Turnbull in regards to the CFA and the Victorian Government’s EBA dispute, was introduced to Parliament on 31 August.
