Hats off for Speaker Tony Smith, about to retire

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Best Speaker of his generation?

I cannot recall a better one.

The much maligned Slipper was a better one who really understood the responsibility of the role from day one. Smith had to serve an apprenticeship.

Wouldn't mind seeing his record on 94a expulsions compared to the old vinegar titted, bag Bishop.
 

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So who would be a good replacement?

What's it matter? The gutless wonder Morrison will cancel sitting days and shut down debate when they do happen to sit. The torch is on him big time and the less scrutiny in Parliament means he can't be exposed.

Perhaps a Mista Speekah who works from home, Mista Speekah.
 
He left because he could not stand being aligned with campaigners like Morrison, so that falls in his favour.
At least one Lib had a smidgen of character and conviction.

And then....there were none.

s**t stains all the way down now.
 

Christopher Buttersnip

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Constitutionally The Speaker is supposed to "act independently and exercise authority impartially" Smith came as close to that as anyone in recent times. As distinct from Bronwyn Bishop who was a blatant political fraud in that role. As a minister too, come to think of it.
 
Constitutionally The Speaker is supposed to "act independently and exercise authority impartially" Smith came as close to that as anyone in recent times. As distinct from Bronwyn Bishop who was a blatant political fraud in that role. As a minister too, come to think of it.

the shockers (IMO, and in my time):
Bishop
McLeay
Andrew


the good ones (again IMO):
Smith
Sinclair
Burke
Jenkins
Sneddon

to be fair, its often down to the party. many have struggled to have the faith in the role to appoint someone who will act with genuine impartiality
 

kalex6251

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for all those banging on about how great smith was as speaker .... lets not forget this uncomfortable truth
both smith and ryan have questions to answer .... stop cuddling up to these criminal lnp a#$hats and do your friggen job australian media
 
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Christopher Buttersnip

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for all those banging on about how great smith was as speaker .... lets not forget this uncomfortable truth
both smith and ryan have questions to answer .... stop cuddling up to these criminal lnp a#$hats and do your friggen job australian media
You make a good point. Both The Speaker and President of the Senate as the Parliament's Presiding Officers were found wanting on that matter. It rightly reflects very poorly on both of them when viewing their full roles.

Still think it's reasonable to give Smith a tick for the politically impartial way he presided over the House's proceedings. Even the annotated version of The Constitution says "independence is difficult" due to The Speaker being a government party member.

Perhaps his reputation is enhanced because he followed Bishop who dishonoured the role.
 
Nobody should laud the speaker of the Parliament when that Parliament shat all over democracy in a 100 different ways.
Smith was no more than an LNP shill who 999 times out of 1000 shilled for the LNP.
That he 1 time out of 1000 didn't shill for the LNP isn't cause for celebration.
 

Northalives

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Nobody should laud the speaker of the Parliament when that Parliament shat all over democracy in a 100 different ways.
Smith was no more than an LNP shill who 999 times out of 1000 shilled for the LNP.
That he 1 time out of 1000 didn't shill for the LNP isn't cause for celebration.
Bravo, well said!
 

Christopher Buttersnip

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Nobody should laud the speaker of the Parliament when that Parliament shat all over democracy in a 100 different ways.
Smith was no more than an LNP shill who 999 times out of 1000 shilled for the LNP.
That he 1 time out of 1000 didn't shill for the LNP isn't cause for celebration.
I would be in line with your politics on most matters but not here. I'm in line with the notes to the relevant section of The Constitution prepared by Prof Saunders where she said:

"The Speaker usually is a member of the government party and is elected to the office of Speaker with the support of that party. Independence is difficult in these circumstances and varies between different Speakers over time"

Smith has been one of the more even-handed ones when it comes to handling contentious issues. He's sat Pyne and Dutton on their tales many a time.

Perhaps if the Coalition elects the oxygen thief Kevin Andrews as Speaker as some sort of parting gift you'll see any form of even-handedness vanish and wish Smith had hung in there.
 
I would be in line with your politics on most matters but not here. I'm in line with the notes to the relevant section of The Constitution prepared by Prof Saunders where she said:

"The Speaker usually is a member of the government party and is elected to the office of Speaker with the support of that party. Independence is difficult in these circumstances and varies between different Speakers over time"

Smith has been one of the more even-handed ones when it comes to handling contentious issues. He's sat Pyne and Dutton on their tales many a time.

Perhaps if the Coalition elects the oxygen thief Kevin Andrews as Speaker as some sort of parting gift you'll see any form of even-handedness vanish and wish Smith had hung in there.

Do you think the LNP have trashed our democracy with some of their antics in the House?
If the answer is yes then does the speaker hold any responsibility for that?
 

Christopher Buttersnip

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Do you think the LNP have trashed our democracy with some of their antics in the House?
If the answer is yes then does the speaker hold any responsibility for that?
The role is of The Speaker is fundamentally to moderate the behaviour of MPs and ensure the Standing Orders are followed. He/She can do very little if the numbers allow a party to trample on fairness and take restrictive actions such as terminating Question Time, members speaking time, crashing through legislation, reducing the hours' et al. Providing they are within the Standing Orders.

I'm not saying Smith was flawless by any means, merely that comparatively speaking he was an improvement on most and there is no comparison with Bishop who took the role into the sewer, letting the government trample all over parliamentary norms. Her blatant bias was beyond belief. The following is her record of expelling MPs.

X4ZBoTi.jpg


Think Smith is the only Speaker to absent himself from Party Room meetings too. Certainly in recent times.
 

Christopher Buttersnip

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Absolute horror of a Speaker. Will forever be known as the speaker who allowed the Government to silence accountability.

The replacement? Kevin Andrews.
Andrews would be Bishop revisited. He's the dirtbag who trampled on the rights of a duly elected government when he successfully went about overthrowing the NT legislation on Voluntary Euthanasia. Another rightist religious zealot in The Speakers chair would be just another reason to kick out this rotten to the core government.
 
The role is of The Speaker is fundamentally to moderate the behaviour of MPs and ensure the Standing Orders are followed. He/She can do very little if the numbers allow a party to trample on fairness and take restrictive actions such as terminating Question Time, members speaking time, crashing through legislation, reducing the hours' et al. Providing they are within the Standing Orders.

I'm not saying Smith was flawless by any means, merely that comparatively speaking he was an improvement on most and there is no comparison with Bishop who took the role into the sewer, letting the government trample all over parliamentary norms. Her blatant bias was beyond belief. The following is her record of expelling MPs.

X4ZBoTi.jpg


Think Smith is the only Speaker to absent himself from Party Room meetings too. Certainly in recent times.


In the last sitting week Tony Burke quoted how 'the member no longer be heard' rule was intended to apply.
As Speaker, Smith could have called bullshit at any time in the 100 times that the LNP have used that rule to silence debate.
 

Christopher Buttersnip

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In the last sitting week Tony Burke quoted how 'the member no longer be heard' rule was intended to apply.
As Speaker, Smith could have called bullshit at any time in the 100 times that the LNP have used that rule to silence debate.
Didn't hear what Burke said, and I wouldn't take a great deal of notice of him relating to Standing Orders anyway. I repeat, IMO Smith was better than most, that doesn't mean flawless.

I have it on good authority that his premature departure was due to Potato Head and his rightists causing him so much discomfort he took the line of least resistance and resigned. Apparently, they weren't satisfied that he'd toed the party line Bronny-style.
 
Didn't hear what Burke said, and I wouldn't take a great deal of notice of him relating to Standing Orders anyway. I repeat, IMO Smith was better than most, that doesn't mean flawless.

I have it on good authority that his premature departure was due to Potato Head and his rightists causing him so much discomfort he took the line of least resistance and resigned. Apparently, they weren't satisfied that he'd toed the party line Bronny-style.

In what other parliamentary term has the motion 'the member no longer be heard' been used 100 times?
 

Christopher Buttersnip

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In what other parliamentary term has the motion 'the member no longer be heard' been used 100 times?
You keep repeating the same question while ignoring my comments. As I've said, you've based the number solely on what you say Burke claimed and I've told you he's well down my list of reliable pollies. In fact, I think he's one of the poorer Managers of Opposition Business.

And you just overlook Smith's plusses such as him absenting himself from the Liberal party room, the number of times Bishop evicted Labor MPs compared to her peeps, and the Liberals themselves being displeased with him causing him sufficient discomfort to leave the position. I'll add another you can pass over which is Bishop had the rare "privilege" of having Labor introduce two No Confidence motions in her Speakership. Smith had none.

Once again I say, he wasn't flawless just comparatively better than most and light-years ahead of the divisive extreme bias of Bishop.

The discussion has become circular. You see it differently. So be it.
 
You keep repeating the same question while ignoring my comments. As I've said, you've based the number solely on what you say Burke claimed and I've told you he's well down my list of reliable pollies. In fact, I think he's one of the poorer Managers of Opposition Business.

And you just overlook Smith's plusses such as him absenting himself from the Liberal party room, the number of times Bishop evicted Labor MPs compared to her peeps, and the Liberals themselves being displeased with him causing him sufficient discomfort to leave the position. I'll add another you can pass over which is Bishop had the rare "privilege" of having Labor introduce two No Confidence motions in her Speakership. Smith had none.

Once again I say, he wasn't flawless just comparatively better than most and light-years ahead of the divisive extreme bias of Bishop.

The discussion has become circular. You see it differently. So be it.

That's not what I said, at all.
The number doesn't come from Burke.
Someone did a tik-tok video of all the times it has been used.




The Burke reference was Burke outlining what Deakin said about when/how "the member no longer be heard" should apply. Very rarely/almost never or words to that effect.
In one of the instances of that tik-tok video of the LNP using 'the member be no longer heard' you can see Smith smiling like a Cheshire Cat.

I never said it was a question of being flawless.
Absenting himself from the party room doesn't change his job as Speaker.
 

kalex6251

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scott ryan appointed high commissioner to canada ..... unf$%king believable
for all those banging on about how great smith was as speaker .... lets not forget this uncomfortable truth
both smith and ryan have questions to answer .... stop cuddling up to these criminal lnp a#$hats and do your friggen job australian media
 

Jascave

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Tony Smith made Parliament Question Time worth watching again..even during days of lockdown here in Victoria.

How would Smith as Speaker deal with Paul Keating in QT while Keating was Treasurer or PM?
 
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