Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport and Local Government) Share 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.

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