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

Mr Speaker, this is a bittersweet moment. The respect and affection in which you are held on both sides of the House is as rare as it is earned, and with good reason. Some decisions made in this place fall into what Gareth Evans once called the 'streaker's defence'—in other words, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Your election unopposed as Speaker, though, was a good idea that has looked even better over time, which is why you've achieved that honour three times.

You have not so much redefined the role as restored it. As you put it that day, once you'd settled into that very high chair:

I make that point because often people say parliament shouldn't be robust. It should but it need not be rude and it need not be loud. That is something I would like to see improve.

And then you said something that encapsulated your approach. You said:

I cannot do that, but together we all can.

A good Speaker is a bit like a good ref: you don't want to watch them; you want to watch the play. And you have been an outstanding Speaker. Like other leadership positions, the role of Speaker is to bring parliament together, rather than divide it. You followed a divisive Speaker—that's the truth—which only made your determination to lift the standard of the parliament even more important, and unity is always better than division. Whoever follows you will have a difficult task because of the quality of your performance.

The job of Speaker is a demanding one. The first speaker, Frederick Holder, actually died in the chamber, making an exit worthy of Heart of Darkness as he uttered his final words, 'Dreadful, dreadful.' The Canberra Times called it Australia's shortest prominent political speech. So there are worse ways to leave than the way that you are, Mr Speaker!

Your title may be 'Speaker', but you have been a careful listener. You have weighed up what is before you with great care and thought, with dry humour, with wisdom and, importantly, with authority. You are, in the best sense of the word, a parliamentarian. I believe that's an honourable title. Not everyone who is elected to this place does love the parliament. Your love for Australia is expressed by that love for this parliament. You understand how at its best it represents the aspirations of Australians. You've always sought to ensure that it turns those aspirations into reality as best it can—a parliament that debates, a parliament that legislates, a parliament that gets things done, because that is our best way of bringing about positive, lasting change in this country.

I've always thought that a good Speaker helps the government of the day, because it's about order and about getting things done, and that helps the government of the day. So it is an irony, I think, that partisanship actually hurts the government of the day, and I think in all of your decisions, Mr Speaker—most of which I've agreed with, but 100 per cent of which I have understood—there has never been any question whatsoever that you have taken those decisions with integrity and without partisanship. It is to your great credit, Mr Speaker, that you have done that, because it is a hard thing to do. You believe in the Westminster system that we inherited and made into something that is truly ours.

We can't take for granted our democracy, our voting rights, our universal suffrage. Whole parts of the world do not enjoy what we enjoy in this country—the fact that we'll have an election, like we have them, which will determine the way forward. We have one vote, one value. It's precious. It must be strengthened and protected, and a core part of that is respect, not to treat it as an imposition on the people but to cherish it as one of the greatest means we have of achieving our full potential as a nation.

It's worth turning back to 13 February 2002, to your first speech in parliament. You said:

We will have differences about the best means to tackle the inevitable problems which all parliaments confront, but we should have no difference at all on the proposition that, in our short history, Australians have created a truly special nation that is the envy of the world.

That's an important idea. While we have our differences, it is important to find our common points and to make more of them. There's so much that happens here more quietly: the cooperation, the shared desire to find a better way. You were determined that, in spite of a pandemic, this parliament would meet, and the respective leaders of the House and the Manager of Opposition Business cooperated with you to make sure that that was able to occur. Not all parliaments around the world met. Some of them shut down, including here in Australia, for longer than is healthy in a democracy, in my view. You were determined to make sure that it happened.

That spirit isn't just contained within the walls of this building but is spread throughout every electorate across our continent. Throughout it all, you have kept your feet on the ground, as befits a Carlton supporter. A few months after you became Speaker, you reminisced about what it was like being a humble MP at the other end of the boot, and I hope you don't have to revisit this. As you put it: 'I hope Mum does not mind me saying this, but she used to get terribly upset when I got kicked out. She'd ring me up and tell me off.' I only hope the phone calls got better after that! You never wanted to be a conspicuous Speaker, but your absence from the chair will be felt very keenly. I must say the only positive thing that I thought when you informed me of the decision that you were about to announce was, 'Oh, well, we'll have a crack now at your seat,' because I am sure that we would never have beaten you in that electorate because of the regard in which you have been held.

I thank you as well, Mr Speaker, for visiting my electorate, including Birchgrove Public School to talk to the students there with me in a friendly way so that those students walked away from that day thinking, 'Hey, people from different sides of the fence can get on and can talk about our democracy and our processes.' You were very welcome and you will always be welcome in my electorate or, indeed, in my home as a friend. Whoever follows you will have considerable shoes to fill. They will feel the expectations of the Australian people to uphold the standing orders and to act in the interests of the whole parliament and all it represents, just as you have done. So, on behalf of all of us on this side of the House, thank you.

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