Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm proud to move:

That Ms Claydon be elected Deputy Speaker of this House.

Every one of us who was in this chamber in the last parliament knows that the member for Newcastle runs a tight ship when she sits as Deputy Speaker in the Speaker's chair. We know that she's going to listen carefully to both the person who is speaking and the interjectors. We know that she's going to be thoughtful in her remarks. At times they express warmth or empathy for the MP who has just spoken or the issues they've spoken about, and at other times they remind the previous speaker that she is not, in fact, Mr Speaker. We know that she is not going to put up with anything outside the rules of this place. When sternness is required, it is employed efficiently and effectively by the member for Newcastle.

In her role as Deputy Speaker, I have witnessed the member for Newcastle's confidence and authority in this chamber grow. When I look back at the words expressed here three years ago by those who nominated and congratulated her, the consistent themes were her diligence, a strong work ethic, a smart and principled person, and a commitment to serve this parliament. These qualities were all in evidence in the 47th Parliament. To that praise, I would add that the member for Newcastle is an absolute pleasure to work with, an excellent confidante with whom to work through complex issues and terrific company, particularly on a visit to meet with the Tibetan government in exile and the Dalai Lama.

While the member for Newcastle has diligently served the parliament, I have also had the privilege of seeing her in her community. As Special Envoy for the Arts, I visited her thriving arts community to learn about the wonderful visual arts and performing arts on offer and to hear how they can be even better supported. Like me, the member for Newcastle appreciates the richness and joy that the arts bring to our lives.

I want to end this nomination with the words spoken by the late Peta Murphy, who wisely nominated the member for Newcastle for her Deputy Speaker role three years ago. Peta said:

She embodies the qualities that are required not just to preside over but to enhance proceedings in this chamber, and she has the experience, commitment and work ethic to play an important role in ensuring that we bring in the reforms necessary to address the cultural problems that we know exist across this institution.

The member for Newcastle is a very worthy nominee for Deputy Speaker of this House.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a true pleasure for me to second the nomination of my friend the member for Newcastle as our deputy speaker. The member for Newcastle and I were both elected to this place in the 2013 election, an election which produced a parliament which, I must say, looked very different from the chamber before us here today. I don't want to make you feel old, but, in the 12 years since then, 60 per cent of the class of 2013 has already left this place, and those of us who were elected in that year have now been here for twice as long as the median MP, which is to say that the last 12 years have been a tumultuous time in this place—a tumultuous time to serve.

But, through this period, the member for Newcastle has become an MP held in the highest regard across the chamber. She is the kind of parliamentarian that you measure yourself against; the kind of MP that you feel proud to serve in this place with; and the kind of friend that you go to for advice on the most difficult issues, including, on one occasion when we were both serving on the inquiry into social media, trying to work out how to manage Craig Kelly on that committee.

I would say to the new members in this place that you'd do well to follow the example of the member for Newcastle as you begin your time in this place. But, in saying this, I know it's ironic, because new MPs are perhaps the worst placed in this chamber to understand the impact that the member for Newcastle has had on the work of this parliament. I said earlier that this chamber looks very different than it did in 2013, and I should say also that it feels like a very different place to work in than it did back then. There have been days over the past decade when, frankly, I've finished the day as an MP in this building feeling that I need a shower, or have gotten to the end of a sitting week desperate to get back home to my community to feel like a human being again.

The member for Newcastle has played a central role in the processes of change that have helped bring the norms and the values of modern Australia into this place. New members will take much of this for granted, but it wouldn't have happened without the work led by people like the member for Newcastle. We still have work to do in this regard in this chamber, but, if we want to continue the job, there is no-one better to have as our Deputy Speaker than the member for Newcastle. A jillaroo, a camp cook and an anthropologist before coming to this chamber, she's been uniquely suited to doing the hard work necessary to drive cultural change in this place. Since 2013 the member for Newcastle has been in all of the rooms with the hard labour needed to do the work necessary to make sure this place's work is done. Outside of the public eye, she's always put her hand up for the hard job. She's been on the Speaker's panel since 2015 and has been Deputy Speaker since 2022, as well as being a member of the privileges and members' interests committee.

As chair of the Joint Select Committee on Parliamentary Standards, she led the inquiry that produced the first cross-party code of conduct for MPs and staff that was endorsed by this House in February 2023. I know that all members of parliament, from across the chamber, who worked with her during this process know the inclusiveness, the judgement and the diligence that the member for Newcastle displayed during this process. It's no small feat that, on an issue that was so vexing for successive parliaments that they had failed to address it for 50 years, a consensus report was delivered through a committee that the member for Newcastle chaired, with 16 recommendations that were endorsed by all parties and Independents in this chamber. She's left a legacy that will improve this place for generations of parliamentarians to come and will improve the ability of this place to deliver for all Australians who elected us to this place.

I want to note that the member for Newcastle has also been a powerful example of how every member can use this institution to deliver real action for people in our community who need it the most. As deputy chair of the Joint Select Committee on Implementation of the National Redress Scheme, her tireless work helped give a voice and deliver a measure of justice to some Australians who deserved it the most. And in everything she's done as an MP she's done it in a way that's strengthened rather than undermined this institution. She understands that this institution does not exist for all of us but we exist as stewards of this institution for those who follow and for the Australian people. In everything she's done in this place she's acted in a way that has left the institutions of our parliament and our democracy in a better condition for everyone who followed and the Australian public.

So, with the greatest respect to the Speaker, and as a forewarning to all new members, the member for Newcastle is not 'Mr Speaker'. Instead, she is the best Deputy Speaker that any of us could imagine, and I'm proud to nominate her for the role.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is there any further proposal?

Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the member for Longman be elected Deputy Speaker of this House.

The make-up of the Australian parliament should be a microcosm of the broader Australian community. Only 1,276 people have ever served in this place. Since 1901, there have been people of different colours, ethnicities and backgrounds. There's a common misconception that the vast bulk of people who have served and continue to serve here are former professionals—doctors, lawyers, bankers and the like. The member for Longman does not fit that mould. The member for Longman does not have a series of letters after his name like many people in this place. He never went to university. In fact, he left Dakabin State High School at age 15 with the intention of starting a motor mechanics apprenticeship. But the member for Longman has much more than a degree or two to his name.

He's a man of the utmost integrity. He is a man of principle and honour. He is a man that has deep roots within the community that he serves. The member for Longman would make a fine deputy speaker. You cannot learn the concept of integrity, honour and loyalty. These are qualities that one possesses or strives to possess, or they don't. The member for Longman, from humble beginnings, worked as a petrol station attendant. He then moved into retail, selling power tools and equipment, and then into household appliances. He then went on to own his own Good Guys franchise in Morayfield and later to combine his love for business and his passion for golf when he owned and operated his own Drummond Golf franchise shops.

I dare say that the member for Longman has employed more people than have many of us in this chamber put together. He deeply understands the trials and tribulations of what it is like to try and run a profitable business in this country, with its ever-increasing and crushing industrial relations complexities and other government red tape. When the member for Longman speaks, his coalition colleagues listen. He is a wealth of knowledge on small business and industrial relations.

At the church service this morning, the Vicar-General of the Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn, the Very Reverend Richard Thompson, preached in his sermon about the importance of listening as leaders. As you would know, Mr Speaker, the Deputy Speaker does a lot of listening. It is somewhat curious, therefore, that the tradition calls these roles 'the Speaker' and 'the Deputy Speaker', for they involve a lot more listening than they do speaking, but this is where the member for Longman's qualities would shine through.

Since being elected in 2019, the member for Longman has served with integrity on key parliamentary committees and is already a valued member of the Speaker's panel. He's proven himself to be a fair, respectful and impartial member, able to work across the aisle. I have no doubt he will keep the chamber in good order in your absence, Mr Speaker. As a family man with strong ties to faith and community, he brings a real sense of compassion to his work and is always focused on doing what's right for the people he serves. His values and sense of personal responsibility inform everything he does, including his deep respect for this institution as the bulwark of our democracy.

The member for Longman is humble, hardworking, passionate, consistent and deeply respected across this chamber. The member for Longman brings real-world perspective to this role. As someone who speaks plainly, listens carefully and treats others with decency, he will approach the Deputy Speaker's chair with the same calm, measured approach that has defined his service to date and would complement the fine work that you have done, Mr Speaker. In a chamber that needs more common sense and civility, the member for Longman is the right man at the right time and—if you'll pardon the pun—he is a good man.

It is with great confidence and deep respect that I nominate the member for Longman to serve as the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Henry Pike (Bowman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Congratulations, Mr Speaker, on your re-election. I'm proud to second the nomination of the member for Longman for the role of Deputy Speaker. The member for Longman is not a career politician. He didn't grow up dreaming of sitting in this place. When he left school at 15 with just a junior certificate, this was probably the last place he thought he would ever end up. His has been the kind of journey that reflects the best traditions of our country. It demonstrates that Australia still offers wealth for toil. He has proven that through your own effort you can not only improve your own circumstances but enrich the lives of your whole community.

The member for Longman has lived the real pressures that many Australians face—the pressure of running a small business, the pressure of raising kids while trying to make ends meet, the pressure of taking the big risks and knowing that so many rely on your success and leadership. The member for Longman is a man without ego or pretension. He's a hardworking, humble representative who serves his community with quiet integrity. He believes in doing his bit and leaving things better than he found them. He's not interested in spin. He doesn't speak in political cliches. He speaks plainly and he listens properly. These characteristics are why he has become a true mate of many of us on both sides of this House. He's not chasing headlines or pats on the back. He just gets on with the job. That's the kind of approach that we need and that Australians want to see in senior roles in this chamber—steady, decent and focused on what matters.

I want to draw the attention of members to the fact that the member for Longman's great-grandfather was a South Sea Islander, one of thousands who were blackbirded, as it was known at the time, from their homeland to labour in cane fields in Queensland and northern New South Wales. One of the first acts of this parliament in 1901 was to try to facilitate the mass deportation of these individuals, despite many having lived in Australia for decades. The fact that a descendant of one of those brought to our shores as a slave a few generations ago sits in this House with us and can aspire to a presiding office in this House should be a source of great pride to all of us. It reflects a nation that hasn't forgotten its past but refuses to let it limit its potential or the potential of its citizens.

The member for Longman has served on the Speaker's panel and knows how to perform the functions of the role with fairness, authority, good sense and good humour. The role of Deputy Speaker is more than knowing standing orders and procedures; it's about setting a tone—a tone of fairness, respect and decency. The member for Longman sets that tone. He reflects the best of the humble, hardworking, everyday Australian. He's a worker, a business owner, a loyal friend, a dedicated family man. I am proud to serve with him in this parliament and I'm proud to second this nomination for Deputy Speaker.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time for proposals has expired. The bells will be rung, and, in accordance with standing order 11, a ballot will take place.

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

The result of the ballot is: Ms Claydon, 98 votes; Mr Young, 47 votes. Ms Claydon is elected Deputy Speaker and Mr Young shall be the Second Deputy Speaker.