Recent events leading up to resignation of the Speaker Bronwyn Bishop give us the opportunity to look at the role of the Speaker under the Westminster System.

The Speaker is the principal officeholder of the House of Representatives, the House cannot run without a Speaker to direct proceedings and adjudicate.

Section 35 of the Constitution outlines the election of the Speaker:

The House of Representatives shall, before proceeding to the despatch of any other business, choose a Member to be the Speaker of the House, and as often as the office of Speaker becomes vacant the House shall again choose a Member to be the Speaker.

The Speaker shall cease to hold his office if he ceases to be a Member. He may be removed from office by a vote of the House, or he may resign his office or his seat by writing addressed to the Governor-General.

The Speaker cannot be sacked from their position, but if it becomes clear that they would lose a vote of the House, they may decide to resign.

Section 36 of the Constitution really drives home the importance of the Speaker in the House by stipulating that in the absence of the Speaker someone else must perform these duties. The House cannot run without a Speaker:

Before or during any absence of the Speaker, the House of Representatives may choose a Member to perform his duties in his absence.

Along with these rules set out in the Constitution there are also conventions (unwritten rules) on how the Speaker conducts themselves in the role. The House of Representatives Standing Orders as of March 2015 state:

The Speaker shall have regard to previous rulings of Speakers of the House and to established practices of the House.

Convention dictates that the Speaker allow all Members of the Parliament to be heard and express their opinion, and that the Speaker not enter into the issue of the debate. The Speaker adjudicates as an impartial umpire of the debate so that everyone’s opinion can supposedly be heard. But how is it that a Speaker, who is the Member of the governing political party, is to remain politically independent?

So the speaker adjudicates in the house, but is there anything else they do?

Along with the running of Parliament while it is sitting the Speaker also performs the following duties:

• Receives and sends official communication for the House
• Receives delegations from other Parliaments and special visitors
• Jointly administers the operation of Parliament House with the president of the Senate for the Department of Parliamentary Services
• Is basically the Minister for the Department of the House of Representatives
• Is the Chair of the Joint Committee on the Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings of the House Committee and the Selection Committee
• Is responsible for the issue of writs in the case of a by-election

Speakers in Australia

We have had a total of 31 Speakers since federation in 1901. The first Speaker of the House, Fredrick Holder was elected on the 9^th May 1901 and held the position for nearly eight years and three months. This was one of the most turbulent times in Australia’s political history, in the eight years after federation we had five different Prime Ministers (and one of these PM’s was in and out of the position three times). However the Speaker remained in the role throughout.

The longest office holder for Speaker of the House was John McLeay who was elected to the position in 1956 and held the role for nearly ten and a half years. The shortest office holder was Ian Sinclair who held the position for just over eight months. The most recent Speaker, Bronwyn Bishop held the Speakership for the one year, eight months and 21 days making her tenure the seventh shortest since federation.

History of the Speaker under Westminster

The history of the Speaker under the Westminster Parliamentary system goes back as far as the 14^th Century. By this time people were referring to the permanent Parliament in England as the House of Commons as the representatives were elected by a larger group of voters (not just the Barons, Lords etc). As the Parliament grew larger, there was a need for a Speaker to run the sessions and then meet with the King to represent the views of the Parliament.

The Speakership was somewhat of an unenviable position as it was central to the conflict between Parliament and the Monarch. Throughout the centuries many Speakers were executed, murdered in violent ways and imprisoned.

What happens in other countries?

In the House of Commons in the UK the Speaker abandons all party loyalties and becomes completely impartial. As such Speakers rarely leave their position if the Government changes at an election. The Speaker is generally unopposed by the opposite major party for their seat in an election.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives in the United States, also stipulated in their Constitution, is unlike Westminster systems where the position is supposed to be impartial. Elected to the position by the House, the Speaker works with the majority Government to ensure that his or her party’s agenda is prosecuted and is often one of the most vocal supporters of their party policies.

How is a Speaker chosen for the House?

In Australia, the House of Representatives Standing Orders outlines the process of the election of a Speaker which we see in action on Monday 10 August. The process is as follows:

• The Clerk of the House will act as the chair for the election
• The chair will invite nominations for the Speakership
• A Member will nominate another Member of the House for the role
• This nomination must be seconded
• If there is only one nominee then the Chair will declare the Member to have been elected to the Speakership

In the unlikely event that there is more than one nominee then each of the nominees is given five minutes to speak to the House, and:

• A secret ballot is taken
• The winner must have a clear majority of votes to receive the Speakership
• If there is an equal number of votes there are more provisions for further debate and special ballots.

The successful Member is then taken to the chair by the proposer and the seconder of their nomination, they acknowledge the honour of the position and receive congratulations.

The future

In arguably the most important role in the House of Representatives, the Speaker is in a very visible position with the public. It is imperative that the Speaker conduct themselves with high levels of integrity and follow the written rules of the Constitution and the Standing Orders, along with the unwritten conventions that have been established over centuries.

In recent years we have seen a few Speakers quit, not due to their role as Speaker, but because of some scandal in their Parliamentary career. It could be said that the Opposition parties have had to find extenuating circumstances to force a Speaker they can’t work with to quit.

Perhaps there could be a more bi-partisan approach to the appointment of the Speaker, so that the person chosen is able to work productively with all Members of Parliament. Or maybe the Speaker should be subject to more rigorous checks and balances before taking the role.

Let us know what you think!

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