Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland

Last updated

Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland
HonSpeakerCurtisPitt.jpg
Incumbent
Curtis Pitt
since 13 February 2018
Style The Honourable
AppointerElected by the Queensland Legislative Assembly
Formation22 May 1860
First holder Gilbert Eliott
Deputy Joe Kelly [1]
Salary AUD $287,035 (2015)

The speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland is elected by the members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly to preside over sittings of the Assembly and to maintain orderly proceedings. The Speaker must be a member of the Legislative Assembly. The position is currently held by Curtis Pitt, a former Treasurer of Queensland who was elected to the post on 13 February 2018. [2]

Contents

Election

The Legislative Assembly must choose a new Speaker when it meets following a general election. The member with the longest period of continuous service presides during the election, which is conducted by secret ballot. The Government party nominates one of its own to serve as Speaker, and that nominee is likely to win since the party typically has a majority of the seats. If the office of Speaker falls vacant, for whatever reason, the Assembly must immediately elect a replacement. The Speaker remains in office "for all purposes" following a dissolution of Parliament until the day before the first day of the new Parliament, even if the Speaker was not a candidate for re-election or lost re-election.

Role

As the chief presiding officer of the Legislative Assembly, the Speaker is expected to be impartial in chairing debates and ensuring orderly conduct in the Chamber. When in the chair, the Speaker may only vote in the case of a tie, i.e. a casting vote. Unlike Speakers in many other Westminster system parliaments, when the Deputy Speaker or another member is in the chair, the Speaker may participate in debates and cast a deliberative vote. This is especially important in hung parliaments.

The Speaker is responsible for issuing writs for state by-elections, warrants for parliamentary privilege offenders and bringing before the bar of the Parliament such offenders for rebuke or sentence. Among the office's ceremonial duties are representing the Legislative Assembly to the Crown (as by, for instance, presenting the Address in Reply to the Throne Speech) and to entities outside Parliament.

Administratively, the Speaker has control of the Parliamentary Service and is responsible for the Parliament's budget, services, and administration.

Deputies

"As soon as practicable" after first meeting, the House must choose a member to serve as Deputy Speaker and Chairperson of Committees; in recent practice, the Premier moves the appointment of the Deputy Speaker without debate or opposition as the first matter of business on the second day of the Parliament. As with the Speaker, the House must immediately fill a vacancy in the office. Like the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker remains in office after a dissolution of Parliament until the day before the next Parliament convenes even if the deputy speaker loses re-election or did not run for reelection.

The role of Deputy Speaker is created by the Standing Orders of the Legislative Assembly, and that of Chairperson of Committees by section 17(1) of the Parliament of Queensland Act 2001. As Deputy Speaker, the member takes the chair when the Speaker is absent or at his or her request. When the House resolves into a Committee of the Whole, the Chairperson must take the chair. The current Deputy Speaker is Joe Kelly.

The Speaker also appoints up to eight Temporary Speakers who take the chair in the absence or at the request of the Speaker or Deputy Speaker. The Speaker may also dismiss members of the panel of Temporary Speakers. When in the chair, Temporary Speakers are referred to as “Deputy Speaker”.

When the Speaker is absent for a sitting day, the Deputy Speaker acts as Speaker and chooses a Temporary Speaker to act as Deputy Speaker during the Speaker's absence. If the Speaker and Deputy Speaker are both absent, the House must choose a member to act as Speaker for that day. This occurred most recently during 2020 when Speaker Pitt and Deputy Speaker Stewart (both regional MPs unable to travel due to COVID-19 restrictions) were absent and Temporary Speaker Joe Kelly was chosen by the House to act in their stead.

List of Speakers

MemberElectoratePartyStart of termEnd of termNotes
Gilbert Eliott Wide Bay 22 May 186013 July 1870
Arthur Macalister Eastern Downs 15 November 187021 June 1871 Premier of Queensland (1866; 1866–1867; 1874–1876)
Frederick Forbes West Moreton 7 November 18711 September 1873
William Henry Walsh Warrego 6 January 187420 July 1876
Henry Edward King Ravenswood/Maryborough 25 July 187626 July 1883
William Henry Groom Drayton and Toowoomba Protectionist7 November 18834 April 1888
Albert Norton Port Curtis Conservative/Ministerialist12 June 18885 April 1893
Alfred Cowley Herbert Ministerialist25 May 189315 February 1899
Arthur Morgan Warwick Ministerialist16 May 189915 September 1903 Premier of Queensland (1903–1906); President of the Queensland Legislative Council
Alfred Cowley Herbert Conservative17 September 190311 April 1907
John Leahy Bulloo Conservative23 July 190720 January 1909
Joshua Thomas Bell Dalby Kidston/Ministerialist29 June 190910 March 1911Died in office
William Drayton Armstrong Lockyer Ministerialist/Liberal11 July 191115 April 1915
William McCormack Cairns Labor12 July 19159 September 1919 Premier (1925–1929)
William Lennon Herbert Labor9 September 19199 January 1920Became Lieutenant-Governor of Queensland; President of the Queensland Legislative Council
William Bertram Maree Labor9 January 192011 May 1929
Charles Taylor Windsor CPNP20 August 192911 June 1932
George Pollock Gregory Labor15 August 193224 March 1939Died in office
Edward Joseph Hanson Buranda Labor8 August 193931 July 1944
Samuel Brassington Fortitude Valley Labor1 August 19444 October 1950Died in office
Johnno Mann Brisbane Labor10 October 19503 July 1957
Alan Fletcher Cunningham Country27 August 195715 June 1960
David Nicholson Murrumba Country23 August 196025 May 1972Longest-serving Speaker
Bill Longeran Flinders Country/National2 August 197228 October 1974
Jim Houghton Redcliffe National29 October 19744 July 1979
Selwyn Muller Fassifern National8 August 197917 October 1983
John Warner Toowoomba South National22 November 19831 November 1986
Kev Lingard Fassifern National17 February 198724 November 1987
Lin Powell Isis National/Independent (after 3 May 1989) [3] 2 December 19875 July 1989
Kev Lingard Fassifern National5 July 19892 November 1989
Jim Fouras Ashgrove Labor27 February 19902 April 1996
Neil Turner Nicklin National 2 April 199613 June 1998
Ray Hollis Redcliffe Labor28 July 199821 July 2005
Tony McGrady Mount Isa Labor9 August 20059 October 2006
Mike Reynolds Townsville Labor 10 October 200621 April 2009
John Mickel Logan Labor21 April 200914 May 2012
Fiona Simpson Maroochydore Liberal National15 May 201224 March 2015First female Speaker
Peter Wellington Nicklin Independent24 March 201525 November 2017First Independent Speaker since 1883
Curtis Pitt Mulgrave Labor13 February 2018 Treasurer of Queensland (2015–2017)
Joe Kelly Greenslopes Labor16 May 202312 September 2023Acting Speaker

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References

  1. "FIRST SESSION OF THE FIFTY-SIXTH PARLIAMENT, Thursday, 15 February 2018" (PDF). Queensland Parliament. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 February 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  2. Caldwell, Felicity (13 February 2018). "Dumped Labor treasurer Curtis Pitt elected Speaker despite LNP protest". Brisbane Times. Archived from the original on 17 February 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  3. https://documents.parliament.qld.gov.au/hansard/Index_BV/1987_1989index.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]

Sources