Speaker Needs Seeing To

Is it any wonder why a good deal of the population has no interest in politics? Just look at the behaviour of the pollies in Federal Parliament this afternoon.

Parliament descended into uproar on Tuesday as the opposition moved its second dissent motion in a fortnight against Speaker David Hawker in the House of Representatives.

The ruckus started with a question to Veterans Affairs' Minister De-Anne Kelly about approving a $220k grant from another department some weeks after she changed her portfolio. The speaker ruled the question out of order. Kelly then answered the question anyway.

The dissent motion claimed the Speaker, David Hawker was running the parliament at the Government's bidding rather than being even handed.

[Mr Lathem] said Mr Hawker was being left to dangle in the breeze by the government after government business leader Tony Abbott first urged him to rule the question out of order but later said Mrs Kelly was prepared to answer it.

Imagine that!

Of course, there's never been a Speaker elected to the position that wasn't in the business of running the show to the Government's advantage. It's one aspect the founding father's got wrong when they drafted up the constitution over 100 years ago. (It also means you'd need a constitutional referendum to change it. A small impediment!)

The ruckus would have reinforced the animosity towards politicians felt by many of the people who saw it all on the news this evening. Lots of meaningless parliamentary point scoring under the guise of a debate that the opposition couldn't win.

The only way that parliament will ever run 'fairly' is to have an truly independent Speaker. The UK parliament goes some way to giving the speaker Independence:

It has become a generally accepted principle that, once the Speaker has been elected in one Parliament, he or she is re-elected in subsequent Parliaments and thus remains in office until he or she chooses to retire. On some occasions the Speaker is returned to Parliament unopposed, but this is no longer always the case. When seeking re-election at a general election, the Speaker remains aloof from party issues and stands as 'the Speaker seeking re-election'.

The problem with the UK system is that the Speaker's still a politician. Hard to image s/he ever being totally unbiased.

The only solution is for the Speaker to be appointed from outside parliament. Finding someone acceptable to both sides of the house could be problematic. Using the method proposed in the failed Republic referendum for choosing a President would work, ie, electing the speaker by a two thirds majority of House of Representatives. It should assure a neutral nominee, and a much more democratic parliament; and maybe a less cynical electorate.