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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-10-27 Daily Xml
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Constitution (Independent Speaker) Amendment Bill

Second Reading

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (23:12): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I rise to speak in support of the Constitution (Independent Speaker) Amendment Bill, which was passed in the House of Assembly on 12 October 2021. On that day, we saw the installation of a new Speaker in the House of Assembly, Mr Dan Cregan, and I congratulate him on his appointment to that very important role in this parliament. I have great respect and admiration for the way in which Mr Cregan has conducted himself and executed his duties in that place to date, beans and all.

This bill, which was introduced to the House of Assembly as a private member's bill by the member for Florey, Frances Bedford, seeks to enshrine in the South Australian constitution very strong safeguards to ensure that the Speaker of the House of Assembly is, from this time on, completely and unambiguously independent. I congratulate Ms Bedford for having the courage and, quite frankly, the guts to introduce this bill.

We need to have an independent Speaker who is beyond political affiliation, who has removed themselves from the party room and is there to facilitate fair, independent and impartial deliberations. The Speaker is the ultimate arbiter and the adjudicator, who needs to act without fear or favour. To best achieve this, the Speaker needs to be entirely independent. We have seen how effective this works in the British parliament in the House of Commons.

This place may well recall one of those polarising figures who held the position as Speaker in the House of Commons, the Rt Hon. John Bercow. He was the Speaker from 2009 to 2019. He started off as a Conservative and showed no fear or favour during that time. In fact, he was known to indulge backbenchers and give them latitude for questions. People will also remember that he certainly expressed feelings openly and in defiance of perhaps both houses.

You might recall that in 2017, Mr Bercow was the one who opposed President Donald Trump addressing the House of Commons. He was a person who was strongly opposed to racism and sexism. He also created an independent body in the parliament to investigate harassment and bullying. I note that in the British parliament they have a Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, and they are appointed by the House of Commons.

Like the member for Florey, I believe that we are all here to serve and protect this state and its people. Every South Australian is entitled to have their voice heard and heard equally in the parliament. This bill upholds our time-honoured Westminster traditions from the House of Commons, but it ushers in a new era for the South Australian parliament, where we can better reflect the standards expected by our constituents, the citizens of South Australia and those beyond our borders.

I believe that this bill will be a good thing for democracy in this state. It is a good thing for freedom of speech and a very good thing for conducting more respectful debates, where the Speaker can independently exercise the substantial powers vested in them under our constitution. I understand that there will be several amendments to this bill. Some have already been flagged to me by the Treasurer, which will come from the Attorney-General for us to consider. With those brief words, I commend the bill to the Legislative Council and seek an adjournment until the next day of sitting.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. I.K. Hunter.

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