Harry Jenkins has ended the parliamentary year with a surprise, announcing he will resign as Speaker today:
In a statement to Parliament, Speaker Jenkins said he’d divorced himself from party political matters in order to carry out his duties in a non-partisan manner. “In this era of minority government I have progressively become frustrated at this stricture,” he said. “My desire is to be able to participate in policy and parliamentary debate, and this would be incompatible with continuing in the role of Speaker.”
Which is no huge deal if that’s all there is to it. But with the rift between Deputy Speaker Peter Slipper and his party widening of late – the LNP is presently considering disciplinary action against him – the suspicion exists that the government has reached an arrangement with him. If so, the return of Jenkins to the floor would enable the government to win confidence motions 76-73 rather than 75-74. Stay tuned.
UPDATE: Events are moving quicker than my iPad typing speed. Phillip Coorey of the Sydney Morning Herald reports:
The Liberal MP, Peter Slipper, is likely to become the next Speaker of the House of Representatives after Labor’s Harry Jenkins resigned this morning, shocking the Parliament on its final sitting day for 2011. Labor MPs will be asked to approve Mr Slipper’s nomination at a special caucus meeting scheduled for 10am.
confessions @887,
I went to a George Clooney movie today “The Ides of March ” about a primary contest for the Democratic presidential nomination in Ohio.
The primary vote in that state was open to all irrespective of party and the point was raised that even though one candidate was much stronger than the other his success was not guareenteed because republican voters would be encouraged to come out and vote for the weaker candidate as he obviously posed less of a threat to the repubs in the big showdown.
Made me think how would those voting in labor “primaries ” here in Australia be selected ? If not just branch members then how to discourage the same mindset as above ?
Just a thought.
BTW, great movie.
BB said it for many of us, Puffy. We thought we were losing our old boy last week but he middledogs who need a home which means we lose them sooner – usually around 14-15.
We’re frightened a young dog will outlive us but we cannot live without a dog so it’s the middle aged ones we take.
I asked my friends to in Salisbury and Barton to keep their eyes and ears open and I remind them constantly for you.
lizzie
Precisely. Abbott and the LNP are the ones who stuffed up with Slipper
[Wishful thinking there. Most punters don’t even know who Jenkins is/was. They know there is a hung parliament but couldn’t count the numbers. When the few news items they encounter start saying that Labor’s legislation is expected to pass easily then they will get the general impression that government is stable and go back to slumber until election time.]
You think NSW voters knew what “pro-rogue” meant? I am an avid watcher of politics and I have no idea myself (did I even spell that right?). It just looked sleezy, and thats the vibe that is going to be left.
There are a number of fascinating ways this could go:
1. We could have months of dirt on Slipper with questions to Gillard “Do you have confidence in the speaker” thereby bringing her in (just like with the Thomson)
2. Slipper could be a very hostile speaker to the government (don’t discount that possibility)
3. Slipper could be a very hostile speaker to the opposition (also likely)
4. Slipper could be an astounding speaker and get re-elected (hmmmm)
What a crazy day.
The main point from today is that the Government weren’t trying to get a poll bounce, they weren’t trying to be popular, they weren’t trying to rush any bills through.
Today was about one thing: royally screwing over Abbott.
What are his two main attack lines? That we need an election NOW, and that the Government doesn’t have a real majority.
Both of those things are now nigh impossible.
When the Carbon Tax comes into effect in July, Abbott’s arsenal is gone. The Libs know it too.
confessions @817 !
GG @ 844
Thanks for that vote of support for Harry. To me, his only fault was that he was too gentle, but I don’t think he enjoyed the constant biff.
Mod Lib
[No federal government in living memory has elected a speaker that wasn’t part of the government.]
Only because we nearly always have a majority government and the government could afford to have one of its own as Speaker. After all, you are more likely in most cases to get a better run from your own than the opposition. It’s never had anything to do with upholding a convention. There have been plenty of state governments that operate under exactly the same model that have not had a government-supplied Speaker.
BB, I consider you one of the pearls in the oyster that is Poll Bludger. Best wishes to you and your dog, I hope everything goes well.
lizzie,
You are on the money.
Originally, the new paradigm was that the Speaker would be paired. Unfortunately for the Libs they thought they’d win Government. When this did not occur Pyne and Abbott reneged.
If they had stuck to their word then this change of Speaker would not have made any diference.
It’s amazing how petards can be hoisted.
I wonder what sort of angle the Daily Tele will go with tomorrow. Dirt on Slipper?
You think he took a tens of thousands of dollars pay cut because he found sitting in a big chair saying “Order”…
Personally I reckon I’d be prepared to drop quite a few bob if it mean’t I didn’t have to deal day in, day out, with Pyney and Brony and their nonsense any more!
Mod Lib
The only thing that is certain is that the coalition are a rabble
feeney:
I was overjoyed watching Slipper’s rulings. And that he didn’t tolerate any nonsense from the opps either. He responded matter-of-factly and with common sense to whinges from Alby Schultz, and told Pyne to look in a mirror when he arked up over Albo.
Jenkins should’ve taken this approach with the opps instead of indulging their errant and unparliamentary behaviour.
Toorak Toff @ 834
I am sure you are right there.
Kevin Rudd will stand ready to answer the call to do whatever his party requires of him as is befitting of a loyal servant of the party.
[No federal government in living memory has elected a speaker that wasn’t part of the government.]
No federal Opposition in living memory has abused basic political discourse like the current one.
There’s a first for everything.
Anyone who thinks Jenkins gesture was anything other than what it obviously was is deluding themselves. One thing we can say about Jenkins is that he is very loyal to his party.
I also note that a partisan hack usually digs out the generic line “This is gonna bite the government/opposition” when they’ve really got nothing to run on.
Of course, I do concede, the Liberal Party, being the masters of spin, will be on every street corner, screeching “Knifing! Labor faceless men!” but it’s pathetic to invent (disproven) convention, just to have some fake outrage over.
The Libs were outplayed in Parliament. That’s where the victory lies. The govt has more elbow room now.
For those whinging that they’ve used process to rob the LNP of a floor vote, Slipper could’ve said no but he didn’t. It’s not like it was forced on him. Perhaps don’t be such nasty thugs to backbenchers who go against Dear Leader’s wishes, in future.
[victoria
Posted Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 9:11 pm | Permalink
Mod Lib
Slipper was a former LNP MP and now an Indie. The dirt on Slipper has nothing to do with the govt]
When in the last 4 years have the Liberals shown any rational behaviour?
Slipper can throw them all out, he will probable get government support in doing so. Not pissing slipper off would be a sane thing to do.
[ Wilkie and his pokies thing is obviously in jeapardy now too so I wonder what he will do…
Not necessarily so.]
Wilkie went on the record this afternoon on Sky, saying Gillard phoned him personally at 8.30 this morning and told him, in these exact words, “Nothing has changed” re. the Pokies legislation.
@852 – what a mix up. This Mac is defeating me. I keep using the delete in mistake for the backspace.
I meant that the vet saved our old boy last week and this week he’s bouncing around like a puppy, thank goodness.
[Of course, I do concede, the Liberal Party, being the masters of spin, will be on every street corner, screeching “Knifing! Labor faceless men!” but it’s pathetic to invent (disproven) convention, just to have some fake outrage over.]
Of course, Harry doesn’t have to preserve confidentiality anymore. He can speak out when the time is right on this and on any other subject.
I have had the MOST frustrating day. Our power was off so I didn’t hear about Harry until QT was over, then when I tried to get on to PB it was frozen.
The frustration of not being able to make contact with my best source of information was bluddy awful.
[I am sure you are right there.
Kevin Rudd will stand ready to answer the call to do whatever his party requires of him as is befitting of a loyal servant of the party.]
I give credit to Rudd for this move actually. He clearly played a huge influence in all of this. Considering it gives the government more elbow room and makes a Griffith by-election less of a scary prospect, there is absolutely no direct benefit he could get out of this, other than favour within his party – which is what all politicians want.
Kudos to him for that.
[I wonder what sort of angle the Daily Tele will go with tomorrow. Dirt on Slipper?]
Doesn’t Steve Lewis, purveyor of dirt, write for that paper?
Mark Latham is on Sky suggesting the govt will “burn” Wilkie and drop pokies reform.
He is fogetting that Labor in office commissioned a PC report(?) on gambling and pokies, and has been moving towards some kind of regulatory approach on pokies since then.
Someone posted earlier that the Opposition has supported 87 percent of government legislation which means when Albo called Abbott Mr no no no no no no he was telling porkies and should have called him Mr yes yes yes yes yes no.
[Greensborough Growler
Posted Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 9:13 pm | Permalink
Mod Lib,
Sorry comrade. But, I actually know Harry. I can assure you that he is in politics for what he can achieve for his electorate and his community. The baubles of office are anathmatic to this good bloke who is in politics for only the right reasons.
Your attempts to read between the lines simply demonstrate a typical Liberal propensity to place a price on everything. That’s all you understand.]
Excellent, please let us know all the goss about why he left (no really, I would be fascinated to hear).
musrum,
Would you mind seeing if you can tweak cccp to work on Chrome? It’ll do the first two steps fine but “Post” doesn’t work.
DavidWH
I think someone made the point last week that Abbott says no all the time, but when the legislation comes before them they vote for it. Can’t be true, of course 🙂
Doyley:
I have seen the movie, and take on board those points.
I do however find it unlikely that such a scenario would eventuate.
Carey M:
I am not questioning the fact that the ALP won today, I said it was a clever tactical move.
I also want to point out, I know nothing about Slipper at all (other than watching him over the years), so I wasn’t trying to insinuate I had knowledge about some goss. I just now there is a great incentive for a political party to find something, and in those circumstances, they usually do find something.
I love how to the Libs, public office means paycheque or gunning for the top. Like, today, when Pyne couldn’t even fathom the concept that somebody would want a deputy job but not want the top job. I’ve known plenty of assistant managers (including me once upon a time) who’ve turned down offers for the manager job because they didn’t feel ready for it.
Of course, I know that’s not the reason that Burke declined, but it’s not the logical absurdity that Pyne claims.
ABC24 is going to Leveson 10PM AEDT.
Watched Abbott on 7.30 report tonight, focusing of body language rather than content which was same old same old:
– started off with the square jaw
– moved to the shaking head before answering each question
– did his “look from one side” gaze, head tilted down
– seemed to stutter and become incoherent towards the end of questions
– did not answer most questions, but his talking points were lame
– looked shaken by today’s events
This demostrated how poor an interviewee Abbott is, and how his minders won’t allow any hard interviews, or live ones. Even the tummy tickling from Uhlmann could not save him, and just about anyone else would have had Abbott totally dissemble
the fact he went on 7.30 tonight live indicates he is desperate
–
Mod Lib,
All the dirt Labor raised on Coston saw Howard re elected in 1998.
I doubt people have much regard for gossip.
So unless you have pictures of Slipper with a goat other than Abbott, I’d suggest it will all pass. The Libs Have pre selected this dude since 1984. It’s a bit rich to start calling him a crim or a deviant now.
Wilkie went on the record this afternoon on Sky, saying Gillard phoned him personally at 8.30 this morning and told him, in these exact words, “Nothing has changed” re. the Pokies legislation.
Harry has also, even while Speaker, gone very clearly on the record expressing concern about the impact of pokies in his own electorate. He won’t have made the move without watertight assurances on the matter.
docantk @ 835
[Paul Murray on Sky just said “the numbers will move against the government very soon. She’ll lose her buffer. That’s all I can say. Watch this space”. Thomson perhaps?]
Murray doesn’t know what he is talking about. Even if the Victorian Police did bring charges against Craig Thomson, it would be many months before any case could be brought to the courts, and even if he was convicted, there would be an appeal which would take months more to be scheduled, then heard, so any court case would likely as not remain unresolved until after the next election was due anyway, and Thomson would not have to stand down under those circumstances until all appeals were exhausted.
Even Richo on SkyNews tonight scoffed at such a matter affecting the balance of this Parliament.
[One thing we can say about Jenkins is that he is very loyal to his party.]
We’ve just had Mark Latham say that he should have told the truth and gone out with dignity, indicating that he didn’t. Once more Latham completely ignores the political winds, which clearly don’t blow in his fantasy land.
GG
Precisely. It sure looks hypocritical for the Libs to dig the dirt on Slipper now.
[Someone posted earlier that the Opposition has supported 87 percent of government legislation which means when Albo called Abbott Mr no no no no no no he was telling porkies and should have called him Mr yes yes yes yes yes no.]
DavidWH
you can hear it here (in reply to first question from Fran Kelly):
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/breakfast/stories/2011/3374758.htm
Mod Lib,
Read his Resignation Speech. It’s all there.
I agree with you Mod Lib about the change in dynamics re the speakers position. Slipper resigned from his party just ahead of being thrown out in any case. Slipper is quite entitled to this and I doubt if they are conventions more like traditions in majority parliaments. Abbott is a loser in this instance big time and must have anticipated that Slipper would move to the cross benches within the next month or o as as been widely canvassed. Abbott therefore will do what he always does I.e go on the attack and presumably against the new Speaker after all what authority will he have if here is serious dirt on this iffy guy? Not much. Abbott will use others and friendly journalists to generate the leaks and or shock jocks. I would expect Andrew Bolt to be letting us all know about such indiscretions and peccadillos within the following week. Slipper might not be speaker for very long I would suspect probably not the next six months it doesn’t really matter anyway as he will not sit with the Libs again and most likely join messrs Windsor etc or join Labor even.
GG as per your post re the character of Harry Jenkins it should be accepted that this man has a very high degree of respect for his hard work and integrity in what would have to have been the tougher time to be our Speaker in our political history don’t you think?
[What was the absolutely most disgusting aspect of Bielke-Peterson, the Coalition and Field was it was all done over the body of a dead man. That proved there wasn’t anything to low for them to do to gain power, and not a thing has changed since.]
A timely reminder. Thanks, Puff.
TBS,
Those rumours on Thomson have been sourced back to the Libs.
They would say that, wouldn’t they.
Mark Latham refers to US President Barack Obama sneeringly as ‘black Jesus’ on SkyNews just now, and Paul Murray just laughs and says how funny it all is, and Latham can say whatever he likes on his programme.
And this is meant to be a serious current affairs programme?
And how does Don Burke get a guernsey on such a panel discussion???
Hitchins help me!
Carey Moore @ 874
I am glad we agree on this.
[You think he took a tens of thousands of dollars pay cut because he found sitting in a big chair saying “Order”…]
The role of Speaker is not just sitting in a big chair saying ‘order’.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaker_of_the_Australian_House_of_Representatives
If you get the chance you should watch both Harry’s resignation speech and Pyne’s attribution speech to Harry. Both give insights into the tremendous amount of work both the Speaker and the respective party leaders in the House have in maintaining regular contact with each other, and smoothing over points of difference in interpretation of Standing Orders.
Harry had a tough gig as Speaker in this hung parliament. I woujldn’t blame him for one minute for pulling pin like he did.
Excellent, please let us know all the goss about why he left
Haven’t heard any goss, ML, but I’d be surprised if a ministry doesn’t arrive before too long. Given the absurdity of parliamentary “debate” with Abbott playing eternal sillybuggers I’m sure you can see the appeal for any politician worth their salt to shift from a lifetime of saying “naughty naughty” to Pyne, Bishop, Morrison et al into a real job?
[Greensborough Growler
Posted Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 9:34 pm | Permalink
Mod Lib,
Read his Resignation Speech. It’s all there.]
It wasn’t “family” was it?