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.
victoria – I agree with you on Reith this morning but I am happy that Abetz, Hockey and Reith all seem to be gobsmacked. I love it.
Wilkie now saying he thinks it’s a good move and he it has always been on since Slipper was appointed Deputy and had to be expected. Wilie is quite happy that Govt. has bigger buffer. Says wtte this is partly Abbott’s fault for allowing LNP to go after Slipper on preselection.
[ I cannot wait for the first parliamentary session, where Peter Sleeper falls asleep while being the speaker of the house, it would be funny
He’ll be so busy throwing out LNP members there’ll be no time for a nap.]
He went in to the vet’s to have some teeth out, and it developed into 15 teeth out with a chance his jaw would break during the operation (the infection was “the worst I’ve ever seen” according to the vet, a dental specialist. He took photos for the Dental Vet magazine).
Luckily he’s a healthy dog – 100% perfect blood tests and 110% heart (the vet said it was rare to see such a healthy dog even at 4 years old, much less Bob’s fourteen) – and he’s pulled through.
I had a bad couple of hours praying the phone wouldn’t ring early, which would have been a call from the surgeon to ask my permission to put him down while under anesthetic.
Problem now is managing his pain until he starts healing. Bob is a “suffer in silence” kind of dog and HATES anything being put in his mouth, like syringes. So I have to bide my time and wait for a weak moment.
Ouch! He’s a pretty old dog, isn’t he? That would be a major operation for any dog, let alone an old one.
No wonder BB is worried, but it sounds like he’s come out of it okay.
One of the problems with animals is that they can’t tell you when something *starts* to go wrong. It’s not until that niggling ache turns into raging pain that it becomes obvious that something is wrong. At least babies cry. Dogs – and especially cats – tend to suffer in silence.
The media seems to think it’s alright for John Howard to do a deal with Mal Coulston, because that’s a sign of superior political brinksmanship, but when Labor pulls off a similar move, it’s either tawdry or sleazy or unprincipled.
News Ltd & Talkback radio are reacting so badly because they know that the chances of their patron saint getting into the Lodge before the next election are now virtually zero.
Thanks, victoria. Laura tells it like I expected it to be.
Why is it that so many, including William in this case, jump for a conspiracy theory rather than accept what someone, as sincere as Harry, was saying in the first place?
BB,
So glad to hear Bob is doing as well as he is. Hoping for a speedy recovery, with lots of hugs and pats for you both.
Just read Laura’s piece but I don’t think that Peter Reith has read it. Reith said told Stehen Loosley this morning to take a look at the morning papers to see how bad this move is for Labor.
I’d suggest that Loosley forget the ‘also rans’ and go straight to the best in the business – Laura Tingle.
BH
What annoyed me about the respective performances of the coalition people interviewed is that they were not pressed about their hopeless behaviour and positions. It is all through the negative spin agains the govt. How Reith thinks he can just spit out his bile is amazing considering his own tawdry behaviour as a minister. That is what is gobsmacking to me!
TLM @ 1203;
[News Ltd & Talkback radio are reacting so badly because they know that the chances of their patron saint getting into the Lodge before the next election are now virtually zero.]
In fact it is far worse than that for them. Perhaps they now realise he’s on the nose among other Libs and his chances of entering the Lodge are now zero? Whether it be before or after the next election that is.
I suspect he’ll be gone as LOTO by this time next year.
Thanks for the update, Bob.
Snap on the “suffer in silence”!
I know it all too well from an elderly cat who, it turns out, had a kidney infection so bad she had to be put down. She was seemingly okay one day; just a little picky with her food, the next day she didn’t want to eat but just drank a lot of water; the next day she was at the vet and we were being told her kidneys had shut down and there was nothing we could do. The vet said it must have been a problem for a while, and yet there was nothing in her behaviour to indicate it.
Anyhoo, glad to hear that Bob has come through it and I certainly understand your anxiety. He’s one tough little bugger, isn’t he?
Bushfire, I meant to add that Metacam is the painkiller and is not terribly unpalatable to animals. I presume the crushed tablet is an antibiotic which is bitter. I would give Bob the Metacam first as is and then follow it up in 15 mins with the crushed pill mixed with a little milk or broth.
joe2
Anyone watching Harry in QT for the past six months, would have seen a man who had enough of trying to keep the parliament balanced
I have never voted Liberal in my life and consider Campbell Newman to be 85% mouth, 14% bluster and 100% useless but at the moment, having spent two hours waiting for QR to organise buses because the trains are out (3rd time QR has apologised this week, 7th time this month) I might be tempted to give Can-do a vote if he promises to fix the bloody trains. That or reduce the bloody fares to something equivalent to what the rest of the country pays
The other hilarious thing about the Slipper stuff is that everyone is acting like he’s new to the job.
Statements such as “he’ll be out of his depth!”, “he’s not up to the job!”, “the Libs will make mincemeat of him!”, “he won’t have the respect of the House!” etc seem to indicate that some people are oblivious to the fact that he has been in the Speaker’s chair every sitting day for the past year at least.
He’ll just be doing it a little more from now on …
Puffy,
My heart breaks knowing you are doing it tough. Wish there was something I could do to make things better and brighter for you. Please know you are much loved amongst Bludgers.
Hope the SA chapter brings you some love and laughter this afternoon.
Smaug
Dont get sucked in. Faiilieu promised to fix the trains here in Vic. Service has only gotten worse on some lines. Do you honestly believe the Libs are interested in spending money on public transport?
SK
Well said.
Puff. My sentiments as well.
Yep, victoria, it looked like a shit of a job. Dealing with A turd like Pyney, in itself, would be enough of a reason to resign for me. But Harry had patience in abundance.
SK
Are you enjoying the unhingement of the fibs?
Slipper’s bound to do a better job than Jenkins – I liked how he dealt with the Liberals yesterday, the likes of Pyne & Dutton will be spending a lot of time in the sinbin next year.
joe2
Agreed. Harry was too patient, but you could see he was at the end of his tether.
[Ryan
@ryanmoore3
The LNP had 25 years to get Slipper out of Parliament. It’s quite amusing that they have only started shrieking now. #auspol]
Have to go out soon, but a few points:
Tony Jones interview with Albo was very snarky and I agree that if the Libs can keep repeating their stupid (untrue) mantras, Albo shouldn’t have been reprimanded for saying noalition once.
Msm don’t believe that Albo hadn’t negotiated with Slipper for weeks. As Albo implied, but Jones didn’t want to hear, the facts that Harry was uncomfortable with his position and that Slipper (already Deputy Speaker) was being hassled by the LNP were known by everybody with any awareness of the political scene.
The msm can’t understand that a phone call at 7.30 to the PM gave plenty of time for the quick intelligence of Labor leaders to hold a caucus meeting and set up the voting to cement the ‘deal’. Apparently the msm believe everything has to happen very slowly and they must hear rumours before the events. Caught out again – annoyed.
Don’t like the reports that Wilkie was urging Oakeshott to take the position. That says he doesn’t understand the politics and is definitely a weak link.
Good morning all.
John Hewson’s piece in today’s AFR.
http://www.afr.com/p/opinion/no_alition_needs_policy_gMgE2ZFGyTZUf452hb9WxI
I love how Albo’s ‘Noalition’ has taken hold!
Zen Digital
@z3n_digital
Full undoctored no #carbontax interview not the LNP fear campaign edited version – CARBON PRICE is mentioned
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-HP00lxC30&feature=youtube_gdata_player
[the likes of Pyne & Dutton will be spending a lot of time in the sinbin next year.]
Their tactics will have to change. Slipper casually announced yesterday that his style isn’t to necessarily issue warnings before naming members. This is bad news for Pyne, Dutton, Hartsuyker, Baldwin and all the others whose job it has been to be as disruptive as possible.
lizzie:
I agree. The so-called ‘insiders’ have come out of yesterday looking very poor.
I’d never vote for Newman, he’s as financially literate as Abbott, but good to vent on PB
victoria,
What was going to be a politically boring christmas looks like it is not going to be the political vacuum I thought it would be.
The gobsmacked expression on Abbott’s face after the Speakers resignation was priceless! Bishop’s weird body language has been as telling as that of her current leader.
The LNP are all swinging at air right now and are becoming more and more irrelevant as their 2010 arguements look and sound strange as we enter 2012!
“Don’t like the reports that Wilkie was urging Oakeshott to take the position. That says he doesn’t understand the politics and is definitely a weak link.”
The mining tax concession that Wilkie pulled after talking to Twiggie, it would seem, has placed him in a new light…”a weak link”, indeed.
lizzie
Agreed. The msm do not have a frickin clue. The only thing they are good at is being the cheersquad for the rabble known as the noalition.
Heh heh. One of the instructive things about an incident such as this is that it helps flush out the cheerleaders in the media. It makes them much easier to spot. It’s like a relief map of vested interests.
Grattan, for instance, took the opportunity to go straight for Gillard’s jugular. No surprise there at all. The only query on that is whether she’s too big a name to be subject to editorial control. I suspect that might be the issue. Katharine Murphy has tucked herself under Grattan’s wing. Tony Wright sees himself as light relief. And that’s the Age.
I do find it amusing that so many journalists seem to have taken Slipper’s acceptance of the speaker’s role personally. But that’s the trouble with the media right now. If the government have accepted that any reportage of anything they do is going to be toxic, at some point they’re just going to ignore the lot of it and govern the way they want to. They’ve reached that point now, and good on them.
I was jumping with annoyance at all the news on ABC this morning. Everything was a “conspiracy beatup”. OK, so Slipper isn’t anyone’s favourite, but that doesn’t make Labor a “dirty dealer”. Just practical achievers.
I WISH I’d been able to watch QT yesterday to see all the facial expressions.
GG@1152 – you got it. Funny how what goes around comes around….
SK
According to Peter Reith this morning, Abbott is going to spend all summer long reminding the voters how untrustworthy Gillard is for pushing Jenkins out of the job.
Hilarious coming from him, considering Abbott shafted him in plain sight for the Lib presidency.
[It’s time for Grattan to retire, and for Radio National Breakfast to recruit a new political commentator, because Michelle is little more than a Liberal Party mouthpiece these days.]
TLM – this morning’s RN spot with Grattan and Bonge talking to Kelly showed just how much in the Abbott/Noalition camp Grattan is. Bonge was quite happy to say wtte that Gillard had not stabbed Harry in the back and that Abbott was talking nonsense. Grattan would not say anything against Abbott’s woeful performance yesterday and this morning but skirted around it to defend him.
I know Bonge is more left than right but at least his comments were sensible. Grattan is still on the story that JG and Labor are duds. Time for Grattan to go – not Labor.
TLM @ 1203
[News Ltd & Talkback radio are reacting so badly because they know that the chances of their patron saint getting into the Lodge before the next election are now virtually zero.]
The level of decibels in the 2GB studio of ‘The Parrot’ is a perfect barometer of the success of the Gillard Government – the louder and more high pitched are AJ’s squawks and flaps, the better the Feds are actually doing.
‘Meltdown’ is not a strong enough word to describe the apoplexy spewing forth today from the open sewer that is talkback radio. Jones and Hadley must be undergoing paroxysms of outrage that their boy Abbott has been dudded by that dastardly Ju-liar Gillard.
Of course there will be no hint of criticism of the heroic LOTO’s own ineptitude in not being able to manage one of his own MPs sufficiently well to keep him inside the Coalition which he has been a member of for 30 years. ‘Mr People Skills’ snatches another defeat from the jaws of victory.
Crikey Media wrap on Speaker. Lnks to many ofthe articles linked above, good to browse and see what you’ve missed
http://www.crikey.com.au/2011/11/25/slipper-takes-the-money-and-runs-the-show/
[Friday, 25 November 2011
Slipper takes the money and runs … the show
by Amber Jamieson
Labor stalwart Harry Jenkins resigned as Speaker of the House of Representatives yesterday, sending through the Parliament shockwaves that will be felt until the next election.]
SK
I did not see the Abbott presser live, but watched the replay later in the day. He looked like he had seen a ghost
It does baffle me that none of the journos anticipated something when Rudd met Slipper. Even something as far-fetched as that. By reading Richo this morning, again I’m surprised that he of all people didn’t have a clue, or appeared to not have a clue, at what was going to happen.
I noticed that Richo was beginning to praise JG and criticize TA. He might lose his various jobs if he goes on doing that.
Lizzie,
[I was jumping with annoyance at all the news on ABC this morning.]
When enough people are pissed off with the ABC, the Coalition when in power can sell it off or close it down, and there will be scarcely a whimper of protest from the public.
victoria,
All we need for christmas is an Abbott RAbbott on more of the Noalition’s 2010 talking points. On second thoughts, it could be the christmas gift that keeps on giving!!
Mega George’s OO column today (unfortunately paywalled) is a good history of the Qld ‘rats’ Federal Parliament has seen: Gair, Colston, Kernot and Slipper.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/opinion/rats-prepared-to-ditch-their-parties-to-survive/story-e6frgd0x-1226205383175
Smaug
[I might be tempted to give Can-do a vote if he promises to fix the bloody trains.]
Probably be just as useful voting for Katter’s party.
confessions
Ah, but Kernot did it out of love.
Should have added a sarcasm icon. From memory, Kernpt’s defection was the beginning of the end of the Democrats, wasn’t it?
[How Reith thinks he can just spit out his bile is amazing considering his own tawdry behaviour as a minister. ]
victoria – it’s amazing how both Sky and Reith wipe over his misdemeanours. They do the same with Richardson whereas I look at both and see a couple of unethical blokes. I wouldn’t give them the time of day on any program I ran.
We Want Paul @ 1197. I was at my grandson’s form play last night; Macbeth, a brilliant production acted by fourteen years olds in a magnificent new BER funded school hall and stage with lighting and sound donated by parents. Saw his younger brother’s class play the week before. There have also been community concerts, social functions and presentations there beyond the school itself. This hall has contributed so much to the school’s capacity to use the talents of teachers, students and their local community in many other ways. Imagine the multiplied impact of that BER stimulus funding on schools and children and communities all over Australia, quite apart from its immediate success in staving off unemployment and economic problems during the GFC.
It’s even bigger than that. They’ve come to realise the entire gambit has failed. Abbott isn’t an individual crusade for them; he’s the visible face of a political strategy. If he fails, the strategy fails, the whole thing falls apart. They’ve thrown a lot behind him, nursed him through a truckload of gaffes and failures and setbacks, and run the philosophy of the Liberal Party through the mincer in the process. You’d be hard-pressed to know what they stand for these days, they’re dumping and adopting positions so regularly.
It is still working as a popularity contest. But not as a blockade against ALP legislation, which was likely the point from the start. By the time the Coalition get their hands on the reins – if indeed they do – much of the legislation they’ve been opposing will be entrenched, and there’ll be little to nothing they can do about it.
NBN was probably the one they really wanted to stop, and that might explain the urgency with which they’ve been trying to unseat the ALP. That’s the one with the potential to hurt Murdoch the most, at least. Hard to argue against it on its own terms, though they gave it a red hot go. Carbon tax will hurt, but mainly because they believed that would be the driver to get them into power. In and of itself they probably couldn’t care less That’s come and gone. Mining tax has come and gone. And now the mechanism by which they might have been able to force an election has been taken away from them.
Abbott’s the visible face of all of that approach. But for all his ability (with a bit of media assistance) to keep the poll numbers high, he’s such an ineffective parliamentary performer that he’s lost every battle that counted.
SK
Are the coalition going to spend summer getting some policies together, or are they going to continue with their relentless negative spin? If Abbott does not change strategy soon, not only will is leadership fail, but the party will take ages to get back on track.