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Bringing the Speaker’s chair back down to Earth

Malcolm Farr

by Malcolm Farr

10 Oct 11:29am

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Filed under: Anna Burke, Parliament, Peter Slipper, Politics, Question Time, Speaker, The Speaker

70 comments

The transition in the Speaker’s office from Peter Slipper to Anna Burke was swift, but the distance in style and demeanor was huge.

And take yer wig with you! Pic: Kym Smith

She is known by colleagues on both sides to be down-to-Earth, a dedicated local member without unnecessary frills.

Ms Burke, only the second woman to be Speaker of the House of Representatives, will never be associated with the robes and processions introduced by her image-conscious predecessor.

Ms Burke demonstrated this in her last interview as Deputy Speaker - just hours before her elevation Tuesday night after Mr Slipper’s surprise resignation.

In the interview Madame Deputy Speaker issued a plea: Don’t call me madame.

“I don’t run a brothel,” she joked in exasperation over the over-eager efforts of some to address her properly:

I always find it an interesting terminology and again it’s that sort of…I don’t know, people feel a need to put a title.

Being a member of Parliament as opposed to being a senator, people…What do they call you? How to they address you?

And I think people think, Yeh.  It’s convention. I’d rather that everyone say Deputy Speaker.

She doesn’t like seeing people get “confused or upset” they might not have used the right honorific.

I say, Don’t worry. They fluster about that. I couldn’t care less. Call me anything but don’t call me late for dinner.

The 47-year-old former official with the Finance Sector Union was elected to Parliament in 1998. She is married with a 12-year-old daughter and a 10-year-old son. She was the first MP from outside Canberra to have a baby while still a member of the House.

She has been in charge of that little cockpit occupied by the Speaker for the past six months of some of the fiercest Question Times the Parliament has seen, while Mr Slipper stood aside to deal with legal action against him by a former adviser.

The rowdiness on the floor before her has been an assault on her sense of fair play, and on her physical senses.

“It’s very intense and I don’t think people really appreciate the noise level. And there’s noise everywhere,” she said in the interview.

“(There are) things happening, and it’s not just in the Chamber it’s in the gallery, it’s people moving round, and (I’m) trying to decide who needs the call or who’s talking, who I should pull up or…

“Sometimes interjections and noise adds to the flavour of the place. But it’s actually not allowed, it’s totally against the rules.

“(It’s) a bit of a minefield really. It’s like 149 people versus me. My friends included, supposedly. It’s about controlling and running and maintaining the dignity of the Parliament.

“And I really take that seriously. You can be very flippant about these things. But we’ve got a great institution here, a phenomenal institutional.”

Ms Burke said whoever was in the chair had the “utmost duty” to uphold that dignity.

“That is their job,” she said.

Comments on this post will close at 8pm AEST.

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70 comments

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    • Shane* says:

      10:57am | 10/10/12

      I like Anna Burke. She’s my local member.

      But the role of Speaker is a poisoned chalice. She’s officially become Australia’s best-paid childcare worker.

      Reply

    • Meph says:

      11:28am | 10/10/12

      @Shane*

      +1 internets for you sir!

      Unfortunately too, this trend will continue so long as we elect our leaders based on popularity.

    • Matt says:

      12:38pm | 10/10/12

      I find it disgraceful how our politicians (both sides) are allowed to get away with what they do. If I acted the way they do, even just 1% of the way they do in parliament, I would be SACKED.

      Yet, they’re not sacked, they paid six figures and they all believe they’re above the standards that everyone else in the community has to abide by.

    • Rosie says:

      01:41pm | 10/10/12

      Shane

      I didn’t like Anna Burke at first because much to my amazement I was beginning to feel Slipper was doing a good job. Then the more I saw Anna Burke, the more I thought she was doing a very good job under like you say kindergarten trying conditions. She has never used her gender to demand respect for the position she held as Deputy Speaker and for this she was respected on both sides of the Chamber! I hate to say but if Gillard had acted in the same manner the knifing of Kevin Rudd and the “There will be no carbon tax under the Govt I lead” would have been a thing of the past to most people because she would have been judged for what she stood for.

      I think after yesterday’s Gillard outburst the Opposition will make life easy for Anna Burke out of respect for her. Tony Abbott has shown us that he was not going to try and get political mileage from the personal attacks thrown at him by the PM. Unlike the Allan Jones saga which Labor and their supporters are still on about.

      One thing you can be sure of is what happened yesterday will not drag on like the Allan Jones saga. LNP won’t be trying to get political mileage out of it and Gillard Labor Minority Govt will want the public to forget about the egg on their faces.

    • Alfie says:

      10:57am | 10/10/12

      “Bringing the Speaker’s Chair Down to Earth”

      Bringing Gillard down to earth, more like.

      Reply

    • Babylon says:

      11:45am | 10/10/12

      Sleazy Slipper has demonstrated better political judgment in apologising for his actions, sexist remarks and degradation of women and resigning as Speaker, than Julia Gillard has in fiercely defending Slippers right to keep the job.

      Only hours after Gillard voted to keep Slipper in the chair and launched a ferocious personal attack on Tony Abbott for misogyny, she had to sit stone faced, with the look of a Devil sick of sin,  to hear Slipper give a tearful resignation for degradating women and slagging women in powerful positions.

      Poor Julia Gillard ... A victim of poor political and moral judgement.

    • Bunky says:

      12:51pm | 10/10/12

      Shame on Slipper for bringing the speakers Position into disrepute,Shame on the PM for supporting a true Misogynist

      Dictionary Misogynist, one who hates,dislikes,distrusts or mistreats women,

      Examples
      Kevi Rudd for his treatment of female flight attendant,Mistreats Woman
      Craig Emerson who mistreated his wife by havng an affair with Juliar

    • Bobo says:

      01:46pm | 10/10/12

      I’m a lunatic too and I think I found me some fellas to hang with! BLah!

    • JoniM says:

      03:42pm | 10/10/12

      Well done Bunky !
      The hypocrisy displayed by Gillard & the ALP is now becoming quite laughable !
      I can’t believe the gall of people like Gillard and Emerson,in particular daring to accuse Abbott of lack of respecxt for women ! Seriously ! They don’t even blush !

    • jaki says:

      10:59am | 10/10/12

      Move over, Mister Mussel !

      Reply

    • Mr Perfect says:

      11:04am | 10/10/12

      love when the punch focuses on politics. Reminds me of why I go to the zoo, to see a bunch of monkeys fling poo at each other.

      Reply

    • Jenny says:

      12:30pm | 10/10/12

      Didn’t you vote for the monkeys to be in charge of the country?

      Do you still believe that Pauline Hanson is worse than these monkeys?

      Do you have any better system than a direct democracy a la Switzerland mentioned so many times to stop it?

      Are you happy with these monkeys?

    • Reg Whiteman says:

      03:22pm | 10/10/12

      Leave Pauline out of this, Jenny. She, at least, was honest and spoke her mind - and paid for it. She, along with David Ettridge, were the only people ever imprisoned in this country for exercising free speech - much as her views may have appalled others. But it wasn’t the leftists and wannabe Che Guevara’s who gaoled her - it was Tony Abbott. She was, after all, taking most of her votes from the LNP.

      People should remember that, like Peter Slipper, she had been an endorsed Liberal candidate.

      And NO, I’m not happy with the monkeys from any of the parties in Parliament. How people like that nut-case Kelly O’Dwyer, or Sarah Hanson-Young, or Bob Katter or Christopher Pyne ever got elected just astonishes me.

      I’ve been trying to think of the last politician for whom I had any respect – and I can’t think of one. Australian politics seems to attract the megalomaniacs, loudmouths, frauds, spivs and swindlers of society. Parliament is about the only place where you can get an extraordinarily powerful job without any sort of qualifications or experience. The hypocrisy is so vast as to be beyond the capacity of a normal mind to grasp – a bit like trying to imagine the infinity of the universe. We have Tony Abbott, a man who champions business and entrepreneurship, the people who make the hard yards – and yet he spent the first 30 years of his life as a student and seminarian and then went straight into politics. Never in his life has he been on the factory floor, selling fridges, driving a tractor, or starting his own business. The same can be said for Rudd and Swan. Sarah Hanson-Young’s total work experience has been as a bank teller in Adelaide – which qualifies her as an expert on …, what exactly? Counting to ten is about all.

      By comparison, Pauline’s years in the fish and chip shop, her accumulation of a property portfolio, and stunning appearance on “Dancing with the Stars” makes her a much better candidate as she really does have experience of the real world – including the inside of a Brisbane prison cell.

    • Stan says:

      07:10pm | 10/10/12

      @Reg Whiteman

      In 1996, Albert Langer was jailed for telling people how to vote.

      In a meantime I hope that Pauline will come back with a system of direct demoracy, that will show us how smart or how illiterate are the
      oi oi oi.

    • subotic slips a dirty bomb in says:

      11:05am | 10/10/12

      Bringing the Speaker’s chair back down to Earth… with a well aimed rocket!

      Reply

    • Gregg says:

      11:09am | 10/10/12

      I suppose it’ll now be Madame (or can it just be Madam ) Speaker.
      Anna does seem to have acquitted herself very well as did the speaker prior to Slipper and we can only wish them both well with their futures.

      Reply

    • andrew says:

      11:38am | 10/10/12

      OTOH, she was also responsible for a near-record number of Parliamentary bookings, almost all of the on the Opposition benches, despite similar (or worse) carryings-on from the ALP.

      There’s been a lot of disgraceful behaviour from the ALP ranks that hasn’t been pulled up by the Speaker. Yet lesser crimes on the other side have been dealt with forcefully and loudly by Burke.

      Even Harry Jenkins showed a more even temperament and hand, and that wasn’t very even. 

      Coalition speakers have been the same.

      Sadly, that’s the nature of the job.  Burke is a season ALP operator, and behaves in the Chair as one.  Lofty Speakership aspirations aside, she will do what every Speaker does. i.e. advance the causes of the government of the day, while restricting the abilities and scope of the Opposition members, all under the guise of formality and rules and process.

      In short, the role of Speaker is often to bludgeon and corral the Opposition. Except it’s done in a leather chair, from on high, with one-sided authority.

      We will never get an effective Speaker until the position is given over to a truly independent arbiter of proceedings.  Chances of that happening: nil.

      But that’s another topic.  Personally, I call in to question just about everything that Parliament does, from the travel required, to the regulations of the office bearers, to the ringing of the bells.

      Parliament needs to enter the C21st century. Or even the 20th.  And the Speaker’s job needs to enter it, too.

    • JoniM says:

      04:32pm | 10/10/12

      Spot on Andrew !
      Anna Burke will be a perfect foil to protect the ALP with their ongoing assualt on Abbott over the coming 12 months !
      Little chance of the Speaker getting the Government to actually answering any questions, when they couldn’t get one answered in the past 5 years !
      Seems it will just be another year like the last !

    • Joan says:

      11:10am | 10/10/12

      Well I hope she does better than she did yesterday,  MPs did not speak to the point - Slippers suitablity for Speaker role following revelations of foul texts.

      Reply

    • Bear says:

      01:45pm | 10/10/12

      I don’t think I’ve ever heard a question answered in qt by either side, ever. You’re just bitching now for the obvious reason you’re a rabid Labor hater.

    • Rosie says:

      02:51pm | 10/10/12

      Sorry Bear both sides are not made to answer questions. The Opposition is there to ask the questions for the Govt to answer which they will answer with rhetoric irrelevant to the question. It is like they are talking to themselves enjoying hearing the sound of their own voices. Then we get the Govt ministers asking questions so senior Govt ministers can elaborate on Labor rhetoric they are trying to sell to the people. This annoys me about Question Time. Fortunately I have a TV I can have on and later come back to watch only the questions by the Opposition and the predictable response by Govt ministers by fast forwarding over Labor Ministers asking questions and Labor spin that has been put forward.

      I watch Question Time for the drama. Unlike yesterday there was no drama today to get excited about except for Gillard being precious again and Pyne being told to leave the Chamber. Waste of time if you ask me but don’t want to miss the chaos that Labor gets themselves into and then trying to justify.

    • Bear says:

      03:16pm | 10/10/12

      @Rosie That’s not what I meant, I know how it works. I meant eg the Howard Govt.

    • Bear says:

      03:30pm | 10/10/12

      And yea it is infuriating at times but you have to watch. And sometimes you just want them to answer the damn q because I would actually like to know!

    • andrew says:

      11:20am | 10/10/12

      Beyond all the obvious problems with Slipper being Speaker—a problem that journalist Chris Kenny correctly predicted as soon as it happened—I could never get over Slipper’s adoption of the fancy robes.

      It was just so ... ostentatious.  So self-serving, self-important and narcissistic; particularly when you consider that this was always going to be a temp job.

      It’s notable that the best thing he thought he could bring to that job was a reinvigorated sense of .. tradition, and finery, and puffery.

      Slipper was facing disendorsement from the Liberal Party before he jumped ship. He already had a very spotty record, and an even worse reputation.  He may have been a Liberal, but at least some in that party had the good sense to distance themselves from him.

      Which makes Gillard’s crimes all the worse. She knew she was buying damaged goods, yet she did it any way.  This is the raw, calculating, scheming, do-whatever-it-takes Gillard. (It’s surprising then, that Graham Richardson doesn’t have much fondness for her. You’d think they’d get along like BFFs.)

      And now Abbott has zero ethical or moral right to call upon Slipper to vote with the Coalition.  It’s shameful that he would even try.

      The whole thing is just yuck.

      Reply

    • Anna C says:

      11:44am | 10/10/12

      This whole farce just reinforces the fact that Peter Slipper is a pompous fool and Julia Gillard is incompetent and lacks good judgement. Same old ... same old.

    • maria says:

      12:03pm | 10/10/12

      and what are you going to do to stop the yuck in our wonderful democracy?

    • andrew says:

      12:46pm | 10/10/12

      @maria

      “and what are you going to do to stop the yuck in our wonderful democracy?”

      For starters, I’m not going to barrack for either side, as if they were sporting teams.

      All sides are culpable here, as are their fans, fanboys, machinery and much of the attendant political press pack.

      The “yuck” here wasn’t started by Slipper. It is part of the political culture, and occurs in varying degrees across politics.

      Those people cheering on Gillard really need to take a good look at themselves.  You are cheering on someone who has behaved very badly in the pursuit of raw power and ambition. The fact that she and her colleagues are using sex as a way to political power is even more appalling. (Worse is the fact that too many women and men are swallowing this tripe.)

      Those people cheering on Abbott need to have a rethink, too. His approach to Slipper has been hypocritical, to say the least.  His alarmism over the Carbon Tax (which I do not support) has been completely over the top.

      Those people supporting the Greens, well… god knows what you need to do. It says something about our system that the ideologues in the far-left of the Greens are even remotely tenable as political candidates. 

      Politics is a necessary evil.  We should choose the lesser of evils. That doesn’t mean we should applaud the lesser of evils; they are, after all, still evil.

    • Rick says:

      01:08pm | 10/10/12

      @andrew
      Direct democracy is a way to check political power. It allows benevolent and enlightened citizens to oppose laws made by evil politicians.

      Direct democracy would stimulate government to do the job it was elected to do.

      The most important change you can make to a system is a change to the rules that govern it….. are you willing to it or keep it with same…..

    • Meph says:

      01:19pm | 10/10/12

      @andrew

      “That doesn’t mean we should applaud the lesser of evils; they are, after all, still evil.”

      While I agree with the principles in your statement, it doesn’t have to be this way. If people stop voting along party lines, or for popularity, and actually start voting in people with the skills and abilities to do the job, we might be able to claw our way out of the cesspit that is modern Australian politics.

    • andye says:

      01:41pm | 10/10/12

      @andrew - You appear to be way too sensible and balanced. What the hell are you doing posting here? raspberry

    • Sexist woman who hates Julia says:

      03:06pm | 10/10/12

      @ andrew,
      enjoyed reading your comments, Slipper was known and intensely disliked in Lib ranks, before he defected.

      I don’t think the Libs have been anywhere near as hypocritical as the ALP in this debacle. From beginning to end, the Slipper ‘issue’ has showcased the ALP power-at-all-costs manoeuvring.

      The sign-off, with Julia Gillard’s much-vaunted personal attack on Abbott, was simply the latest chapter in the ALP’s shameful and disgraceful politicking.

      Cannot believe how much money we personally hand over to these clowns.

    • Palerider says:

      03:49pm | 10/10/12

      The actual reason Slippery Pete donned the robes was because he found out that it paid an extra $1.82 a week!

    • ruru says:

      05:07pm | 10/10/12

      I thought Slipper was a top speaker, even in his robes.
      As for question time, hows Abbott tabling a powerbill that he couldn’t decifer correctly. What a moron. Needed the 9.5% carbon price pointed out.
      I thought he studied economics, could be wrong there, got his Rhodes scholarship on the back of his boxing prowess, so God knows the quality of his grey matter
      Or maybe he does the ironing while the missus sorts the household bills.

    • rogerm says:

      11:30am | 10/10/12

      The one I feel for in all this is Harry Jenkins . Moved aside for the clown to step up to begin his slide to nothingness , we , as a consequence lose a very good speaker .Can someone , anyone , save my Parliament from these work experience nobodies.

      Reply

    • Marco says:

      11:45am | 10/10/12

      Well said. My thoughts exactly.

    • wolf says:

      11:58am | 10/10/12

      Stop being misogynist!  Anna Bourke is a much better speaker than Harry Jenkins ever was. This is the greatest parliament ever because strong wimmin are in charge.

    • andrew says:

      12:01pm | 10/10/12

      The worst part for Jenkins is that he was forced to make up a story.  He said he was going to the backbench to engage more in ALP policy work (or whatever; it was the the equivalent of “spending more time with my family”).

      Jenkins wasn’t able (or allowed) to say that he was forced out of the job in order to secure government numbers, despite everyone in Australia knowing this.

      So now he’s stuck. He’d LOVE to get the Speakership back—it’s pretty much the only thing he wants in politics—but there’s no (ethical) way for him to return to it.  If he did, he’d be admitting the lie.

      So Burke gets the gig.  And gets a HUUUUUUUGE payrise.

      As Deputy Speaker, Burke got 20% of the base salary for a member.  Not an inconsiderable amount, but…

      As Speaker, Burke gets a whopping 75% addition to the base salary.

      There will be much rejoicing in the Burke household this week.

      Jenkins, however, does not leave empty handed. There are literally dozens of Chairs of committees and Deputy Chairs and Parliamentary Secretaries and other positions that can be taken up, all with lucrative salary bonuses.

    • Meph says:

      12:10pm | 10/10/12

      @wolf

      you owe me a new sarcasm detector!

    • Bear says:

      04:45pm | 10/10/12

      Was wondering why didn’t get it back! Slipper was good at keeping some order though but he did it by standing until they shut up rather than trying to yell. Not sure Jenkins could pull that off because he looks more like a Teddy bear than Slipper who does somewhat look like the sinister guy you don’t want to piss off.

    • Babylon says:

      11:48am | 10/10/12

      Can we get back to Government now?

      So busy smearing Abbott while our Mining boom and manufacturing jobs slip off overseas!

      Reply

    • maria says:

      11:59am | 10/10/12

      It’s about controlling and running and maintaining the dignity of the Parliament…...... our house ?
      what do you mean by that Madame Speaker?

      Our system has showed us that we are worse than a mafiacracy, at least a mafiosi would have the courtesy to keep his own house out of the nasty dirty things we have just witnessed.

      As long long as direct democracy will be denied to the australian people I don’t see how we can stop ” s***t happens as it is happening under our system in which we are irrelevant.

      As Tony said in his own blog the system is not perfect, it has many faults but I’m happy with it…..strange….bizarre and ......

      Reply

    • subotic says:

      12:27pm | 10/10/12

      It’s about controlling and running and maintaining the dignity of the Parliament

      Spot the oxymoron…..

    • Jenny says:

      12:38pm | 10/10/12

      That’s right Maria direct democracy is the answer, unfortunately can the australian people understand the meaning of direct democracy when they have been brainwashed that our system is the best in the world from the bottom?

    • Rick says:

      01:11pm | 10/10/12

      @subotic

      Spot the oxymoron…HOW?

    • poa says:

      12:09pm | 10/10/12

      I will not be lecturered about misogyny by the ALP.
      Without proof , they fling the term at their enemies yet vote to keep the admitted vilest smearer of women in their jobs when it suits them.

      Reply

    • Joan says:

      12:58pm | 10/10/12

      Yep world biggest rant by Gillard ends up with a vote for pervert comments by Slipper. No I won’t be lectured on misogyny by Gillard. Gillard as indicated by her vote,  reminds us that her word is worth nothing and totally meaningless

    • Kathy says:

      12:28pm | 10/10/12

      Who will replace the old pugilist Tony Abbott in te lead up to the 2013 election , an election he is set to lose if he continues as Lib leader? Who - maybe Bronny Bishop? Plenty of experience and good strong thighs. Anyway whoever it is lets hope he/she has more success than Abbott who has reduced Parliament to a thugs palace

      Reply

    • jaki says:

      12:47pm | 10/10/12

      What have Bronwyn Bishop’s thighs got to do with anything?  You’re really not a very nice person at all, are you Kathy ? So much bitterness.
      Best you seek help before the next election- it could tip you over the edge.

    • Tolomy says:

      12:49pm | 10/10/12

      @Kathy, I am women hear me roar. Spoken like a true ALP Staffer???
      You like the ALP members keep attacking Abbott instead of defending the “Good” things the ALP has done! Oh that’s right they haven’t done any!
      You seem to keep banging on about Abbott hoping that any flaw you can find will be worse than Gillard.
      Gillard appointed Slipper and still supports Thompson, 2 men that are a disgrace but she not Abbott still supports them.
      Any comments on that @Kathy?

    • andrew says:

      12:51pm | 10/10/12

      Will you be voting for that replacement Kathy?

      Or is this concern-trolling?  i.e. Saying nice things about Anyone But Abbott, knowing full well that you wouldn’t vote for anyone in the Coalition? Basically, a way to stick it to Abbott while pretending to be impartial?

      Like the Laborites who say nice things about Malcolm Turnbull. But only when he’s not the leader of the party.

      (And like the Coalition voters who say nice things, or at least semi-nice things, about Kevin Rudd, but only because he’s not PM.)

    • andrew says:

      01:01pm | 10/10/12

      @Kathy

      And if a guy had made a comment about Gillard’s thighs, you’d probably be joining Plibersek, Wong and the rest of the ALP’s ThoughtCrime department in condemning such a catty, sexist, inappropriate, demeaning remark.

      Luckily for you, you’re (probably) a woman, and most likely a Labor voter.

      So you get to be sexist AND get away with it.

    • Jolly says:

      01:41pm | 10/10/12

      Yeah, like it tripped Gillard over after she lost Slipper as Speaker. What must hurt her most is the fact that she can see the Independents moving away from her grasp. Gillard never looked this bad ever. She has lost it. I disliked her when she treacherously ‘assassinated” a sitting PM but now I am utterly disgusted with her desire to keep Slipper. She is without morals and her obsession with Abbott has clouded her vision. She has degraded Labor and brought it to its lowest ebb since its formation. Shame Gillard. You have destroyed Labor for your personal ambition.

    • nihonin says:

      03:58pm | 10/10/12

      Kathy, when will Labor be dumping John McTernan as an advisor, this campaign like all the campaigns the man has guided Labor into has backfired terribly.  Most voters know labor have fucked the economy (but go on tell me “it isn’t so”), by using these attacks on the leader of opposition it shows they don’t even have any faith in using their record as government as an argument against Tony Abbott and the Liberals or any other questions directed at them.

    • Biff says:

      01:00pm | 10/10/12

      Do we know if Anna Bourke is fond of overseas travel? Does she know her way to the trough? What experience has she had hosting those endless parties for visiting parliamentarians? Has Paul Keating trained her in filling out a T/A form? Is she fond of the service provided by ComCar? These and many other questions need answers.

      Reply

    • Siege of Perth says:

      02:02pm | 10/10/12

      Whoevers the speaker really needs to step up. The parliament during question time is out of control. I dont know about non question time cause thats the only time its shown on ABC but question time is seriously a joke. The new speaker needs to be super strict, be throwing people out all over the place. Lets return the parliament to a place of debate and policy making, not political sledging.

      Reply

    • Bear says:

      02:39pm | 10/10/12

      Non qt is mostly very boring and in a half or mostly empty chamber. I think they all go to the pub. Actually, despite all the ‘woe is us, Labor is wrong on everything wrong bs’ for the most part they’re passing boring bills they both end up agreeing on.

    • Peter says:

      02:25pm | 10/10/12

      When it comes to politicians, they should always be judged by their actions rather than their words.

      Gillard has actively supported in parliament:

      Kevin Rudd - who bullied female flight attendants
      Craig Emerson - who cheated on his wife
      Craig Thomson - patron of escort agenies
      and now Peter Slipper.

      Yet we are supposed to believe that Abbott is the misogynist because:

      he stood near somebody who held a sign with rude comments
      he has received past support from Alan Jones
      he went to Peter Slipper’s wedding.

      even though he has not supported their controversial comments.

      Doublethink is alive and well.

      Reply

    • Nick says:

      04:19pm | 10/10/12

      Peter ,its all they have left.Nothing will save this Prime Minister and she has personally set back any chance that this country will see a female PM for a long time.

    • Bill says:

      05:12pm | 10/10/12

      keep hope alive you 2
      dump Abbott, or have another 4 years of GIllard.

      your choice.

    • Bho Ghan-Pryde says:

      06:30pm | 10/10/12

      Nick, I do not see why Gillard’s performance should set back any chance of there being another female PM in the short term. Plenty of men lie and cock-up on a grand a scale as Julia and some have been PM - for example her immediate predecessor. I am sure there are many women who could do a fine job if given the chance.

    • Hobie says:

      02:37pm | 10/10/12

      A couple of observations.The PM (because of tight numbers) punted on Slipper, probably knowing it was no better than an even money bet ,and she lost. Don’t kid yourself that Abbott would not have done exactly the same if in the Pm’s shoes.His single caveat as to what he would and would not do to achieve/maintain a majority seems not to apply in this instance, though we will never actually know if his resolve was tested. By observation,Slipper appeared to perform the Speaker’s role reasonably well and with impartially. Proves yet again, not wise to mix workplace with titillation (and far worse of course ) topics etc and that the scorn of a jilted admirer is not at all gender specific.

      Reply

    • Bear says:

      03:09pm | 10/10/12

      Ha, Pyne got kicked out. Keep the poodle out for good! No doubt whinging and raising a point of order as is their strategic plan. No matter what the Govt says “point of order” because we’re forced to sook as long as we are on the ‘wrong’ side of the house.

      Reply

    • Jokular says:

      04:06pm | 10/10/12

      ‘because we’re forced to sook as long as we are on the ‘wrong’ side of the house.’

      No more or less than what the government sook, cause they’re on the ‘right’ side of the house (apparently).

    • C says:

      03:27pm | 10/10/12

      I feel sorry for Harry Jenkins. He was a good Speaker and to be relegated to the benches because of a disastrous attempt to shore up government numbers was wrong.
      I also feel sorry for Anna Burke. She may end up being a good Speaker but the government is now going to expect her to do whatever it takes to keep them in power. Imagine being hauled in by the PM and told “Do this or else…”? It will happen.

      Reply

    • VJR says:

      03:53pm | 10/10/12

      The PM showed very poor judgement when she put Peter Slipper in the chair however that was her way of staying in Government.  Remember that’s what it’s all about forget the people or the parliament it just staying in power at all cost.  Now poor Pete’s gone the Parliament is a disgrace after what I saw on question time yesterday. Tony Abbott is not fit to be PM nor is Julia Gillard what a mess and who’s in the middle us mug punters.  I wish Anna Burke all the best but trying to keep those donkeys in the barn yard will be a difficult task.

      Reply

    • Super D says:

      04:35pm | 10/10/12

      I’m somewhat surprised that Mal Farr didn’t credit Gillard with returning dignity to the speakers role.

      Reply

    • Robert S McCormick says:

      04:39pm | 10/10/12

      Today in what passes for Australia’s, allegedly, mature adult Parliament ALP MPs have called for Tony Abbott’s Resignation.
      Let’s go the whole hog, boys & girls!
      Let’s have Julia Gillard’s Resignation too.
      Neither are fit to hold the positions they do.
      Let’s go even further, you nasty, pathetic immature little brats, let’s have a Full Federal Election.
      Let us, the Really Important People in all of this, decide.
      Let us decide who we want to Govern this Great Country. A Great Country you are all intent on destroying.
      The vast majority of us loathe both Julia Gillard & Tony Abbott.
      Let us decide.
      Julia Gillard is not fit to be Prime Minister
      Tony Abbott is not fit to be Prime Minister.

      Reply

    • David V. says:

      05:07pm | 10/10/12

      I would vote Liberal, but I’m more inclined to Katter or Family First. Abbott isn’t ruthless enough, won’t do what’s necessary to clean up this country.

    • Robert S McCormick says:

      04:54pm | 10/10/12

      Unlike the SA Parliament, which also has a Female Speaker,  With Anna at least we can expect, as she has shown to date, the same treatment of all MPs.
      Typically in SA the disastrous Speaker Breuer has been unceasingly Unfair, Biased & Discriminatory towards the Opposition side.
      She says she wants to restore some dignity to the SA Parliament.
      But… despite the appalling behaviour of many mebers of her own side she has not once tossed a single ALP MP out. She has reserved that penaltysolely & entirely for the Opposition.
      That’s is Socialist fairness at work.

      Reply

    • David V. says:

      05:10pm | 10/10/12

      Misogyny? Try Israel, where ex-president Moshe Kastav is in jail for rape. We’re not at that level, surely. In a region where misogyny reigns supreme, Israel is doing pretty “well” to match its Muslim neighbours.

      Isn’t multiculturalism great? All cultures are supposedly “equal” yet we see the “benefits” in the UK and Australia, including very real and depraved misogyny.

      Reply
 
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