Victorian MP Tony Smith has been elected as the next Speaker of federal parliament.
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One MP did not attend the vote.
One of the lessons Tony Abbott has been slow to learn is that the government is held responsible for a wide array of things, including the fine functioning of the House and the Senate.
Mr Smith replaces Bronwyn Bishop, who was forced to resign in the wake of the ongoing entitlements scandal.
Mr Smith will receive a $146,000 pay rise, up from his previous backbench salary of $195,000. Mrs Bishop sat at the back of the chamber, her expression unmoving.
He confirmed this on Monday.
Reacting to Abbott’s comment on Adani mine project, Australian opposition leader Bill Shorten said Abbott should concentrate on his day job, and not act as “commentator in chief” on federal court matters.
Before the 2013 election, the Coalition promised to maximise the independence of the Speaker by ensuring he or she would not attend party room meetings when Parliament Saturday.
He was dragged to the chair by his colleagues, greeted by Christopher Pyne along the way.
Joe Hockey, from NSW, began backing South Australia’s Andrew Southcott but is understood to have switched to Mr Smith over the weekend.
When finally it was Smith’s turn to speak, his criticism of Bishop was between the lines.
“Adani is confident the conditions imposed on the existing approval are robust and appropriate once the technicality is addressed”, the group said in a statement after the decision.
There are other reasons why Mr Smith’s elevation is significant.
Bishop, 72, was the choice of Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who once described himself as the “ideological love child” of Bishop and John Howard, the second-longest serving prime minister in Australian history and the last conservative prime minister before Abbott.
“In the course of your 15-year parliamentary career you have met with some disappointments,” he said.
Abbott said of Bishop that “despite some admitted errors of judgement she has served the Parliament, our country and her party with dedication and distinction”.
“She has been a warrior for the causes that she believe in”.
“You can make this a place where straightforward questions get straightforward answers”.
“Serving as the Speaker is a privilege not a prize, a responsibility, not a reward”, Mr Shorten said.
Sydney Morning Herald is reporting all 74 MPs have had their phones collected as they entered the party rooms in an effort to head off any early leaks of the result.
“But it needn’t be rude and it needn’t be loud – that is something I’d like to see improved”.
“I don’t think it is right that the leader of this nation is now second-guessing our judges”, he said, adding “Abbott seems to be creating a new test for environmental protection in this country that near enough is good enough”.
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He vowed to meet the opposition and crossbenchers “periodically” to discuss the operations of Parliament.
