By JESSE GRAHAM
IT HAS been a busy week for Casey MP Tony Smith.
On Monday 10 August, Mr Smith was in Canberra, heading to a Liberal Party partyroom meeting at the beginning of the day, as he would on any other sitting week.
But Monday’s meeting was to determine who would take the Speaker’s chair following the resignation of Bronwyn Bishop, amid a travel expenses scandal.
He told the Mail earlier today that the ballot, which he won with 51 votes to 22, was “amicable” between himself and other candidates for the job, Russell Broadbent, Andrew Southcott and Ross Vasta.
“You had a South Australian running, a Queenslander running and two Victorians. In that situation, you know every candidate is going to bring some strengths with them,” he said.
“You offer yourself and the colleagues make up their mind, but in a ballot with four candidates, no-one knows what’s going to happen until the results are read out.
“It was a very amicable contest.”
When Parliament began shortly after 10am, he was dragged to the chair (as is tradition) by Deakin MP Michael Sukkar and Robertson MP Lucy Wicks.
He said his first week settling into the role, which included three Question Times, had been “very busy”, but that he found the job “fascinating”.
“In the first week, to be very candid, it’s obvious there’s a lot going on – it’s been a very busy week,” he said.
“But I’m back in Melbourne now, and I’ll be out at Yarra Junction on Sunday for the Vietnam Veterans’ service, and out there with other state members of Parliament and our veterans, just like I normally am.”
One of Mr Smith’s first comments in his acceptance speech on Monday was that he wanted “robust” debate to take place in Parliament during Question Time, but that he would not tolerate loudness or rudeness.
“It’s a robust place,” he said.
“I said I wanted a Parliament that was passionate – that was important – but it didn’t have to be loud or rude.
“You’ve got to balance the passion of members with the due process and a free-flowing debate.”
During Thursday’s Question Time, Mr Smith ejected his first three MPs – Charlton MP Pat Conroy, Chifley MP Ed Husic and Griffith MP Terri Butler.
He said that the role of Speaker was like that of an umpire, and that the MPs “always need to operate within the standing orders, which are the rules”.
“When you’re an umpire, you’ve got to make decisions that aren’t always welcomed,” Mr Smith said.
Though the Speakership means that Mr Smith will no longer attend partyroom meetings, he said he remains a member of the Liberal Party, and can still advocate for his electorate of Casey.
“First and foremost, I am a local Federal Member of Parliament – first and foremost, and that does not change,” he said.
“I still advocate, I still work hard to deliver results in priority areas, including all of the pledges I made at the last election.
“When you’re Speaker, you’re presiding over the Parliament – as a local member, people are still going to see me at my mobile offices, are still going to see me at the local football; they’re still going to see Pam and I and the boys at Bunnings.”
Though residents in the Yarra Valley know Mr Smith as their MP, having won the seat of Casey in 2001 and stayed on since, much of the talk nationally on Monday regarded the question of just who Mr Smith was.
On Twitter, journalists covering federal politics came across Mr Smith’s love of cars, posting numerous photos of the MP over the years with a number of vehicles, along with the hashtag #SittingOnCarsWithTonySmith.
“Really?” Mr Smith said, laughing at the concept.
“The Herald Sun ran an old photo of me on the bonnet of my Monaro.”
Mr Smith said he was known by some nationally for his work on the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, but with 150 members in the House of Representatives and 76 senators, the conversation was “part and parcel” of his being thrust into the spotlight.
“That’d be the case with most people, assuming an office that has a very high profile straight away,” he said.
In his acceptance speech, Mr Smith noted that he had friends on both sides of the floor of Parliament, and he told the Mail his connection with some MPs goes back to his university days.
“It’s one of the questions I often get asked, is whether I have friends in other political parties,” he said.
“And I did want to make that point, because the two I mentioned, I’ve known since my first days at university.
“We passionately argued against each other on a range of matters, and we still do now, but it doesn’t mean we can’t be civil.
“It’s just a reminder that the Parliament is a contest of ideas and ideals … because we all want a better Australia, our differences are on how we think we get there.”
The role of Speaker was opened after former Speaker, Bronwyn Bishop, resigned following the revelations she racked up thousands of dollars on a taxpayer-funded helicopter flight, and other travel-related expenses.
