Tony Smith named the new Speaker of the House of Representatives

The Australian parliament has elected Victorian Liberal backbencher Tony smith as the new Speaker for the House of Representatives following Bronwyn Bishop’s resignation.

By means of secret ballot on Monday morning, Smith was chosen as he was believed to be the best among other contenders because of his “mild-mannered” nature and leadership qualities.

While taking up the responsibility, Smith assured that he would adopt a non-partisan perspective to keep himself away from petty party-politics. Considering the decision to be both practical and symbolic, he told the parliament that he wouldn’t be attending the weekly party meetings.

"It's my view that the Speaker should not only be, but also should be seen to be, independent of the partisan day-to-day fray," he said.

On his new role, he was asked by Prime Minister Tony Abbott to build internal party support and maintain order in the house by the virtue of respect from both sides of the chamber.

Boasting of Smith’s fearless advocacy and being an absolute “revhead,” fellow Victorian Liberal MP Michael Sukkar officially nominated him after the party room vote. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten was also happy with Smith being named as the new Speaker, praising him for committing to not attend party room meetings anymore. "Serving as a Speaker is a privilege, not a prize; a responsibility, not a reward," Shorten said.

He believed that the new Speaker would make things easier in the parliament so that “straightforward questions get straightforward answers.” He also insisted on allowing supplementary questions during question time to get the opportunity of asking many questions to the ministers instead of one.

Abbott also praised former speaker Bronwyn Bishop, who has now moved to the coalition benches following her scandal of travel entitlements, for her distinct role and dedication in the past 30 years, keeping her errors aside. "She has been a warrior for the causes that she believed in,” he added.

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