The real problem is not Bronwyn Bishop paying $5,000 for a joy ride to Geeling, but rather that the Federal Parliament has been damaged by a biased speaker who cares little for democracy, writes John Menadue.
I HAVE YET to hear anyone who supports the spending by Bronwyn Bishop of $5,000 in taxpayers’ money for a helicopter ride from Melbourne to Geelong for a Liberal Party fundraiser.
It is surprising, however that, as a member of parliament, she attracts so much attention for this relatively small misuse of public money, but little mention is made of large scale indulgences of companies that provide private travel, yachts, holidays and entertainment for senior executives at the expense of the taxpayer.
But the real issue at the moment is the damage Bronwyn Bishop has been doing to our parliament and the lack of trust we all have in our members of parliament. She is a biased and partisan class warrior and quite unsuited to uphold and advance the dignity of parliament. As of 25 June this year, she had ejected 400 MPs of whom 393 were from the Labor Party. That bias is intolerable.
Tony Abbott speaks often of our constitutional roots in the UK parliamentary system. There are some practices in the House of Commons that we could consider. The first is that candidates for speaker must be nominated by at least twelve members of whom at least three be of a different party to the candidate. This ensures a degree of bipartisan support. Second, the speaker resigns from his or her party and does not attend party meetings. Thirdly, the speaker’s seat is not contested at the next election by a member of the opposition party.
The speaker of the House of Commons clearly sees his or her role as the servant of the parliament and not of the government or the ruling party. There is a long tradition in the House of Commons that the speaker must protect the parliament against the encroachment and power of the monarch and the government. It is a hard won tradition. House of Common’s speakers have been executed for placing the interests of the parliament ahead of the government. That is why we still preserve the fiction that the speaker has to be ‘dragged unwillingly’ to the speaker’s chair. But that’s as far as the relevance goes these days. Unfortunately, in Australia on taking the speakership, the speaker becomes not a servant of the parliament but of the government and the ruling party.
Watch this video of the apolitical UK parliamentary speaker. Australia should have the same. https://t.co/alJ1pO9Xg4 @IndependentAus
— Michael Cahill (@MichaelCahill25) July 21, 2015
Our system has developed differently, but there are still at least things we could learn from the House of Commons. The first is that a new speaker should have the support of both the government and opposition parties. Second, the speaker should never attend caucus meetings of the ruling party. If Tony Abbott and Bill Shorten could agree to such terms in a replacement for Bronwyn Bishop, I would be confident that we could begin to see a renewal of our parliament. Alternatively, if they could not agree, Bill Shorten could propose that he would adopt such an approach in the next parliament if he was able to win a majority. I am sure the public would respond very favourably.
The real problem is not so much $5,000 for the helicopter ride, but the way parliament has been damaged by a biased speaker who cares little for the reputation of the parliament.
This article was originally published on John Menadue's blog 'Pearls and Irritations' on 23 June 2015 under the title 'John Menadue. The real problem is partisanship, not expenses' and has been republished with permission. John's blog can be found at johnmenadue.com and has chapters on human rights, religion and faith, democratic renewal, health, media and immigration/refugees as well as his autobiography 'Things you learn along the way'. The John Graham image featured in this piece may be purchased purchased via the IA online store here.
The unHonourable Tony Abbott: Demand Bronwyn Bishop step down as Speaker of the House of Representat... https://t.co/35EPzARgaX … @ChangeAUS
— Marcus the KNIGHT (@blanketcrap) July 26, 2015
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Top story: Bronwyn Bishop’s lifelong gambits | The Saturday Paper https://t.co/jk1ZWUwEhE, see more http://t.co/bnY6hWwr0j
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