Speaker of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly

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The Speaker of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly is the presiding officer in the Legislative Assembly. The office has existed since the creation of the Legislative Assembly in 1890 under the Constitution Act 1889. The position of Speaker is currently held by Australian Labor Party member Fred Riebeling.

The Speaker must be a member of the Assembly themselves, and is elected to the position by a ballot of the members of the Assembly. It is generally a partisan position. As with the other states and territories, the Speaker continues to attend party meetings and stands at general elections as a party candidate, if they are indeed a member of a party. There is no convention that the Speaker should not be opposed in his or her constituency.

On the other hand, the Speaker is not a political figure like those in the United States. He or she does not take part in debates in the House, does not vote in the House except in the (rare) event of a tied vote, and does not speak in public on party-political issues (except at election time in his or her own constituency). He or she is expected to conduct the business of the House in an impartial manner, and generally does so. The Speaker is assisted by a member-elected Deputy Speaker, who is currently ALP member Dianne Guise.

The Speaker's principal duty is to preside over the Assembly. The occupant of the Chair must maintain order in the House, uphold the Standing Orders (rules of procedure) and protect the rights of backbench members.

[edit] List of Speakers of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly

Speaker Party Appointed Left Office Term
Sir James George Lee-Steere Forrest Party1 30 December 1890 30 November 1903 &0000000000000012.00000012 years, &0000000000000335.000000335 days
Charles Harper Opposition1 2 December 1903 27 July 1904 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.0000000 years, &0000000000000238.000000238 days
Timothy Quinlan Ministerial1 23 November 1905 8 October 1911 &0000000000000005.0000005 years, &0000000000000319.000000319 days
Michael Troy Labor 1 November 1911 13 February 1917 &0000000000000005.0000005 years, &0000000000000104.000000104 days
Edward Bertram Johnston Country 13 February 1917 1 March 1917 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.0000000 years, &0000000000000012.00000012 days
James Gardiner Country 1 March 1917 28 June 1917 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.0000000 years, &0000000000000119.000000119 days
George Taylor Nationalist 19 July 1917 23 July 1924 &0000000000000007.0000007 years, &0000000000000004.0000004 days
Thomas Walker Labor 24 July 1924 29 July 1930 &0000000000000006.0000006 years, &0000000000000005.0000005 days
Sydney Stubbs Country 30 July 1930 17 July 1933 &0000000000000002.0000002 years, &0000000000000352.000000352 days
Alexander Panton Labor 18 July 1933 24 March 1938 &0000000000000004.0000004 years, &0000000000000249.000000249 days
W. D. Johnson Labor 4 August 1938 2 August 1939 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.0000000 years, &0000000000000363.000000363 days
Joseph Sleeman Labor 3 August 1939 31 July 1947 &0000000000000007.0000007 years, &0000000000000362.000000362 days
Charles North Liberal 31 July 1947 5 August 1953 &0000000000000006.0000006 years, &0000000000000005.0000005 days
Aloysius Rodoreda Labor 6 August 1953 1 August 1956 &0000000000000002.0000002 years, &0000000000000361.000000361 days
James Hegney Labor 2 August 1956 29 June 1959 &0000000000000002.0000002 years, &0000000000000331.000000331 days
John Hearman Liberal 30 June 1959 23 March 1968 &0000000000000008.0000008 years, &0000000000000267.000000267 days
Hugh Guthrie Liberal 25 July 1968 20 February 1971 &0000000000000002.0000002 years, &0000000000000210.000000210 days
John Toms Labor 15 July 1971 8 October 1971 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.0000000 years, &0000000000000085.00000085 days
Daniel Norton Labor 16 November 1971 30 March 1974 &0000000000000002.0000002 years, &0000000000000134.000000134 days
Sir Ross Hutchinson Liberal 22 May 1974 19 February 1977 &0000000000000002.0000002 years, &0000000000000273.000000273 days
Ian Thompson Liberal 24 May 1977 21 March 1983 &0000000000000008.0000008 years, &0000000000000301.000000301 days
John Harman Labor 22 May 1983 8 February 1986 &0000000000000002.0000002 years, &0000000000000262.000000262 days
Mike Barnett Labor 10 June 1986 17 June 1993 &0000000000000007.0000007 years, &0000000000000007.0000007 days
Jim Clarko Liberal 17 June 1993 14 December 1996 &0000000000000003.0000003 years, &0000000000000180.000000180 days
George Strickland Liberal 6 March 1997 10 February 2001 &0000000000000003.0000003 years, &0000000000000341.000000341 days
Fred Riebeling Labor 1 May 2001 incumbent &0000000000000007.0000007 years, &0000000000000045.00000045 days
  1. Members of the Legislative Assembly were not officially associated with organised parties until 1904.

[edit] References

Black, David; Mandy, John (2002). The Western Australian Parliamentary Handbook (20th edition). Perth: Western Australian Parliamentary History Project. 

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