Jnor
Peter Fenwicke (45)
The Libs went to the last election with an agenda of parliamentary reform, and seemed pretty serious about it. Whether that reform included allowing an independent the balance of power AND control of parliament as speaker, well I'm not convinced.
After Oakeshott's never ending speech to anoint Jools as king, does anyone want him to be given another soapbox?
I believe an independent speaker would be great, but not this independent. Someone like Tony Jones, Kerry O'Brien, or Mark Colvin who wont take any shit. Not sure how you'd select such a person though.
Every single response in question time would be cut short and met with "I'll take that as a comment". I like it!
More seriously, I think if legal issues can be sorted re Oakeshott voting and being speaker at the same time, then he's the man for the job. Speaker doesn't necessarily equal soapbox and I'm happier listening to him ramble than listening to Joolia's empty spin and Abbott's sore-loser ranting