Random Analytica

Tomorrow, on the first day back from the winter break the Coalition government will sit down and decide who will be the new Speaker of the Parliament after Bronwyn Bishop resigned from the role following revelations that she took a helicopter to a Liberal Party fundraiser at a cost of more than $5,000 to the tax-payer rather than choosing another, cheaper form of transport.

Here is an updated look at the charts for Parliamentary suspension during the Bronwyn Bishop era.

As Speaker of the Parliament, Bronwyn Bishop officially spent 130-days in the chair and suspended 400 Members of Parliament (the highest total on record) including 18 MPs in a single day (again, the highest on record). 393 (98.3%) of those ejections were from the ALP and seven were from the Coalition. Included in the total were six 94(b) Naming’s where MPs are suspended for 24-hours rather than just the hour as per the 94(a) suspension. They were Mark Dreyfus (twice), Wayne Swan, Ed Husic, Jim Chalmers and Andrew Laming (from the LNP). On the second 94(b) suspension for Mark Dreyfus he was suspended for the rest of the day and then a further three days.

Interestingly, during 2015 Bronwyn Bishop’s suspension average has moderated (as represented by the black line within the chart) but only slightly and it still stayed above 3 for the entire year.

Here’s a look at the Top 12 MPs who were suspended during Bronwyn Bishop’s time as Speaker of the Parliament.

The Member for Wakefield, Nick Champion continues to lead the count at 53 and is currently 12 suspensions ahead of his colleague the Member for Moreton, Graham Perrett (at 41). Coalition Members who have been suspended include Ewen Jones (twice), Michael McCormack, Luke Simpkings and Andrew Nikolic (twice) and Andrew Laming (94b).

A further 27 ALP MPs have been suspended ten times (or less):

Finally, a look at how the Speakers of the Parliament have stacked up in terms of suspensions during their tenure (and no surprises on who tops the list).

On a final note the Sydney Morning Herald did a very good analysis of the 29^th Speaker’s time in office which is worth a read. Bronwyn Bishop’s greatest hits (or misses) as Speaker of the Parliament. Click through for the mosaic of Bronwyn Bishop created using photos of MPs who were suspended from Parliament during her time in the chair.

Data Sources

[1] Parliament of Australia. Hansard. Accessed 9 August 2015.