Random Analytica

Here is a look at the 45^th Parliament where the Honourable Tony Smith quietly overtook the Honourable Bronwyn Bishop as the Speaker who has delivered the most two-hour suspensions via the 94(a) ruling. Interestingly, Tony Smith did not ‘name’ anyone during the 45^th Parliament. Naming a sitting member means a 24-hour or 94(b) suspension.

In the 166-days parliamentary days that Tony Smith occupied the Speakers chair he averaged 2.5 suspensions per day. His suspension average topped >3 between the 7^th September to 18^th October 2017 with his highest average of 3.08 recorded on the 14^th September 2017. Members of the opposition represented 95.9% of his suspensions with only 17 Coalition members asked to take a 2-hour break. Anthony Pasin was the most removed MP from the Coalition with four suspensions.

In the naughty corner the most for the 45^th Parliament was the member for Bruce, Julian Hill who received 29 two-hour suspensions. The most suspended female from the ALP benches was a tie between Emma Husar and Terri Butler with 21 apiece.

An interesting data point: When Emma Husar initially reached 21-suspensions on the 19^th June 2018, her colleague Julian Hill had only 19-suspensions. I suspect if Emma didn’t get caught up in an internal investigation, she may have been the most suspended member for this Parliament.

Now to that election…

Data Sources

1. Parliament of Australia. House Hansard. Accessed 12^th April 2019.
2. Parliament of Australia. Hon Tony Smith MP (Image). Accessed 12^th April 2019.
3. Parliament of Australia. Mr Julian Hill, MP (Image). Accessed 12^th April 2019
4. Parliament of Australia. Ms Emma Husar (Image). Accessed 12^th April 2019