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David Smith (ALP-Bean) – Maiden Speech

Aug 01, 2019

This is the maiden speech to the House of Representatives by David Smith, the ALP member for Bean, Australian Capital Territory.

As a result of a redistribution, Bean was a new, and third, seat for the ACT at the May 19, 2019 elections. Smith was previously an ACT senator. He filled a casual vacancy in 2018, replacing Katy Gallagher, who had been disqualified under Section 44 of the Constitution. Gallagher returned to her previous Senate position at the 2019 elections.

Listen to Smith (29m):

Watch Smith (32m):

Hansard transcript of maiden speech by David Smith, ALP member for Bean.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER (Ms Bird): I congratulate the member on his contribution. Before I call the honourable member for Bean, I remind the House that this is the honourable member’s first speech and I ask the House to extend to him the normal courtesies.

Mr DAVID SMITH (Bean) (11:32): Let me begin by acknowledging that we meet on the most beautiful land of the Ngunawal and Ngambri people; a land I grew up on and know intimately. I pay my respects to the wise and caring elders past, present and emerging. In my time here, I will work tirelessly to ensure that this House does not simply acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians but that it actively empowers their communities, including my own here in the nation’s capital. [Read more…]

Filed Under: 2019 Federal Election, A.L.P., Audio, House of Reps, Maiden Speeches, Video Tagged With: , ,

Sen. David Smith (ALP-ACT) – Maiden Speech

Jun 27, 2018

Senator David Smith has delivered his maiden speech to the Senate.

Smith

Smith, 48, is a Labor senator, representing the Australian Capital Territory. He was elected in a special recount of votes from the 2016 election, following the disqualification of Katy Gallagher for dual citizenship under Section 44 of the Constitution. He was declared elected by the High Court on May 23, 2018 and sworn in on June 18.

Prior to his election, Smith was the ACT Director of Professionals Australia. He previously worked as an advisor in the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, an industrial relations manager for the Australian Federal Police Association and a policy advisor in the ACT Chief Minister’s Department.

Smith’s term expires with the next dissolution of the House of Representatives. Katy Gallagher was this week endorsed by the Left faction to contest an August preselection against Smith, a former convenor of the Right faction.

  • Listen to Smith’s speech (22m)
  • Watch Smith’s speech (25m)

Hansard transcript of maiden speech by Senator David Smith.

The PRESIDENT (17:03): Order! Before I call Senator Smith, I remind honourable senators that this is his first speech and, therefore, I ask that the usual courtesies be extended to him. [Read more…]

Filed Under: A.C.T., A.L.P., Audio, Maiden Speeches, Senate, Video Tagged With: ,

Sir Paul Hasluck’s 1974 Proclamation Dissolving Parliament

Apr 11, 1974

The Twenty-Eighth Parliament was dissolved after only 18 months as a result of the controversy over the appointment of the DLP Senator Vince Gair as Australian Ambassador to Ireland.

The subsequent announcement by the Federal Opposition Leader, Bill Snedden, that the coalition parties would block the goverment’s Supply Bills in the Senate caused Prime Minister Gough Whitlam to respond by calling a double dissolution election for May 18, 1974.

  • Listen to the Governor-General’s Official Secretary, David Smith, read the dissolution proclamation on the steps of Parliament House at noon on April 11, 1974:
  • This page also appears on WhitlamDismissal.com, along with other information on the Whitlam government and the 1975 Dismissal.

PROCLAMATION
By PAUL HASLUCK, the
Governor-General of Australia

WHEREAS by section 57 of the Constitution it is provided that if the House of Representatives passes any proposed law, and the Senate rejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with amendments to which the House of Representatives will not agree, and if after an interval of three months the House of Representatives, in the same or the next session, again passes the proposed law with or without any amendments which have been made, suggested, or agreed to by the Senate and the Senate rejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with amendments to which the House of Representatives will not agree, the Governor-General may dissolve the Senate and the House of Representatives simultaneously: [Read more…]

Filed Under: 1974 Federal Election, Audio, Double Dissolutions, Governor-General, Whitlam Tagged With: , ,