Special Sitting, 6 February 2023, 8:35PM
Speaker: Order, order! Welcome to this evening’s Special Sitting of the Lower Chamber. This evening, we convene to announce the results of our Deputy Speakership elections. After this, we will proceed to our Adjournment debate.
(To the Clerk) May I have the result paper, please?
Clerk: (To the Speaker) Yes, Mister Speaker, one moment. Here you go.
Speaker: (To the Clerk) Thank you.
(To the Chamber) Order, order! Silence in the Chamber! In fourth place with fifteen votes, is the Honourable Willis Holt. In third place with thirty-five votes, is the Honourable Cordelia Reynolds. In second place with sixty-six votes, is the Honourable Virgil Waters. In first place with one hundred and eighty-four votes, is the Honourable Sidney Ward.
Parliament: Hear, hear!
Speaker: Order, orderrrrrrrrr! Sidney Ward and Virgil Waters are, therefore, elected Deputy Speakers of the Chamber. Minister to move.
Minister: Mister Speaker, the question is that Sidney Ward and Virgil Waters do take Office as Deputy Speakers of the Lower Chamber. Mister Speaker, I beg to move.
Speaker: The question is that Sidney Ward and Virgil Waters do take Office as Deputy Speakers of the Lower Chamber. All as are of that opinion, say aye.
Vast Majority: Aye!
Speaker: On the contrary, no.
Vast Minority: No!
Speaker: I think the ayes have it, the ayes have it. Order, order! I congratulate our two new Deputy Speakers-elect.
Parliament: Hear, hear!
Speaker: Order, order, orderrrrrrrr! I now invite our two new Deputy Speakers-elect to come forward and to declare their resignations and to declare to the Chamber their intentions to become Independent in order to execute their duties completely impartially.
Deputy Speakers-elect: (Rise from their Seats and make their way up to either side of the Speaker’s Seat).
Parliament: Hear, hear, hear!
Speaker: Order, order, order! Not to parallel members’ enthusiasm! Mister Deputy Speaker-elect Waters.
Deputy Speaker-elect Waters: Mister Speaker, I declare my resignation from the Modern Marxist Party to the Chamber and I intend to become Independent as soon as possible in order to execute my duties as Deputy Speaker completely impartially.
Parliament: Hear, hear!
Speaker: Order, order! Mister Deputy Speaker-elect Ward.
Deputy Speaker-elect Ward: Mister Speaker, I declare my resignation from the Modern Marxist Party to the Chamber and I intend to become Independent as soon as possible in order to execute my duties as Deputy Speaker completely impartially.
Parliament: Hear, hear!
Speaker: Order, order! Deputy Prime Minister Walton.
Deputy Prime Minister Walton: Thank you, Mister Speaker. Firstly, I’d like to congratulate our two new Deputy Speakers-elect on their campaigns and their elections as our Deputy Speakers.
Parliament: Hear, hear!
Deputy Prime Minister Walton: Mister Speaker, I’d like to thank the Right Honourable gentlemen for their contributions to the Modern Marxist Party and wish them well in their new jobs as Deputy Speakers and, as such, it is my pleasure to accept their resignations from the Party and to wish them well in their new positions in the Chamber.
Speaker: Order, I thank the Deputy Prime Minister for his acceptance of resignations. All rise now to welcome His Excellency to the Chamber to swear in our two new Deputy Speakers. President.
Parliament: (All stand in total silence and clap as the President enters the Chamber.)
Speaker: Order, order! I welcome His Excellency to the Lower Chamber. Members may sit.
Parliament: (All stop clapping and sit in silence).
Speaker: Your Excellency, the floor is yours.
President: Thank you, Mister Speaker. Mister Deputy Speaker-elect Waters, I ask you to declare your intention to serve this Chamber as truthfully, responsibly and impartially as you can.
Speaker: Mister Deputy Speaker-elect Waters.
Deputy Speaker-elect Waters: Thank you, Mister Speaker. Thank you, Your Excellency. I declare my intention to serve this Chamber to the best of my ability, as truthfully, responsibly and impartially as I can.
Speaker: His Excellency.
President: Thank you, Mister Speaker. Congratulations, Mister Deputy Speaker Waters. Mister Deputy Speaker-elect Ward, I ask you to declare your intention to serve this Chamber as truthfully, responsibly and impartially as you can.
Speaker: Mister Deputy Speaker-elect Ward.
Deputy Speaker-elect Ward: Thank you, Mister Speaker. Thank you, Your Excellency. I declare my intention to serve this Chamber to the best of my ability, as truthfully, responsibly and impartially as I can.
Speaker: His Excellency.
President: Thank you, Mister Speaker. Congratulations, Mister Deputy Speaker Ward.
Speaker: Order, order! I thank His Excellency for being here today and swearing in our new Deputy Speakers. All rise for His Excellency’s departure.
Parliament: (All stand and clap as the President leaves the Chamber).
Speaker: Order, order! Members may sit. I ask the Deputy Speakers to remain where they are, at my sides, and we shall now have some words of reaction and words of welcome. By video link, the Vice-President.
Vice-President: Thank you, Mister Speaker. The Vice-President of Qaweritoyu is not permitted to attend Lower Chamber ceremonies of Swearing, however, I always agree with the President and his work and I always assist him.
Mister Speaker, I have never met your two new Deputy Speakers but I know that this Parliament know good representation and direction when they see it and I trust they have made the right choice in electing these two Deputy Speakers and I say to them, congratulations, well done, and I look forward to seeing your work unfold in the time ahead.
Mister Speaker, I say to your Deputy Speakers that I have, however, met you and worked with you in the Higher Chamber and you are an incredible force in the Lower Chamber, you were in the past and you have been in the Higher Chamber too. Mister Deputy Speakers, the Speaker you are working with is an incredibly talented and very able politician and he will stand by you throughout your work as Deputy Speakers.
Mister Speaker, congratulations once again to your new Deputy Speakers and I look forward to a very interesting year of business in the Lower Chamber.
Speaker: I thank His Excellency for his input and kind words. As much as we have done, there is always so much more to do. Mister Deputy Speaker Wade.
Deputy Speaker Wade: Thank you, Mister Speaker. I thank His Excellency for taking the time to pop in and offer his input this evening. I appreciate the high praise he has paid and I appreciate you, Mister Speaker, and all the work you are doing and will go on doing for this Chamber.
Parliament: Hear, hear!
Speaker: Order, order! Mister Deputy Speaker Waters.
Deputy Speaker Waters: Thank you, Mister Speaker. I side with Mister Deputy Speaker Wade and thank His Excellency for his kind words this evening. Now I know who to seek if I have any trouble.
Parliament: Hear, hear!
Speaker: Orderrrrr! Time will tell if that is a wise decision! The Prime Minister!
Government: Hear, hear!
Prime Minister: Thank you, Mister Speaker. I just want to take this moment to congratulate the new Deputy Speakers. I have not worked with them for very long, Mister Speaker, only since October since we’ve been in Government in Coalition. In that time, I have got to know them both quite well, they have great work ethics, they never give up, they are inspirational politicians in the making, two pleasant young men. Maybe they are future Speakers.
Government: Hear, hear!
Prime Minister: Mister Speaker, in the last Parliament, I sat as Leader of the Advanced Humanitarian League, the only member of the Party to be elected to these benches. I saw the Deputy Speakers working from afar in that Parliament and they are great statesmen and I look forward to getting to know them in their new capacities.
Mister Speaker, whilst I am sorry to see the Coalition’s Majority fall at the departure of the Deputy Speakers, I wish them luck in their new jobs.
Speaker: Order! I thank the Prime Minister for his input. I’m sure they are both future Speakers. As the other Coalition Leader, it is only right I move straight onto him before I seek reactions, Deputy Prime Minister Walton.
Deputy Prime Minister Walton: Thank you, Mister Speaker. Earlier, I said I was delighted to accept the Deputy Speakers’ resignations but this was only partly true. I am delighted to see them move on and become Deputy Speakers, I do share in their joy and the pride I have in them right now is beyond words but as colleagues, I have worked with the Deputy Speakers as colleagues since we were all elected to this Parliament for the first time in the 2017 snap General Election, under the leadership of the Right Honourable lady for Alton City East. Unlike my Right Honourable friend, the Prime Minister, Mister Speaker, I have known the Deputy Speakers very well for the past five years and I will miss having them on these benches with us as our colleagues. The Government is poorer for their departure but the Chamber is richer for their arrival.
Speaker: Order! I thank the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Walton for their inputs.
Doctor Joanna Barrett: Point of Order!
Speaker: Point of Order, Doctor Joanna Barrett!
Doctor Joanna Barrett: Thank you, Mister Speaker. As Deputy Prime Minister Walton rightly said, I was Leader of the Modern Marxist Party when the Deputy Prime Minister and our new Deputy Speakers were elected to Parliament, I was elected at the same time, I just wasn’t a backbencher, I was Prime Minister, I had less time to get to know backbenchers, however, I did eventually get to see backbenchers work and I do remember our new Deputy Speakers’ work, as the former Leader, I wondered if I might be permitted to speak, also, before they are called on for their reactions, please?
Speaker: (To the Clerk) Sorry, Mister Clerk, just need a clarification, as this is a Special Sitting, following the Order paper is non-negotiable, isn’t it?
Clerk: (To the Speaker) Normally, Mister Speaker.
Speaker: (To the Clerk) Do we have time to facilitate the Right Honourable lady?
Clerk: (To the Speaker) I’d say, given the circumstances, it’s fine, Mister Speaker.
Speaker: (To the Clerk) Thank you, Mister Clerk.
(To the Chamber) Order, order! The Clerk has spoken! Doctor Joanna Barrett!
Government: Hear, hear!
Doctor Joanna Barrett: Thank you, Mister Speaker. I would like to congratulate you both, Mister Deputy Speakers, on your elections to your new positions and I have no doubts that you are about to change the way we view the Speakership for the better and our Parliament will be better for having been elected to our Speakership.
Mister Speaker, I would also like to commend the two new Deputy Speakers on their work with us as a Party and the way they set about serving our country. They brought a brightness and a youthfulness to the Government and that will be sorely missed. Mister Speaker, you have two bright, youthful Deputy Speakers now to enhance this Parliament and our work here.
Shannon Bean: Point of Order!
Speaker: Point of Order, Shannon Bean!
Shannon Bean: Thank you, Mister Speaker. My Right Honourable friend just implied that you and the two new Deputy Speakers are about to change the way Parliament is run. Are you about to change the way this Parliament is run?
Speaker: (To the Clerk) Mister Clerk, might I ask the Right Honourable lady to clarify what she said?
Clerk: (To the Speaker) Go for it, Mister Speaker.
Speaker: (To the Chamber) Order, order! I thank the Honourable lady for her Point of Order. Might the Right Honourable lady clarify what she said? Doctor Joanna Barrett.
Doctor Joanna Barrett: Thank you, Mister Speaker. I said they were about to change the way we see the Speakership, not that they were about to change the Speakership or change Parliament.
Speaker: Order! I thank the Right Honourable lady for her clarification and if that clears things up, I’ll move on. Mister Deputy Speaker Wade.
Deputy Speaker Wade: Thank you, Mister Speaker. I thank Deputy Prime Minister Walton and the Right Honourable lady for their inputs and their kind words. I did, of course, really enjoy my work within the Government and the Party but my talents are not to be put to use in another function in this Parliament and I look forward, very much, to that work.
Speaker: Mister Deputy Speaker Waters.
Deputy Speaker Waters: Thank you, Mister Speaker. I also thank Deputy Prime Minister Walton and the Right Honourable lady for their inputs. They have been great Leaders to work under, the Right Honourable lady was a great Prime Minister to me, as the Prime Minister is now, and I look forward to working with the incoming Prime Minister too.
Speaker: For a change of tune, the Leader of the Opposition.
Opposition: Hear, hear!
Opposition Leader: Thank you, Mister Speaker. I have to say, I didn’t really clash with the new Deputy Speakers because, as Leader of the Opposition, I mostly directly oppose the Prime Minister, it really is not my job to oppose backbenchers, that’s for our backbenchers to do, so I would never, really, have met the two new Deputy Speakers but I have been listening to our colleagues in the Government and it sounds like we have two new good Deputy Speakers who have a strong sense of duty and will do their best by us for the duration of their assignments as Deputy Speakers.
Speaker: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for her input. Mister Deputy Speaker Wade.
Deputy Speaker Wade: Thank you, Mister Speaker. I thank the Right Honourable lady for her input. She’s quite right, we never clashed, we never met. I suppose, indirectly, just given the Parties we work for, we did clash. I, of course, know more about who she is than she does about who I am because she had more of the action than I did, but that is only natural and comes from the role she holds in this Parliament now, for the second time. From what I have seen, she is a fighter, she does her best for the Shadow Cabinet and I hope I will continue to offer her the opportunities she has had to show her qualities until now.
Speaker: Mister Deputy Speaker Waters.
Deputy Speaker Waters: Thank you, Mister Speaker. I thank the Right Honourable lady for her input. Likewise, we never clashed either but, again, for obvious reasons, I have seen you in action more than you have seen me in action, however, something tells me that is about to change.
Parliament: (Laughter)
Speaker: (Laughing) I know! Fame at last! Order, orderrrrrr! The Leader of the Incompetent Democratic Party, Stephen Spencer.
Stephen Spencer: Thank you, Mister Speaker. Firstly, I’d like to congratulate the two new Deputy Speakers on their elections.
Incompetent Democrats: Hear, hear!
Stephen Spencer: Mister Speaker, it’s so refreshing to see younger politicians running for Speakership positions and, too, to see them elected, we know the future of our Speakership is safe. That’s not to say, Mister Speaker, that you are old, but the Speaker is usually an experienced figure, even if they have never held the Speakership before, I know you have, Mister Speaker, but Deputy Speaker is ideal for preparing potential future Speakers to become Speaker.
Speaker: Order! I hope Mister Deputy Speaker Wade and Mister Deputy Speaker Waters will not mind if I move straight on, that was more of a statement reacting to your youthfulness than speaking directly to you. The Leader of the World Preservation Movement, Marek McKay.
Marek McKay: Thank you, Mister Speaker.
Marie Ware: Point of Order!
Speaker: Order, order! I apologise for interrupting the Right Honourable gentleman. Point of Order, Marie Ware.
Marie Ware: Thank you, Mister Speaker. I also apologise for interrupting the Right Honourable gentleman. Are you able to just change the order this evening without a motion to Parliament?
Speaker: I thank the Honourable lady for her Point of Order. There are a few points to make in response to that Point of Order. Firstly, this is not one of our usual sittings and not on one of our usual days either so we are already out of order this evening. Secondly, I have been consulting the Clerk before changing the loose structure I have declared to follow for this sitting and if the Clerk ever advises me not to make a change for whatever reason, he will tell me, he has not done so this far. Lastly, there was nothing to react to, the Right Honourable gentleman’s statement was not speaking to either Deputy Speaker in particular, it was speaking to me and I responded to it. I will not call on the Deputy Speakers for the sake of it, especially when there is no need to and it would be a waste of time and I will not expect the Deputy Speakers to respond to the walls or thin air. Marek McKay.
Marek McKay: Thank you, Mister Speaker. As a former colleague of yours. You used to be a politician with us, I just want to put on the Chamber record that you are a valuable addition to the Speakership, as you were to our Party when you worked with us, both when we held the Majority and when, as now, we did not. I congratulate the new Deputy Speakers on their election and if they ever need someone to offer an ear to listen, a helping hand or someone to lean on, Mister Speaker is your man.
Speaker: I thank the Right Honourable gentleman, and my former boss, for his input. Mister Deputy Speaker Wade.
Deputy Speaker Wade: Thank you, Mister Speaker. I thank the Right Honourable gentleman for his input. I have been briefed many a time on how good you are, Mister Speaker, at your job and I look forward to working with you and to asking for your help if it is needed.
Speaker: Order. I don’t mind people singing my praises but preferably not in front of me. I don’t like compliments.
Caelan Ashley: Point of Order!
Speaker: Point of Order, Caelan Ashley!
Caelan Ashley: Thank you, Mister Speaker. Given that you now have two Deputy Speakers that will, no doubt, one day be Speakers themselves, should we not be exposing your talents for them so they know how much support is there for them?
Speaker: That is not a Point of Order, but I have noted the Honourable gentleman’s point. Mister Deputy Speaker Waters.
Deputy Speaker Waters: Thank you, Mister Speaker. I also thank the Right Honourable gentleman for his input. You are, I have seen, a very valuable addition to the Speakership and I hope that I can only enhance that Speakership for you and for this Parliament.
Parliament: Hear, hear!
Speaker: Order! The Leader of the Alliance Party appears to be shaking his head. What’s he shaking his head at? Shawn Flores.
Shawn Flores: Thank you, Mister Speaker. I was shaking my head to let you know that I don’t really have anything to add. Congratulations to the new Deputy Speakers on their election. Everything else has more or less been said, I couldn’t stand here and repeat it like there’s an echo in the Chamber.
Speaker: I thank the Right Honourable gentleman for his input and I note his point. The Leader of the Agrarian Party, Gordon Watts.
Gordon Watts: Thank you, Mister Speaker. I’d also like to congratulate our new Deputy Speakers. I also side, Mister Speaker, with the Leader of the Alliance Party, I can’t think of anything else to say, everything else has been said. Although, Mister Speaker, my imagery is slightly different to his, I don’t liken myself to an echo but rather a parrot but the point remains the same as his.
Speaker: I thank the Right Honourable gentleman for his input. Order, order! We have now reached the end of this evening’s Special Sitting and we proceed directly to this evening’s Adjournment Debate. Mister Deputy Speaker Wade.