Speaker of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly

The Speaker of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly is the presiding officer in the Legislative Assembly. The office has existed since the creation of the Legislative Assembly in 1890 under the Constitution Act 1889. The current Speaker is Labor MLA Peter Watson, who has held the role since the 2017 state election.

Speaker of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
Incumbent Peter Watson since 11 May 2017
Style	The Honourable Mr / Madam Speaker (in the Assembly)
Appointer	The Monarch's representative at the behest of the Legislative Assembly
Term length	Elected at start of each Parliament
Inaugural holder	Sir James George Lee-Steere
Formation	30 December 1890
Deputy	Lisa Baker
Website	www.parliament.wa.gov.au

The role of the Speaker

The Speaker must be a member of the Assembly themselves, and is elected to the position by a ballot of the members of the Assembly. It is generally a partisan position. As with the other states and territories, the Speaker continues to attend party meetings and stands at general elections as a party candidate, if they are indeed a member of a party. There is no convention that the Speaker should not be opposed in his or her constituency.

On the other hand, the Speaker is not a political figure like those in the United States. He or she does not take part in debates in the House, does not vote in the House except in the (rare) event of a tied vote, and does not speak in public on party-political issues (except at election time in his or her own constituency). He or she is expected to conduct the business of the House in an impartial manner, and generally does so. The Speaker is assisted by a member-elected Deputy Speaker, who is usually also of the governing party.

The Speaker's principal duty is to preside over the Assembly. The occupant of the Chair must maintain order in the House, uphold the Standing Orders (rules of procedure) and protect the rights of backbench members.

List of Speakers of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly

Order	Speaker	Party	Term begin	Term end	Term of office	Notes
1	Sir James George Lee-Steere	Ministerial	30 December 1890	30 November 1903	12 years, 335 days	^1
2	Charles Harper	Opposition	2 December 1903	27 July 1904	238 days	^1
3	Mathieson Jacoby	Independent	28 July 1904	27 October 1905	1 year, 91 days	^1
4	Timothy Quinlan	Ministerial	23 November 1905	8 October 1911	5 years, 319 days	^1
5	Frank Troy	Labor	1 November 1911	13 February 1917	5 years, 104 days
6	Edward Bertram Johnston	Country	13 February 1917	1 March 1917	16 days
7	James Gardiner	Country	1 March 1917	28 June 1917	119 days
8	George Taylor	National Labor	19 July 1917	23 July 1924	7 years, 4 days
9	Thomas Walker	Labor	24 July 1924	29 July 1930	6 years, 5 days
10	Sydney Stubbs	Country	30 July 1930	17 July 1933	2 years, 352 days
11	Alexander Panton	Labor	18 July 1933	24 March 1938	4 years, 249 days
12	William Johnson	Labor	4 August 1938	2 August 1939	363 days
13	Joseph Sleeman	Labor	3 August 1939	31 July 1947	7 years, 362 days
14	Charles North	Liberal	31 July 1947	5 August 1953	6 years, 5 days
15	Aloysius Rodoreda	Labor	6 August 1953	1 August 1956	2 years, 361 days
16	James Hegney	Labor	2 August 1956	29 June 1959	2 years, 331 days
17	John Hearman	Liberal	30 June 1959	23 March 1968	8 years, 267 days
18	Hugh Guthrie	Liberal	25 July 1968	20 February 1971	2 years, 210 days
19	Merv Toms	Labor	15 July 1971	8 October 1971	85 days
20	Daniel Norton	Labor	16 November 1971	30 March 1974	2 years, 134 days
21	Sir Ross Hutchinson	Liberal	22 May 1974	19 February 1977	2 years, 273 days
22	Ian Thompson	Liberal	24 May 1977	21 March 1983	5 years, 301 days
23	John Harman	Labor	22 March 1983	8 February 1986	2 years, 262 days
24	Mike Barnett	Labor	10 June 1986	17 June 1993	7 years, 7 days
25	Jim Clarko	Liberal	17 June 1993	14 December 1996	3 years, 180 days
26	George Strickland	Liberal	6 March 1997	10 February 2001	3 years, 341 days
27	Fred Riebeling	Labor	1 May 2001	6 September 2008	7 years, 128 days
28	Grant Woodhams	Nationals	6 November 2008	9 March 2013	4 years, 123 days
29	Michael Sutherland	Liberal	11 April 2013	11 March 2017	3 years, 334 days
30	Peter Watson	Labor	11 May 2017	present	3 years, 260 days

1. Members of the Legislative Assembly were not officially associated with organised parties until 1904.

See also

• President of the Western Australian Legislative Council

References

• Black, David; Mandy, John (2002). The Western Australian Parliamentary Handbook (20th edition). Perth: Western Australian Parliamentary History Project.
• Speaker of the Legislative Assembly