David Hawker | |
|---|---|
| 25thSpeaker of the Australian House of Representatives | |
| In office 16 November 2004 – 17 October 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Neil Andrew |
| Succeeded by | Harry Jenkins |
| Member of theAustralian Parliament forWannon | |
| In office 7 May 1983 – 19 July 2010 | |
| Preceded by | Malcolm Fraser |
| Succeeded by | Dan Tehan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1949-05-01)1 May 1949 (age 76) Adelaide,South Australia, Australia |
| Party | Liberal Party of Australia |
| Relations | Charles Hawker (cousin) George Charles Hawker (great-grandfather) |
| Alma mater | University of Melbourne |
| Occupation | Farmer and grazier |
| Website | davidhawker.com.au |
David Peter Maxwell HawkerAO (born 1 May 1949) is a formerAustralian politician who served as aLiberal member of theAustralian House of Representatives from May 1983 to July 2010, representing theDivision of Wannon,Victoria, previously represented by former Prime MinisterMalcolm Fraser.
Hawker served as the 25thSpeaker of the House of Representatives from 2004 to 2007.
Hawker was born inAdelaide on 1 May 1949, the son of Pamela Gavin and David Hawker. His father, a grazier, was a grandson of colonial MPGeorge Charles Hawker and cousin of federal MPCharles Hawker.[1]
Hawker's family moved toApsley, Victoria, when he was four years old, where they ran asheep station. He attendedGeelong Grammar School and went on to study mechanical engineering at theUniversity of Melbourne.[1] He entered residence atTrinity College in 1968,[2] graduatingBachelor of Engineering in 1972. He subsequently worked as a graduate engineer at theAltona Refinery and also as ajackaroo outside ofPort Augusta, South Australia, before returning to manage the family property at Apsley.[1]
After Fraser announced his retirement from politics amid the Coalition's heavy defeat in the1983 federal election, Hawker won the seat in aMay 1983 by-election. Hawker was a member of the Opposition Shadow Ministry 1990–93, a Deputy OppositionWhip 1989–90 and 1994, and Chief Opposition Whip 1994–96.
On 15 November 2004 Hawker was chosen by the Parliamentary Liberal Party as its candidate for the position ofSpeaker of the House of Representatives. He was formally elected to the position on 16 November without opposition. After the2007 federal election, Labor memberHarry Jenkins succeeded Hawker as Speaker of the House, and took office on 12 February 2008.
Hawker announced in June 2009 that he would retire from parliament at the2010 federal election.[3]
 | Thisbiography of a living personrelies too much onreferences toprimary sources. Please help by addingsecondary or tertiary sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourcedmust be removed immediately, especially if potentiallylibelous or harmful. Find sources: "David Hawker" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(August 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Hawker had been considered as a candidate for Speaker in both of the 1998 Speakership elections, which sawIan Sinclair thenNeil Andrew elected successively. Following Andrew's retirement at the2004 federal election, he was nominated by theHoward government for the position. As Speaker from 2004 to 2007, Hawker was the subject of some controversy.
Some of Hawker's rulings, from motions put by theAustralian Labor Party Opposition, were somewhat controversial early in his term, with one session of Question Time on 1 December 2004 resulting in twelve points of order, some continuously raised, toBrendan Nelson's response to a question on school funding raised bySophie Mirabella, in that it was seen by the Opposition to anticipate debate. This session resulted in a dissent motion regarding the permission of ministers tabling documents at the end of answers, which was negatived. A further dissent motion was raised on 7 December 2004, regarding questions asked relating to public affairs but not directly regarding the subject's portfolio, specifically, the desire of the Opposition to questionDe-Anne Kelly to her supposed approval of funding of a project not relating to her portfolio of Veterans' Affairs. This dissent motion was also voted down. Likewise, a motion of dissent on 28 November 2005 to a ruling thatthe Member for Perth resume his seat, having twice ignored an instruction to desist in argument across the chamber, was voted down. (Immediately thereafter, the motion toplace further motions on notice was passed without a vote, and the Speaker responded tothe Leader of the Opposition's subsequentPoint of Order by stating that the motion was a "request".)
A 2006 ruling made by Hawker after an incident during a heated exchange in the House brought further motions of dissent from the Opposition, and drew criticism of the Speaker's impartiality from the media.
After a motion regarding share trading was moved byKelvin Thomson, theMember for Wills, on 25 May 2006,Leader of the HouseTony Abbott referred to Thomson indirectly using unparliamentary language by moving the motion "that that snivelling grub be no longer heard".[4] The Deputy Chair at the time,Peter Lindsay, did not make comment against to the withdrawal Abbott made using the words "if I have offended grubs, I withdraw unconditionally". Later, the Speaker assumed the Chair, but it was only after the Opposition attempted to move a dissent motion that Abbott withdrew "unconditionally any imputation or offensive words against the member for Wills".[5]
The following week, on 31 May, Manager of Opposition BusinessJulia Gillard attempted to mimic exactly the exchange of 25 May by moving the motion "that that snivelling grub over there be not further heard"[6] against Abbott on a health legislation amendment, and then stating that "If I have offended grubs, I withdraw unconditionally", the Speaker asked Gillard to withdraw "without reservation". Gillard responded that "in accordance with your ruling yesterday, I have withdrawn effectively", but the Speaker then said that "I have no option...but to name the member", and subsequently by motion from Abbott, Gillard was removed from the House for 24 hours.
The Opposition had earlier asked questions to the Speaker about the apparent impartiality of the latter ruling,[7] but criticism of the decision reached the media, with the Speaker defending the decision made referring to Abbott's later unconditional withdrawal.[8] Under standing order 94A, the Speaker can throw members out of the parliament without a verbal warning for one hour. This rule has frequently been used to expel disruptive opposition members from the parliament. During the 2 November 2005Question Time which centred over the government's controversial Industrial Relations reforms some eleven Labor members were thrown out in one day. This was a record number of ejections in question time untilBronwyn Bishop ejected 18 members during question time on 27 November 2014.[9]
On 11 June 2012, he was named an Officer of theOrder of Australia for "distinguished service to the Parliament of Australia, to public administration and monetary policy reform, and to the community through local government, health and sporting organisations."[10]
| Parliament of Australia | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives 2004–2008 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member forWannon 1983–2010 | Succeeded by |
