Tony Smith (Victorian politician)

The Honourable Tony Smith MP
30th Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office 10 August 2015
Deputy	Bruce Scott
Preceded by	Bronwyn Bishop
Member of the Australian Parliament for Casey
Incumbent
Assumed office 10 November 2001
Preceded by	Michael Wooldridge
Personal details
Born	Anthony David Hawthorn Smith (1967-03-13) 13 March 1967 Melbourne, Australia
Political party	Liberal Party of Australia
Spouse(s)	Pam Read
Children	2
Alma mater	University of Melbourne
Occupation	Political adviser

Anthony David Hawthorn "Tony" Smith (born 13 March 1967) is an Australian politician who has been a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives since 2001, representing the Division of Casey, Victoria. He has been Speaker of the House of Representatives since 10 August 2015.

Early life and education

Smith was born in Melbourne, to parents Alan Smith, a chemistry teacher, and Noel Smith, a medical secretary. Tony was the youngest child, with two older sisters: Christine (born 1960) and Heather (born 1962). He was educated first at Kerrimuir Primary School in Box Hill North before attending Carey Baptist Grammar School in Kew, and then later at the University of Melbourne, where he was president of the Melbourne University Liberal Club, and is now an honorary life member.

Political career

After completing his education, Smith was a research assistant at the Institute of Public Affairs, a conservative think-tank, before becoming first a media adviser and then a senior political adviser to Peter Costello, the then-Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party and Treasurer.

In parliament

On 23 January 2007, Smith was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, John Howard. He managed to hold his seat of Casey by a considerable margin at the federal election in November of that year, although the Liberal-National Coalition was defeated. On 22 September 2008, Smith was appointed Shadow Assistant Treasurer by Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull.^[1] Smith had previously been Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training.^[2] He was appointed Shadow Minister for Communications in a reshuffle which took place on 8 December 2009.^[3]

When Malcolm Turnbull's hold on the Liberal leadership became terminal, it was speculated that Smith was part of a "two-Tony" ticket in which Smith would be the running mate of Tony Abbott in a leadership challenge. Although Abbott successfully challenged Turnbull for the Liberal leadership on 1 December 2009, Smith was not Abbott's running mate, and Julie Bishop remained deputy under Abbott.

In the new Abbott shadow ministry announced after the August 2010 election, Smith was appointed Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Tax Reform and Deputy chairman, Coalition Policy Development Committee.^[4]

He was interviewed extensively in the ABC documentary The Howard Years.^[5]

Following the resignation of Bronwyn Bishop as Speaker of the House of Representatives in August 2015 over entitlement rorts dating a decade, the Liberal Party nominated Smith as the party's candidate to replace Bishop. The House of Representatives elected Smith unopposed.^[6][7] He has pledged to absent himself from the Liberal party room for the duration of his speakership to protect the neutrality of the chair.^[8][9]

Despite the speculation that they would make a leadership team in 2009, Abbott and Smith do not seem to be close as Abbott demoted Smith after the 2010 election. When Smith sought the speakership in 2015, it is understood that Abbott as Prime Minister backed rival contender Russell Broadbent as the Government's candidate for Speaker over Smith.

It is believed that Abbott blames Smith for the Coalition's narrow loss at the 2010 election due to Smith's perceived mishandling of the Coalition's broadband policy when Shadow Communications Minister.^[10]

References

External links

• Personal website
• The Hon Tony Smith MP, Official Parliament website biography, retrieved August 2015