New SA Parliamentary Speaker Vincent Tarzia bans photographers taking pics of sitting MPs

NEW Speaker Vincent Tarzia, who spoke of wanting to “modernise” Parliament, has brought back a 20-year-old rule that bans photography of sitting MPs.

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SOUTH Australia’s new Speaker Vincent Tarzia, who had spruiked a tech savvy, contemporary approach to his role in the House of Assembly, has gone back in time to determine how the institution should be covered by the media.

However, the Speaker has vowed to reconsider ways to make the Parliament more transparent after he spent the first four days on the job using a set of 20-year-old rules.

The guide includes a ban on taking photographs of MPs unless they are on their feet – a convention largely ignored by the former Speakers in the Labor Government.

Under the rule, that Mr Tarzia had requested be adhered to, media organisations cannot film or take photos of MPs caught napping, reading magazines, or behaving in any unparliamentary fashion if they are seated.

Breaching the rules could see media organisations banned.

Speaker of the House Vincent Tarzia is clearly not standing during his first Parliamentary sitting. Picture: AAP / David Mariuz

Last month, before Mr Tarzia was sworn in as the state’s youngest Speaker, he told The Advertiser he wanted to “modernise” the Parliament and make it “more appealing to a hi-tech generation”.

“There are so many great opportunities for the Parliament to become more widely accessible to the public as technology progresses,” he said.

Mr Tarzia also said he would “investigate the live streaming of Question Time on Facebook” and push for online petitions.

Yesterday Mr Tarzia said he was happy to review the policy and previous ruling his predecessor had made about banning photography.

“I have already made known my interest and intention to modernise the Parliament and to make it more accessible and open to the public,” he said.

“ I will continue to investigate ways of improving the Parliamentary systems for the people of South Australia, and for the betterment of democracy in this great State.”

Flinders University school of social and policy studies senior lecturer Rob Manwaring said “the public already have generally low levels of trust in MPs, and these type of measures seem designed to safeguard MPs from media outlets who want a photo/shot which only seeks to trivialise politicians”.

“One proposal might be to have more relaxed rules for certain times during parliamentary sessions, especially question time,” he said.

It comes as Manager of Opposition Business Tom Koutsantonis said so far the Liberals have permitted half as many Opposition questions in Question Time.

“Fewer questions means less accountability,” Mr Koutsantonis said.

“It’s still early days so I am hoping over coming siting weeks the Speaker restores the number of Opposition questions in Question Time.”

Mr Tarzia disputed the figures, saying two thirds of questions were asked by the Opposition.

It’s time to walk the walk

Opinion – Matt Smith

STEVEN Marshall’s self dubbed ‘open and transparent’ government has set the bar high.

The powers to hold open ICAC hearings, time limits on answers in Parliament, a promise to return questions on notice swiftly, requirements to publish more detail about senior executives’ salaries are all measures that indicate a string and steady start. But the past week has proved it is one thing to talk the talk and quite another to walk the walk. SA’s youngest ever House of Assembly Speaker, Vincent Tarzia, should be cut some slack. On his first day Mr Tarzia was seen using a cheat sheet with the faces and names of MPs to make sure he got them all right. His first few weeks were always going to provide a steeping learning curve.

But resorting to 20-year-old conventions, where media organisations can only take photos of members when they stand are out of date, at odds with a promise for more openness and, frankly, just plain silly.