Milton Dick warns Labor MPs to show respect as landslide ALP majority returns to parliament

The lopsided House of Representatives will see Labor MPs outnumber the opposition more than two to one, leaving a speaker to oversee the most crammed government benches in the lower house since the mid-1990s.

Speaker Milton Dick on the floor of the House of Representatives ahead of the sitting of the new parliament. Picture: Noah Yim

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Likely House Speaker Milton Dick is warning all MPs returning to parliament to “show respect” and “not make anything personal”, as a bulging Labor landslide cohort faces off with a battered and dwindled Coalition for the first time since the election.

The lopsided House of Representatives will see Labor MPs outnumber the opposition more than two to one, leaving a speaker to oversee the most crammed government benches in the lower house since the mid-1990s.

The greatly expanded post-election Labor caucus meeting last month. Picture: Martin Ollman

For Mr Dick – who refuses to say whether he thinks he will be re-elected by the house on Tuesday and even declines sitting in the speaker’s chair for a photo – a debate that is fair and balanced has been his No.1 priority since being first appointed speaker last term.

The former Queensland Labor secretary felt this so strongly, he resigned from the party before accepting the role of speaker in 2022.

“One of the first things I did after the ‘22 election, and the first thing I’ve done when I was nominated as the government’s nominee, was to resign from the parliamentary party. Is that mandatory? No, not all speakers have done that,” he told The Australian ahead of parliament resuming next week.

“I chose to do that out of the respect for the office that I hold, to try and get around the bias argument.

“So after the first government party room where I was nominated, the very first thing I did was to stand up, hand a letter of resignation to the chair of the government party room and the caucus, give a short speech and leave, and I won’t set foot again in the party room. And I think that’s appropriate and to be honest, that was a very big the first time I did it was I was very emotional.

“But that’s what the role calls for … it is the right thing.”

Mr Dick intends to keep MPs’ behaviour under control. Picture: Noah Yim

And yet, doing the “right thing” in a parliament that will see 94 Labor MPs sitting across from just 43 Coalition members will present unique challenges to a speaker seeking to be unbiased.

“I don’t think the speaker needs to protect anyone, either the government or the opposition, but what I need to do is make sure that every single member of parliament has the same opportunities,” he said.

“I would encourage all, and particularly new members, where there are a larger number than normal … to understand what a privilege it is to be in the parliament and hopefully get into good habits.

“That means showing respect, and perhaps not making anything personal. That for me is the red line.

“I see the parliament as obviously 150 individuals, and I need to bring out the best in them, and they need to bring out the best in me, ensuring that they’re saying things that are meaningful without being hurtful.”

Anthony Albanese with Mr Dick during question time in the House of Representatives in Parliament House Canberra. Picture: Gary Ramage

Mr Dick said while he was proud of strides made towards improving the standard of parliamentary debate and expectations around the building more broadly, it was clear that there was “still a long way to go to improve culture and behaviour”.

“(I will) look at improving the ongoing piece of work, of culture and practice … That means ensuring that the tone and level of debate continues to improve, that means we put structures in place … to make this a safe and respectful workplace,” he said.

“I was raised in a family by wonderful parents who taught my brother and sister and I this one essential, what we call core value in our family, how you treat people is how you expect to be treated. And that’s kind of how I roll.”

Mr Dick last month. Picture: Martin Ollman

The MP for Oxley in Queensland, Mr Dick says he remembers being only ever thrown out of parliament twice before becoming speaker for breaching rules or engaging in disorderly conduct.

During the 47th parliament, Mr Dick suspended members 235 times for an hour or less, the lowest number since 2010.

While throwing out many more Coalition MPs than those from government benches, Mr Dick suspended more members of his own party than anyone in the past 30 years – with more than 47 Labor MPs forced to leave the house.

The next highest number of government MPs being suspended by the speaker was 28, in the 43rd parliament, during which the speaker Peter Slipper – one of three in that term – was not a government MP.