The Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly is the presiding officer of the South Australian House of Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of South Australia. The other presiding officer is the President of the South Australian Legislative Council.
The current Speaker is Labor/Independent MP Nat Cook, who was elected speaker unopposed, following the 2026 South Australian state election, and the retirement of former speaker, Leon Bignell.
History and role Establishment of the Speaker The office of Speaker of the House of Assembly was established by the province's 1856 Constitution, and was based on the similar role of the British Parliament's Speaker of the House of Commons. In 1934, the state enacted a new constitution, keeping the same legislative provisions for the speaker as had been provided for in the 1856 version.
Following the 1857 South Australian election, George Strickland Kingston became the first speaker elected to the position, with the longest serving Speaker being Robert Nicholls who was Speaker for 22 years and 240 days from 1933 to 1956.
Duties and role These constitutions provided for the Speaker of the House of Assembly to be elected by all the Members of the Assembly, with the role to be the chairperson of the Assembly.
In 1885, Clerk of the House of Assembly, Edwin Blackmore published the Manual of the Practice, Procedure, and Usage of the House of Assembly of the Province of South Australia, which outlined the specific duties of the Speaker, which include:
presiding over the deliberations of the House, and maintaining order, counting the House before the business is commenced, and at any time when attention is called to the state of the House, calling upon Members to speak, to put the questions and move the motions standing in their names, and bringing up Bills, putting questions for the decision of the House, and declaring the result by voices or by divisions, giving a casting vote where necessary, receiving Reports from the Committee of the whole House. receiving and communicating to the House Messages from the Governor, and from the Legislative Council, announcing vacancies and the issue of Writs, reporting Assent to Bills, adjourning the House, whether on motion or from want of a Quorum.
The Speaker's deputy is the Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees, a role which was first established in 1875, with the functions of Chairman of Committees originally being undertaken by the Speaker.
Independent speaker In October 2021, former Deputy Speaker, Frances Bedford introduced a Bill into parliament seeking to amend Section 34 of the state’s constitution to ensure the Speaker was “free of any political influence, perceived or otherwise.” The amendments sought to constitutionally ban the Speaker from being a member of a registered political party, with a specific caveat that the ban only be in effect outside of a "relevant election period", effectively meaning for the first three years of a new parliament, the Speaker would be banned from being a member of a political party, but in the final three months before an election, could join or rejoin a political party.
The Bill passed both Houses of Parliament in late October 2021, and the received Royal assent by the Governor in November, and came into effect on the same day.
Following the 2022 South Australian state election, Labor Party member, Leon Bignell was elected as Speaker and was forced to resign from the Party immediately; however, after the barring period ended, Bignell rejoined the Party. Following the 2026 South Australian state election, Nat Cook was elected Speaker, and resigned from the Labor Party.
List of speakers Since the first parliament in 1857, there have been 39 speakers of the House of Assembly.
Order Member Party Term commence Term end Term in office 1 George Strickland Kingston 2 George Charles Hawker 3 George Strickland Kingston Died in office 4 Robert Dalrymple Ross Died in office 5 John Cox Bray 6 Jenkin Coles Liberal Union / National Defence League 7 Harry Jackson United Labor Party 8 Laurence O'Loughlin Liberal Union 9 Frederick Coneybeer United Labor PartyNational Party 10 Richard Butler Liberal Union/Liberal Federation 11 John McInnes Labor Party 12 Frederick Birrell Labor Party 13 George Laffer Liberal Federation 14 Eric Shepherd Labor Party/Parliamentary Labor Party 15 Robert Nicholls Liberal and Country League 16 Berthold Teusner Liberal and Country League 17 Tom Stott Independent 18 Lindsay Riches Labor Party 19 Tom Stott Independent 20 Reg Hurst Labor Party 21 John Ryan Labor Party 22 Ted Connelly Independent 23 Gil Langley Labor Party 24 Bruce Eastick Liberal Party 25 Terry McRae Labor Party 26 John Trainer Labor Party 27 Norm Peterson Independent Labor 28 Graham Gunn Liberal Party 29 John Oswald Liberal Party 30 Peter Lewis Independent 31 Bob Such Independent 32 Jack Snelling Labor Party 33 Lyn Breuer Labor Party 34 Michael Atkinson Labor Party 16 March 2018 35 Vincent Tarzia Liberal Party 29 July 2020 36 Josh Teague Liberal Party 8 September 2020 37 Dan Cregan Independent 12 October 2021 38 Leon Bignell Labor/Independent 11 April 2024 39 Nat Cook Labor/Independent 5 May 2026 Present
See also Deputy Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly President of the South Australian Legislative Council
Notes
References
Statistical Record of the Legislature 1836 - 2007
External links Speakers of the House of Assembly. Parliament of South Australia.