I think two Speakers make a stereo system. There was certainly a high fidelity exchange when Australian Parliament Speaker Bronwyn Bishop hosted the Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow in Canberra this week.
Speaker Bercow is a familiar face around the world from TV coverage of the famous weekly Prime Minister’s Question Time. He received a warm welcome from many federal politicians. He gave a lecture on Digital Democracy, addressed the Foreign Affairs Standing Committee and met the UK Parliamentary Group chaired by Sarah Henderson MP. Speaker Bishop and I each hosted a dinner for him and I took him to call on Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and her shadow Tanya Plibersek. He learned that Australian politicians had followed closely the debate in Westminster last week about action against ISIL, as Australia readies itself to join the coalition. All his interlocutors seemed relieved with the outcome of the recent Scottish referendum.
Madam Speaker Bishop, referring to the similarities and differences between the two parliaments, suggested that she presided over a unique “Ausminster” system. Speaker Bercow said it would be patronising to describe Westminster as the Mother of Parliaments, so perhaps he could call it “the Mother-in-Law of Parliaments”. There were many interesting exchanges about the scope to learn from each other’s practices. Madam Speaker will shortly be travelling to Europe as part of her campaign for the presidency of the Inter Parliamentary Union, a role which she would no doubt perform with her usual vigour and style.
Mr Bercow is no mean tennis player. A champion in his youth, whilst in Canberra he took on John Alexander MP, Australian Davis Cup star who was once ranked #8 in the world, and gave him a run for his money. He also had the opportunity to visit State parliaments in Melbourne and Perth.