# Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland

The speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland is elected by the members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly to preside over sittings of the Assembly and to maintain orderly proceedings. The Speaker must be a member of the Legislative Assembly. The position is currently held by Pat Weir, who was elected to the post on 26 November 2024.

## Election

The Legislative Assembly must choose a new Speaker when it meets following a general election. The member with the longest period of continuous service presides during the election, which is conducted by secret ballot. The Government party nominates one of its own to serve as Speaker, and that nominee is likely to win since the party typically has a majority of the seats. If the office of Speaker falls vacant, for whatever reason, the Assembly must immediately elect a replacement. The Speaker remains in office "for all purposes" following a dissolution of Parliament until the day before the first day of the new Parliament, even if the Speaker was not a candidate for re-election or lost re-election.

## Role

As the chief presiding officer of the Legislative Assembly, the Speaker is expected to be impartial in chairing debates and ensuring orderly conduct in the Chamber. When in the chair, the Speaker may only vote in the case of a tie, i.e. a casting vote. Unlike Speakers in many other Westminster system parliaments, when the Deputy Speaker or another member is in the chair, the Speaker may participate in debates and cast a deliberative vote. This is especially important in hung parliaments.
The Speaker is responsible for issuing writs for state by-elections, warrants for parliamentary privilege offenders and bringing before the bar of the Parliament such offenders for rebuke or sentence. Among the office's ceremonial duties are representing the Legislative Assembly to the Crown (as by, for instance, presenting the Address in Reply to the Throne Speech) and to entities outside Parliament.
Administratively, the Speaker has control of the Parliamentary Service and is responsible for the Parliament's budget, services, and administration.

## Deputies

"As soon as practicable" after first meeting, the House must choose a member to serve as Deputy Speaker and Chairperson of Committees; in recent practice, the Premier moves the appointment of the Deputy Speaker without debate or opposition as the first matter of business on the second day of the Parliament. As with the Speaker, the House must immediately fill a vacancy in the office. Like the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker remains in office after a dissolution of Parliament until the day before the next Parliament convenes even if the deputy speaker loses re-election or did not run for reelection.
The role of Deputy Speaker is created by the Standing Orders of the Legislative Assembly, and that of Chairperson of Committees by section 17(1) of the Parliament of Queensland Act 2001. As Deputy Speaker, the member takes the chair when the Speaker is absent or at his or her request. When the House resolves into a Committee of the Whole, the Chairperson must take the chair. The current Deputy Speaker is Jon Krause.
The Speaker also appoints up to eight Temporary Speakers who take the chair in the absence or at the request of the Speaker or Deputy Speaker. The Speaker may also dismiss members of the panel of Temporary Speakers. When in the chair, Temporary Speakers are referred to as “Deputy Speaker”.
When the Speaker is absent for a sitting day, the Deputy Speaker acts as Speaker and chooses a Temporary Speaker to act as Deputy Speaker during the Speaker's absence. If the Speaker and Deputy Speaker are both absent, the House must choose a member to act as Speaker for that day. This occurred most recently during 2020 when Speaker Pitt and Deputy Speaker Stewart (both regional MPs unable to travel due to COVID-19 restrictions) were absent and Temporary Speaker Joe Kelly was chosen by the House to act in their stead.

## List of Speakers

| Member | Electorate | Party | Start of term | End of term | Notes |
| Gilbert Eliott | Wide Bay | | 22 May 1860 | 13 July 1870 | |
| Arthur Macalister | Eastern Downs | | 15 November 1870 | 21 June 1871 | Premier of Queensland (1866; 1866–1867; 1874–1876) |
| Frederick Forbes | West Moreton | | 7 November 1871 | 1 September 1873 | |
| William Henry Walsh | Warrego | | 6 January 1874 | 20 July 1876 | |
| Henry Edward King | Ravenswood/Maryborough | | 25 July 1876 | 26 July 1883 | |
| William Henry Groom | Drayton and Toowoomba | Protectionist | 7 November 1883 | 4 April 1888 | |
| Albert Norton | Port Curtis | Conservative/Ministerialist | 12 June 1888 | 5 April 1893 | |
| Alfred Cowley | Herbert | Ministerialist | 25 May 1893 | 15 February 1899 | |
| Arthur Morgan | Warwick | Ministerialist | 16 May 1899 | 15 September 1903 | Premier of Queensland (1903–1906); President of the Queensland Legislative Council |
| Alfred Cowley | Herbert | Conservative | 17 September 1903 | 11 April 1907 | |
| John Leahy | Bulloo | Conservative | 23 July 1907 | 20 January 1909 | |
| Joshua Thomas Bell | Dalby | Kidston/Ministerialist | 29 June 1909 | 10 March 1911 | Died in office |
| William Drayton Armstrong | Lockyer | Ministerialist/Liberal | 11 July 1911 | 15 April 1915 | |
| William McCormack | Cairns | Labor | 12 July 1915 | 9 September 1919 | Premier (1925–1929) |
| William Lennon | Herbert | Labor | 9 September 1919 | 9 January 1920 | Became Lieutenant-Governor of Queensland; President of the Queensland Legislative Council |
| William Bertram | Maree | Labor | 9 January 1920 | 11 May 1929 | |
| Charles Taylor | Windsor | CPNP | 20 August 1929 | 11 June 1932 | |
| George Pollock | Gregory | Labor | 15 August 1932 | 24 March 1939 | Died in office |
| Edward Joseph Hanson | Buranda | Labor | 8 August 1939 | 31 July 1944 | |
| Samuel Brassington | Fortitude Valley | Labor | 1 August 1944 | 4 October 1950 | Died in office |
| Johnno Mann | Brisbane | Labor | 10 October 1950 | 3 July 1957 | |
| Alan Fletcher | Cunningham | Country | 27 August 1957 | 15 June 1960 | |
| David Nicholson | Murrumba | Country | 23 August 1960 | 25 May 1972 | Longest-serving Speaker |
| Bill Longeran | Flinders | Country/National | 2 August 1972 | 28 October 1974 | |
| Jim Houghton | Redcliffe | National | 29 October 1974 | 4 July 1979 | |
| Selwyn Muller | Fassifern | National | 8 August 1979 | 17 October 1983 | |
| John Warner | Toowoomba South | National | 22 November 1983 | 1 November 1986 | |
| Kev Lingard | Fassifern | National | 17 February 1987 | 24 November 1987 | |
| Lin Powell | Isis | National/Independent (after 3 May 1989) | 2 December 1987 | 5 July 1989 | |
| Kev Lingard | Fassifern | National | 5 July 1989 | 2 November 1989 | |
| Jim Fouras | Ashgrove | Labor | 27 February 1990 | 2 April 1996 | |
| Neil Turner | Nicklin | National | 2 April 1996 | 13 June 1998 | |
| Ray Hollis | Redcliffe | Labor | 28 July 1998 | 21 July 2005 | |
| Tony McGrady | Mount Isa | Labor | 9 August 2005 | 9 October 2006 | |
| Mike Reynolds | Townsville | Labor | 10 October 2006 | 21 April 2009 | |
| John Mickel | Logan | Labor | 21 April 2009 | 14 May 2012 | |
| Fiona Simpson | Maroochydore | Liberal National | 15 May 2012 | 24 March 2015 | First female Speaker |
| Peter Wellington | Nicklin | Independent | 24 March 2015 | 25 November 2017 | First Independent Speaker since 1883 |
| Curtis Pitt | Mulgrave | Labor | 13 February 2018 | 26 November 2024 | Treasurer of Queensland (2015–2017) |
| Joe Kelly | Greenslopes | Labor | 16 May 2023 | 12 September 2023 | Acting Speaker |
| Pat Weir | Condamine | Liberal National | 26 November 2024 | | |