# Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees of the South Australian House of Assembly

Officially the Chairman of Committees but also known informally known as the Deputy Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly is the deputy presiding officer of the South Australian House of Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of South Australia with the Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly being the senior presiding officer of that chamber.
The Chairman of Committees and Deputy Speaker is elected by the Members of the House of Assembly to preside when the House forms itself into a Committee of the Whole of the membership of the House to consider Bills, or during a period where the Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly is absent in the chamber.
The current Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees is Labor MP Tony Piccolo.

## List of deputy speakers

Prior to the election of the first Deputy Speaker in 1875, the functions of Chairman of Committees was undertaken by the Speaker.
| Order | Member | Party | Term commence | Term end | Term in office |
| 1 | John Carr | Pre-party system | 12 May 1875 | 22 June 1878 | 1 year, 41 days |
| 2 | William Townsend | Pre-party system | 22 June 1878 | 31 October 1882 | 6 years, 131 days |
| 3 | Luke Furner | Pre-party system | 31 October 1882 | 5 June 1884 | 1 year, 218 days |
| 4 | Ebenezer Ward | Pre-party system | 5 June 1884 | 5 June 1890 | 6 years, 0 days |
| 5 | Alfred Catt | Liberal Country League | 5 June 1890 | 20 July 1905 | 15 years, 45 days |
| 6 | Ephraim Henry Coombe | Liberal and Democratic Union | 20 July 1905 | 27 July 1909 | 4 years, 7 days |
| 7 | Alexander McDonald | National Defence League | 20 July 1909 | 2 June 1910 | 317 days |
| 8 | Harry Jackson | Labor | 2 June 1910 | 17 November 1911 | 1 year, 168 days |
| 9 | John Newland | Labor | 17 November 1911 (acting) 21 November 1911 (elected) | 19 March 1912 | 123 days |
| 10 | Samuel Bruce Rudall | Liberal Country League | 19 March 1912 | 8 July 1915 | 3 years, 111 days |
| 11 | Henry Chesson | Labor (until 1917) National Party (from 1917) | 8 July 1915 | 25 July 1918 | 3 years, 17 days |
| 12 | George Richards Laffer | Liberal Country League | 25 July 1918 | 8 April 1920 (resigned) | 1 year, 258 days |
| 13 | William Angus | Liberal Country League | 29 July 1920 | 21 July 1921 | 357 days |
| 14 | Vernon Gordon Petherick | Liberal Country League | 21 July 1921 | 24 July 1924 | 3 years, 3 days |
| 15 | Robert Stanley Richards | Labor | 24 July 1924 | 17 May 1927 | 2 years, 297 days |
| 16 | Robert Dove Nicholls | Liberal Country League | 17 May 1927 | 27 May 1930 | 13 years, 10 days |
| 17 | Frank Clement Staniford | Labor | 27 May 1930 | 12 February 1933 (resigned) | 2 years, 261 days |
| 18 | Henry Burgess Crosby | Liberal Country League | 6 July 1933 | 19 May 1938 | 4 years, 317 days |
| 19 | Reginald John Rudall | Liberal Country League | 19 May 1938 | 5 November 1939 (resigned) | 1 year, 170 days |
| 20 | Henry Stephen Dunks | Liberal Country League | 8 November 1939 | 22 March 1955 (died in office) | 15 years, 134 days |
| 21 | Berthold Teusner | Liberal Country League | 19 May 1955 | 8 May 1956 | 355 days |
| 22 | Colin Rosslyn Dunnage | Liberal Country League | 8 May 1956 | 12 April 1962 | 5 years, 339 days |
| 23 | Berthold Teusner | Liberal Country League | 12 April 1962 | 13 May 1965 | 3 years, 31 days |
| 24 | Samuel James Lawn | Labor | 13 May 1965 | 16 April 1968 | 2 years, 339 days |
| 25 | Berthold Teusner | Liberal Country League | 16 April 1968 | 14 July 1970 | 2 years, 89 days |
| 26 | Samuel James Lawn | Labor | 14 July 1970 | 25 May 1971 (died in office) | 315 days |
| 27 | John Richard Ryan | Labor | 13 July 1971 | 19 June 1973 | 1 year, 341 days |
| 28 | Allan Burdon | Labor | 19 June 1973 | 5 August 1975 | 2 years, 47 days |
| 29 | Gil Langley | Labor | 5 August 1975 | 6 October 1977 | 2 years, 62 days |
| 30 | Gavin Francis Keneally | Labor | 6 October 1977 | 11 October 1979 | 2 years, 5 days |
| 31 | Graham Gunn | Liberal | 11 October 1979 | 8 December 1982 | 3 years, 58 days |
| 32 | Maxwell John Brown | Labor | 8 December 1982 | 11 February 1986 | 3 years, 65 days |
| 33 | Donald Mervyn Ferguson | Labor | 11 February 1986 | 8 February 1990 | 3 years, 362 days |
| 34 | Martyn John Evans | Labor | 8 February 1990 | 7 October 1992 (resigned) | 2 years, 242 days |
| 35 | Donald Mervyn Ferguson | Labor | 7 October 1992 | 10 February 1994 | 1 year, 126 days |
| 36 | Harold Allison | Liberal | 10 February 1994 | 2 December 1997 | 3 years, 295 days |
| 37 | David Wotton | Liberal | 2 December 1997 | 5 March 2002 | 4 years, 93 days |
| 38 | Robert Bruce Such | Independent | 5 March 2002 | 4 April 2005 (resigned) | 3 years, 30 days |
| 39 | Jack Snelling | Labor | 4 April 2005 | 27 April 2006 | 1 year, 23 days |
| 40 | Gay Thompson | Labor | 27 April 2006 | 6 May 2010 | 4 years, 9 days |
| 41 | Chloe Fox | Labor | 6 May 2010 | 21 October 2011 (resigned) | 1 year, 168 days |
| 42 | Tony Piccolo | Labor | 8 November 2011 | 21 January 2013 (resigned) | 1 year, 74 days |
| 43 | Frances Bedford | Labor (until 27 March 2017) Independent (from 27 March 2017) | 6 May 2014 | 3 May 2018 | 3 years, 361 days |
| 44 | Peter Treloar | Liberal | 3 May 2018 | 3 May 2022 | 3 years, 334 days |
| 45 | Tony Piccolo | Labor | 3 May 2022 | Incumbent | 2 years, 315 days |