SKIP TO MAIN CONTENT

Vic parly resumes after dramatic shutdown

The Victorian parliament is scheduled to resume on Tuesday after Speaker Ken Smith suspended it during chaotic scenes earlier this month.

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP


Skip to article content

Victorian parliament is set to resume sitting this week after Speaker Ken Smith shut it down during chaotic scenes earlier this month.

Premier Denis Napthine has said he expects things will work out well when parliament restarts on Tuesday after it was suspended by Mr Smith a fortnight ago.

However, whether things run smoothly is yet to be seen, with Labor maintaining Mr Smith has lost support of most lower house members and should resign.

The drama unfolded after independent MP Geoff Shaw, who holds the balance of power in the lower house, sided with Labor to stall government business and express no confidence in the Speaker.

When Labor tried to expose Mr Smith's lack of support on the floor, Mr Smith shut down parliament until November 26.

News that makes sense

Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Dr Napthine says he expects Mr Smith will remain Speaker when parliament resumes on Tuesday and called Labor's tactics childish and disruptive.

Dr Napthine says Mr Shaw has learnt his lesson and will back the government's business program when parliament resumes this week.

He also ruled out any deal being done with Mr Shaw in exchange for his support for the government business program.

The lower house usually agrees to the government business program - which lists bills and motions to complete that week - on the Tuesday afternoon of a sitting week.

But when Mr Shaw sided with Labor to vote against it during the last sitting week, bills scheduled to go before the parliament were not passed.

Opposition leader Daniel Andrews has called for a vote to determine if the parliamentary speaker has the support of the majority of MPs.


Get SBS News straight to your inbox

Sign up now for daily news from Australia and around the world. You can also subscribe to Insight's weekly newsletter for in-depth features and first-person stories.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Follow SBS News

Download our apps

Listen to our podcasts

Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service

Stream now

Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world