Not overly,

Aussie wrote on Jan 4^th, 2016 at 5:32pm:



really....a vote of NO CONFIDENCE got him to resign... of course the text was an issue... but really he had already shot his bolt....

he should NEVER have been the SPEAKER in the first place...

and every decent person knows that.

At least he didn't call the Chinese "rat fvckers", unlike a certain former Labor PM who cried like a baby in Parliament House...

yes there was....

PETER SLIPPER resigned as the Speaker of the House of Representatives last night when he came under pressure from key independents despite surviving by one vote a motion to dump him.

Mr Slipper quit his post after being told by the NSW independent MPs, Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott, that despite them voting against yesterday's no confidence motion in the Speaker, they could not continue to support him and he must resign for his own good and that of the Parliament.

The government was aware of the exchange and did not resist.



Mr Slipper survived by 70 votes to 69 after Tony Abbott moved a motion of no confidence, triggered by texts Mr Slipper sent his former staffer James Ashby.

Mr Slipper apologised for the text messages but this did not placate his critics.

At 7.20pm (AEDT), he entered the House for the first time since April when he stood aside, pending sexual harassment allegations. Choking back tears, he announced his resignation ''with great sadness''.

''It is in the interests of the Parliament that I do choose voluntarily to stand down at this time,'' he said.

Mr Slipper will continue in Parliament as an independent backbencher. The Deputy Speaker, Anna Burke, was chosen to replace him last night. Ms Burke is the third Speaker in this term of Parliament - a record. Nationals MP Bruce Scott was elected Deputy Speaker after the independents sided with the Coalition to defeat Labor's choice of Steve Georganas.

Labor now needs five of seven crossbenchers to win votes on the floor and will routinely need the support of either Mr Slipper or the former Labor MP, Craig Thomson.

Earlier, Mr Slipper tried to defuse the situation by apologising for the text messages which contained vulgar euphemisms for female genitalia and one described the Liberal frontbencher Sophie Mirabella as an ''ignorant botch''.

Mr Slipper said although the messages were private, ''nothing excuses their content''.

''I understand why people, particularly women, would be offended by these statements and I unreservedly apologise for them,'' he said.

Mr Slipper initially survived yesterday because three crossbenchers, Mr Windsor, Mr Oakeshott and Adam Bandt, voted with the government.

Mr Windsor had visited Mr Slipper at lunchtime suggesting he quit but he resisted. When he and Mr Oakeshott visited Mr Slipper while debate was raging over the no-confidence motion to urge him to go affter the vote, the manager of government business, Anthony Albanese was already there talking to him.

The Tasmanian independent, Andrew Wilkie, voted with the opposition, while Bob Katter abstained. He said he did not support Mr Slipper but nor would he support Parliament pre-empting a legal process.

Mr Slipper's resignation clears the way for the government to renew its attacks on Mr Abbott as a misogynist.

Mr Abbott said the Prime Minister could not accuse him of misogyny and then ''defend the indefensible''.

''It's clear that this Speaker is no longer a fit and proper person to uphold the dignity of the Parliament. You indicate your unfitness for high office as well.''





he choose to "voluntarily".. resign.. what a laugh... so he could get all his entitlements...

keep believing.. and twisting things to suit your facts..

Aussie wrote on Jan 5^th, 2016 at 9:51am:


In the end it got to the point where Julia Gillard told him that he had to step down so he did.

cods wrote on Jan 5^th, 2016 at 10:27am:


It is on record that Gillard advised him to go.

Besides this has nothing to do with Slipper - this is about Dutton's case of mad witch disease.

Again I have to ask the question, why does it seem incapable for Liberal supporters here to actually criticize the liberals, their policy or their politicians in literally any fashion?

Us Greens and Labor supporters criticize the parties all the time, I don't like the Greens gun policy, I'm not a fan of SHY, I think the Greens are weak on drug reform.

Labor, I despise the right of the party, their refugee policy, lack of real vision and factional backstabbing that often spills over into the media.

Why is it that Lib supporters on this forum seem to want to think the Liberal party is infallible and that Dutton is a worthy politician? Dutton is one of the dumbest people I've ever seen in politics, he's a potato why can't Libs accept he's dead weight and call for him to be thrown to the curb? Don't you want the best representing your party?