Senator Slade Brockman has been elected the new President of the Senate, narrowly beating fellow Western Australian MP Dean Smith for the coveted role.
Four Liberal senators put their had up to replace Senate President Scott Ryan, who recently announced he was leaving politics sooner than originally anticipated.
New South Wales Senatore Concetta Fierraventi-Wells and South Australian David Fawcett were knocked out of the race in the first round of voting on Friday morning, and senators regrouped later in the day to decided between the two Western Australians who were still in the race.
The final vote saw Senator Brockman win the role with 15 votes to Senator Smith’s 14.
Senator Ryan had held the role since 2017. Last year he announced he was retiring from politics at the next election, but on 24th of September he announced he was stepping down sooner than anticipated.
Senator Brockman will become the 26th President of the Senate. He joined the parliament in 2017 when a casual vacancy was created by the retirement of Chris Back. He was returned to Canberra in the 2019 federal election where he was placed second on the Liberal ticket behind Linda Reynolds.
Prior to taking up his position as a senator Brockman voiced his opposition to marriage equality, and despite the majority of Western Australians showing their support for changing the laws in the national plebiscite, he voted against the legislation.
The election of the new Senate President came as Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a minor cabinet re-shuffle to accomodate the departure of Christian Porter from his role as Minister for Industry and Science and Technology.
The Industry portfolio has been given to Angus Taylor, while Melissa Price will take on the responsibilities of Science and Technology. Immigration and Multicultural Affairs Minister Alex Hawke will also be elevated to cabinet.
Western Australian MP Ben Morton will become Special Minister of State and Public Service Minister.
OIP Staff
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