Parliament of Australia MP The Hon. Bronwyn Bishop MP Speaker of the House of Representatives The Speaker began her political involvement with the Liberal Party while a law student at the University of Sydney. She joined Killara Young Liberals in 1961 and during her association with that branch, she became Vice President. She then went on become Chairman of the Liberal Party Convention Committee from 1981 to 1985, and State President of the NSW Division from 1985 to 1987. It was then in 1987, the Speaker was elected to the Senate. Within eighteen months of her election, she was appointed Shadow Minister for Public Administration, Federal Affairs and Local Government. In 1994, the Speaker was appointed Shadow Minister for Urban and Regional Strategy. In May 1994, she was appointed Shadow Minister for Health and in January 1995 she became Shadow Minister for Privatisation and Commonwealth/State Relations. The Speaker resigned from the Senate in February 1994 to contest the electorate of Mackellar in a by-election in which she was elected to the House of Representatives in March 1994. She has been re-elected to the seat of Mackellar in the 1996, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2013 general elections. Following the election of the Howard Government in 1996, the Speaker was appointed Minister for Defence Industry, Science and Personnel, where she pioneered a ground breaking Defence Industry Policy framework, a first for Australia. It remains government policy, even today. After the government’s re-election in 1998, the Speaker was appointed Minister for Aged Care where she brought a broad and progressive view to the needs of Australia's ageing population. She again led the way by introducing mandatory national standards for aged care providers ensuring that standards were lifted and maintained. Following the 2007 election, the Speaker was honoured to have been appointed as Shadow Minister for Veterans’ Affairs until late 2008, a portfolio that she embraced with great energy and vigor. In December 2009, she was then appointed to serve as Shadow Minister for Seniors, a portfolio which the Coalition believes is critical to Australia’s long term planning and interest, she also then added to her portfolio responsibilities, Shadow Special Minister of State, following the 2010 election. After the 2013 election, the Speaker was elected to her position by Members of the House of Representatives on the first sitting of the 44th Parliament, making her the 29th Speaker of the House of Representatives in the Commonwealth of Australia. The Speaker is also a solicitor and mother of two daughters and a grandmother of one granddaughter. Parliamentary service • Elected to the Senate for New South Wales 1987 (term deemed to have begun 1.7.1987) and 1990. Resigned 24.2.1994. • Elected to the House of Representatives for Mackellar, New South Wales, at by-election 26.3.94 vice the Hon. JJ Carlton (resigned). Re-elected 1996, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2013. Parliamentary positions • Member, Speaker's Panel from 16.11.04 to 17.10.07. • Speaker of the House of Representatives from 12.11.13. Ministerial appointments • Minister for Defence Industry, Science and Personnel from 11.3.96 to 21.10.98. • Minister for Aged Care from 21.10.98 to 26.11.01. Shadow Ministerial appointments • Shadow Minister for Public Administration, Federal Affairs and Local Government from 12.5.89 to 11.4.90. • Shadow Minister for Urban and Regional Strategy from 17.1.94 to 26.5.94. • Shadow Minister for Health from 26.5.94 to 31.1.95. • Shadow Minister for Privatisation and Commonwealth/State Relations from 31.1.95 to 11.3.96. • Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs from 6.12.07 to 22.9.08. • Shadow Minister for Seniors from 8.12.09. • Shadow Special Minister of State from 14.9.10. Committee service • Senate Standing: Regulations and Ordinances from 24.9.87 to 18.8.93. • Senate Legislative and General Purpose Standing: Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade from 11.5.90 to 18.8.93. • Senate Select: Functions, Powers and Operation of the Australian Loan Council from 5.11.92 to 24.2.94. • Senate Estimates: A from 24.9.87 to 6.5.93; F on 10.9.91; D from 6.5.93 to 24.2.94. • House of Representatives Standing: Legal and Constitutional Affairs (Chair) from 20.3.02 to 31.8.04; Privileges from 20.3.02 to 31.8.04; Procedure from 20.3.02 to 17.10.07; Communications, Information Technology and the Arts from 1.12.04 to 17.10.07; Family and Human Services (Chair) from 1.12.04 to 17.10.07; Industry and Resources from 1.12.04 to 17.10.07; Health and Ageing from 3.2.10 to 19.7.10. • Joint Statutory: Public Accounts from 7.10.87 to 24.2.94; Public Accounts and Audit from 16.8.05 to 17.10.07 and from 25.9.08 to 19.7.10; Corporations and Securities from 27.2.95 to 29.1.96. • Joint Standing: Electoral Matters from 25.10.10. Conferences, delegations and visits • Official ministerial visits to Malaysia and the Philippines, August 1996; New Zealand, July 1997; UK and France, August-September 1997; Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines and Thailand, November-December 1997; Papua New Guinea, August 1998; Hong Kong and Japan, July-August 1999; Singapore and Malaysia, November 2000; Israel, April 2008. • Member, Parliamentary Delegation to New Zealand, May 2004. • Member, Parliamentary Delegation to 112th IPU Conference, the Philippines, and bilateral visit to the Solomon Islands, March-April 2005. • Member, Parliamentary Delegation to Indonesia, June 2005. • Member, Parliamentary Delegation to Singapore and Indonesia, October-November 2008. • Member, Parliamentary Delegation to Ethiopia and Switzerland, April 2009. • Member, Parliamentary Delegation to Indonesia and Tonga, September 2011. • Official delegation to International Parliamentary Union meeting in Geneva, Switzerland 2013. • Leader of Official Delegation to Puerto Vallarta and Mexico City, Mexico 2014. • Delegate to the Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC) in Wellington, New Zealand 2014. Party positions • President, Liberal Party Balmoral Branch 1973-79. • Vice-President, Warringah Federal Electorate Conference 1978-80. • President, Mosman State Electorate Conference 1978-81. • Vice-President, Liberal Party Women's Group (NSW) 1978-81. • Member, Liberal Party State Executive (NSW) from 1980. • Delegate to Liberal Party Federal Council 1982, 1984 and 1985. • Chair, Liberal Party Annual State Convention (NSW) 1981-85. • Metropolitan Vice-President, Liberal Party (NSW) 1982-85. • President, Liberal Party (NSW) 1985-87.