Leo Boyce McLeay (born 4 October 1945) is a former Australian politician who served as a Labor Party member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

from June 1979 to October 2004. He was Speaker of the House of Representatives 1989–93. During 1992 he was unsuccessfully censured by

John Hewson John Robert Hewson AM (born 28 October 1946) is an Australian former politician who served as leader of the Liberal Party from 1990 to 1994. He led the Liberal-National Coalition to defeat at the 1993 Australian federal election. Hewson w ...

, at the time Opposition Leader, with a motion of no confidence; Hewson accused McLeay of political bias.

Early life

McLeay was born on 4 October 1945 in

Marrickville, New South Wales Marrickville is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Marrickville is located south-west of the Sydney central business district and is the largest suburb in the Inner West Council Local government ...

. He was the older of two children born to Joan Ann and Ronald Boyce McLeay. His father was a council worker and worked on the construction of the

Sydney Harbour Bridge The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North ...

. McLeay attended De La Salle College, Marrickville. He left school before obtaining a leaving certificate and began working as a post office telegram boy. In 1962 he joined the

Postmaster-General's Department The Postmaster-General's Department (PMG) was a department of the Australian federal government, established at Federation in 1901, whose responsibilities included the provision of postal and telegraphic services throughout Australia. It was ...

as a telephone technician, receiving further training at North Sydney Technical College. He was a member of the Postal Telecommunication Technicians' Association and the

Federated Clerks' Union The Federated Clerks Union of Australia (FCU) was an Australian trade union representing clerical workers, in existence from 1911 to 1993, when it amalgamated with the Australian Services Union. History Between 1900 and 1907, attempts were made to ...

Early political involvement

McLeay joined the ALP at the age of 13 and was state secretary of

Young Labor Australian Young Labor (AYL), also known as the Young Labor Movement or simply Young Labor, is the youth wing of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) representing all party members aged between 14 and 26. The organisation operates as a federation ...

in 1969. He served on the Marrickville Municipal Council from 1971 to 1977. He became a paid ALP employee with the support of

Graham Richardson Graham Frederick Richardson (born 27 September 1949) is an Australian former Labor Party politician who was a Senator for New South Wales from 1983 to 1994 and served as a Cabinet Minister in both the Hawke and Keating governments. He is c ...

, initially as an organiser and then as assistant general secretary of the state branch from 1976 to 1979.

Politics

McLeay was elected to federal parliament at the 1979 Grayndler by-election, following the death in office of Frank Stewart. He joined a number of parliamentary committees and in 1982 chaired the subcommittee that delivered the ''In a Home or at Home'' report on aged care. He was elected chairman of committees in 1986, serving as deputy to

Joan Child Joan Child, (3 August 192123 February 2013) was an Australian politician. She was the first woman to be Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives. Up until the election of Anna Burke on 9 October 2012 , she was the only female Speaker ...

, and was elected as her replacement upon her retirement in 1989. McLeay represented the

Division of Grayndler The Division of Grayndler is an Electorates of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales. It is currently represented by Prime Minister of Austra ...

from 1979 until 1993. In 1993, the Division of Phillip was due to be abolished, and its sitting member Jeannette McHugh had become a minister and was entitled to a seat. Therefore, McHugh transferred to Grayndler, forcing McLeay to transfer to

Division of Watson The Division of Watson is an Electorates of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales. Watson is an Urbanization, urban electorate in Sydney and ...

which he held until 2004. McLeay was Chair of Committees and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives 1986–89, and Speaker of the House 1989–93. He,

Neil Andrew John Neil Andrew (born 7 June 1944) is a former Australian politician. He served in the House of Representatives for over 20 years from 1983 to 2004 representing the Division of Wakefield in South Australia for the Liberal Party. He became th ...

and Bronwyn Bishop are the only three speakers to be subject to

motions of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fit ...

(which were defeated in all cases on party lines). He resigned as Speaker following accusations that he had made a false compensation claim of $65,000 following a bicycle accident. This accusation was later shown to be incorrect. McLeay was subsequently Chief Government Whip 1993–96 and Chief Opposition Whip 1996–2001. He retired at the 2004 election.

Later career

After leaving parliament Leo McLeay became a Director of the Mary MacKillop Foundation in 2005. He was also the New South Wales director of the Enhance Group.

Personal life

Leo has three sons - Mark, Paul and Marten. Paul McLeay was the Member for Heathcote in the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

from 2003 until his defeat at the 2011 state election.

References

External links

* Cartoon by Geoff Pryor appearing in the Canberra Times 20 December 199

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLeay, Leo 1945 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Labor Right politicians Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Grayndler Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Watson Speakers of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives Australian MPs 1977–1980 Australian MPs 1980–1983 Australian MPs 1983–1984 Australian MPs 1984–1987 Australian MPs 1987–1990 Australian MPs 1990–1993 Australian MPs 1993–1996 Australian MPs 1996–1998 Australian MPs 1998–2001 Australian MPs 2001–2004