As A Senator
Dean Smith, was selected by a joint sitting of the WA Parliament on 2 May 2012 to fill the Senate position vacated by the late Judith Adams.
In nominating Dean Smith to fill the vacant Senator position, the Hon Colin Barnett MLA, Premier of WA said “Mr President, at 42 years of age, Dean Smith brings energy, tenacity and a capacity to advance Western Australia’s interests in the Senate ... I am confident he will prove to be a very fine Senator for Western Australia.”
On 8 May 2012, Dean Smith was sworn in as a Senator for Western Australia and subscribed the Oath of Allegiance.
On 18 June 2012, Dean Smith delivered his First Speech to the Australian Senate. In his First Speech, Dean Smith spoke of his belief in “in smaller government, limited taxation and individual responsibility as being the building blocks of our prosperity” and his view that “government should be ashamed when it promises people things it cannot afford to fund”. He also called on the community to be “more vigilant in challenging expectation when it seeks to overshadow and take the place of aspiration”.
Senator Dean Smith’s First Speech has been met with praise.
In Perth on 10 July 2012, the Hon Tony Abbott MP, Leader of the Opposition, said “rarely have I heard a finer Maiden Speech. He extolled the virtues of Federalism ... but he also spoke of something very dear to my heart – the Constitution of this country, including the Crown, which has given us so much strength and so much stability over more than 100 years.”
