When he continued to yell, Ms Bishop ordered him to leave the chamber for an hour. Madam Speaker Bronwyn Bishop made a statement to the House during question time at Parliament House on Tuesday. Credit:Andrew Meares He returned to the chamber shortly before question time concluded. Ms Bishop has ejected Labor MPs on 101 occasions since becoming Speaker in November last year, drawing charges of bias from the opposition. In response to revelations Ms Bishop had hosted party fund-raisers in the Speaker's suite in Parliament House, manager of opposition business Tony Burke at the weekend said that if the reports were true Ms Bishop's position was "untenable".

Ms Bishop got on the front foot on Tuesday, beginning question time with a statement in which she quoted from House of Representatives practice on the role of the Speaker. Coalition MP Ewen Jones is ejected from the chamber during question time. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Ms Bishop said the role of the Speaker in Australia differed in many respects from the role of the Speaker in Britain's House of Commons. In Australia, she said the Speaker changed with a change of government. "This provides a Speaker who is politically affiliated but is required to be impartial in the chair, rather than a Speaker who is both independent and seen to be independent," Ms Bishop said. "Historically the Speaker had not been required to sever his or connection with the governing party. Speakers have attended party meetings, and have not, of necessity, refrained from election campaigning," she said.

Speaking in Parliament prior to question time, Labor MP Anna Burke said at no stage when she was Speaker had she used the Speaker's office or allow it to be used for party fund-raising events. "I and my Labor predecessor [Harry Jenkins] never used the Speaker's office for party political fund-raisers. To do so would have been highly inappropriate," she said. "The office of the Speaker is bequeathed by the Parliament and the Australian people. It is not an institution owned by the government or a political party. It belongs to the Parliament and to the people." Ms Bishop's spokesman said Ms Bishop held private functions in her Parliament House suite "from time to time," and the costs were charged to her private account. "There is nothing illegal about it, there is nothing improper about it," the spokesman said. Following question time, leader of the house Christopher Pyne moved to suspend standing orders in an attempt to force Mr Burke to apologise for a speech he gave on Monday in which he unsuccessfully sought refer to the privileges committee Ms Bishop's use of her suite for political fund-raising.

Mr Pyne referred to an article published in the Australian Financial Review in 2000 which mentions Labor MP Leo McLeay, who was Speaker from 1989 to 1993, using the Speaker's suite for a fund-raising event. Mr Pyne said this undermined Labor's claim that Ms Bishop had acted improperly. Loading Mr Pyne said Mr Burke should either apologise or resign, but Mr Burke said the motion was "silly'' and an example of ''overreach". Follow us on Twitter