Leo McLeay

Leo Boyce McLeay (born 4 October 1945) is a former Australian politician. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served in the House of Representatives from 1979 to 2004, including as speaker of the House from 1989 to 1993.

McLeay was raised in Sydney and after leaving school worked as a telephone technician for the Postmaster-General's Department. He was active in the labour movement and joined the ALP at a young age, serving as state secretary of Young Labor and later working as a paid organiser and assistant general secretary. McLeay was elected to parliament at the 1979 Grayndler by-election. He served as chairman of committees (1986–1989) before succeeding Joan Child as speaker. McLeay was involved in a number of reforms as speaker, including the introduction of television broadcasts of parliamentary proceedings. He resigned in 1993 following a controversy over an injury compensation payout he received for a bicycle hired from Parliament House. He later served as Labor's chief whip from 1993 to 2001.