AKIPRESS.COM - Australian government lawmakers on Monday elected a new speaker of the House of Representatives after the previous speaker resigned over an expense scandal that has damaged Prime Minister Tony Abbott's conservative government.

The new speaker Tony Smith defeated his nearest challenger Andrew Southcott in a ballot of ruling Liberal Party lawmakers 51 votes to 22, reports The Associated Press.

His selection was later formally endorsed by the House of Representatives, where the government holds a clear majority.

In an indication that the low-profile Smith intends to play a more independent role than his predecessor Bronwyn Bishop, he said he would no longer attend party meetings in which government policy and legislation are discussed.

"It's my view that the speaker should not only be, but also should be seen to be independent of the partisan, day-to-day foray," Smith told Parliament.

Bishop was regarded as one of the most blatantly partisan speakers to preside over the House of Representatives in its 114-year history. Since she first took the chair in November 2013, she has expelled opposition lawmakers on 393 occasions for misbehavior and government lawmakers on seven occasions. Despite her relatively short tenure, no speaker has expelled more lawmakers.

Bishop, 72, was the choice of Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who once described himself as the "ideological love child" of Bishop and John Howard, the second-longest serving prime minister in Australian history and the last conservative prime minister before Abbott.