Henry Thomas Givens was an Australian politician. He served as a Senator for Queensland from 1904 until his death in 1928 and was President of the Senate from 1913 to 1926. He began his career in the Australian Labor Party (ALP), serving briefly in the Queensland Legislative Assembly (1899–1902), but became a Nationalist after the party split of 1916. He was born in Ireland and worked as a labourer, miner, trade unionist and newspaper editor before entering politics.
Thomas Givens
Givens in 1908
1910 Labor Senate ticket, with Givens on left
Undated photo by T. Humphrey & Co.
President of the Senate (Australia)
The president of the Senate is the presiding officer of the Australian Senate, the upper house of the Parliament of Australia. The counterpart in the lower house is the speaker of the House of Representatives. The office of the presidency of the senate was established in 1901 by section 17 of the Constitution of Australia. The primary responsibilities of the office is to oversee senate debates, determine which senators may speak, maintain order and the parliamentary code of conduct during sessions and uphold all rules and orders of the senate. The current president is Sue Lines, who was elected on 26 July 2022.
President of the Senate (Australia)
Image: Richard Baker 1900 (cropped)
Image: Albert John Gould (cropped)
Image: Harry Turley Swiss Studios (cropped)