Wallace was born in Melbourne.[1] At the age of 19, he entered a Pallottine monastery in Victoria. He was asked to leave after less than a year when it was judged that he would not be able to fulfil his monastic vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.[2] Dismissed by the rector, he was told, "there's many ways you can serve God, you don't have to be a priest."[2]
His mother organised his apprenticeship as a carpenter, and Wallace eventually started his own building business.[3][2] Wallace qualified as a barrister in 2000 after studying law at the Queensland University of Technology, subsequently practising in construction law for 16 years prior to his election to parliament.[2]
Politics
Andrew Wallace at the Sunshine Coast Technical Trade Training Centre in May 2020
Wallace was a member of the Speaker's panel since September 2019.[1] Following the resignation of Tony Smith as Speaker of the House of Representatives on 23 November 2021, Wallace was elected as the new Speaker by the House of Representatives 70 votes to 59 against Labor Party member and Second Deputy Speaker Rob Mitchell.[5][6] Like his predecessor, Wallace said he would maintain the practice of not sitting in the Liberal Party room while he holds the Speaker position. On the first sitting day of the 47th parliament, Wallace was re-nominated to the speakership. He received 56 votes and was defeated by ALP nominee Milton Dick, who received 96 votes.
Wallace has chaired several committees, including the standing committees on Infrastructure, Transport and Cities; Social Policy and Legal Affairs; and Corporations and Financial Services.[1]
He has been a member of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade since 2017, chairing its Defence Subcommittee whilst in government, serving as deputy chair in opposition.[7] He has also been the deputy chair, alongside Peter Khalil, on the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, since mid-2022.[7]
Wallace on HMAS Canberra at sea in 2018
Views
Wallace is reported to be factionally unaligned,[8] after previously identifying as a member of the centre-right faction during the Morrison government years.[9] Many of his views cohere with a conservative outlook, particularly with regards constitutional matters which, he claimed on the floor of Parliament 2023, Australians hold as well.[10]
Industry
Being in a hub of the seafood industry, Wallace has been defensive of Australia's longline Tuna fishing and prawning fleets. He has urged Australia's governments to engage with Western Pacific nations through labour mobility.[11][7]
Security
Wallace has served on defence committees and has sought to minimise access to sensitive military sites.[12] He has advocated for tougher regulations on big-tech companies to prevent cyber-bullying, as well as restricting children's access to online gambling and pornography platforms through compulsory third-party identification checks.[13][14][15]
In February 2021, Wallace said that Australian banks should create a voluntary code of conduct barring the use of credit cards for online gambling.[17]
International affairs
Wallace has urged Australia to give military support for Ukraine as it resists Russian invasion, and, when speaker, arranged for President Zelensky to address the Parliament on the topic.[18][7] He has argued that Iran’s tyrannical Revolutionary Guard Corps needs to be brought back to the place where it was "weak, broke and totally under control."[19][7]
A strong supporter of Israel, Wallace is a member of the Israel Allies Caucus, for which he is the Oceania Chair.[20][7] Having been given a private briefing on the Hamas-led attack on Israel by Israel officials including the 47 minute atrocity film, and an in-person tour of the affected sites in Sderot, Wallace wrote he had seen "the worst forms of barbarity that a human being can suffer at the hands of another."[19][21] He has supported Israel's military response and argued that Australians have an obligation to ensure anti-Semitism did not get a foothold in Australia, “whether on a bus, at school, or at work."[19]
Wallace and his wife Leonie live in Wurtulla, Queensland.[7] Practising Catholics, the couple have four adult daughters.[16] His youngest daughter lives with a disability, having been born with a segment missing from her chromosome 16, making him a passionate advocate for disability support.[2]
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