Australia’s Milton Dick succeeds Tanzania’s Tulia Ackson as IPU President

By TBN Reporter

ARUSHA, Tanzania, 9 October 2026 — Dr Tulia Ackson of Tanzania, who became President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) after succeeding Portugal’s Duarte Pacheco in Luanda, Angola, in October 2023, has completed her three-year term, and was succeeded on Friday by Australia’s Speaker of the House of Representatives, Milton Dick, elected during the IPU’s 153rd Assembly in Arusha. 

Dick won 56 per cent of the vote in a single round of secret-ballot voting. Sahiba Gafarova, Speaker of Azerbaijan’s Milli Majlis, received 38 per cent, while Chilean Senator Rojo Edwards Silva received six per cent. Dick is the 32nd President of the IPU. 

Ackson was elected the IPU’s 31st President on 27 October 2023, at the 147th Assembly in Luanda. She was the first African woman to hold the office. 

Her successor, Dick, has represented the federal electorate of Oxley, Queensland, since 2016. He became Speaker of Australia’s House of Representatives in 2022 and was re-elected unopposed in 2025. 

After the result was announced, Dick called for unity among the organisation’s member parliaments.

“Today, there are no winners or losers. The IPU has spoken with one voice. This is democracy,” he said. “Dialogue still matters, respect still matters, cooperation still matters. We will work together, listen to one another and seek common ground.” 

As President, Dick will chair the IPU’s statutory meetings and represent the organisation at international events. He will work alongside IPU Secretary-General Anda Filip. 

The election marks a change in leadership for the global parliamentary organisation, as its members continue to address questions of democratic representation, international cooperation and the role of parliaments in responding to shared global challenges.