John Armstrong: Fierce debut for Madam Speaker

Hunched forward in the Speaker's chair and leaning into her microphone with the intent of someone out to show just who is in control, Margaret Wilson yesterday served notice her refereeing of Parliament is going to be anything but laid back.

Apart from one debatable call which annoyed Opposition MPs, her first day in the chair amounted to a pretty satisfactory debut.

Her rulings satisfied the requirement that they be firm and decisive. She remained completely unruffled throughout.

She sent a clear message she is not going to tolerate tedious, time-wasting points of order or have MPs trifling with her patience.

She got early marks from the Opposition for bringing Labour's Trevor Mallard to heel and telling him to "address the question" that National had put to him rather than avoiding it.

She immediately lost those marks for not disciplining another Government frontbencher, Steve Maharey, after he declared he could be trusted because he was not a Tory - a remark which instantly raised National Party hackles.

There were minor hiccups - the most delightful being a glorious Spoonerism which had her transforming Parliament's resident Rastafarian into some strange mixture of Indian-Mexican cuisine by calling him "Tandor Nanczos" rather than Nandor Tanczos.

By the the end of ministers' question-time - the fiercest segment of the parliamentary day - she had done the two things she needed to do: stamp her authority on proceedings and make a nonsense of claims she lacked the experience to do the job.

She needed to prove the doubters wrong as swiftly as possible. Her honeymoon will be brief. Soon enough she will find herself stuck in the middle of bitter election-year fights which will be impossible to resolve to everyone's satisfaction.

Better then to take advantage of her first day's grace and set the no-nonsense tone while MPs, still grappling with having to say "Madam Speaker", were willing to make some allowances.

For while they may have been in lenient mood, she would have known they would be weighing up how much latitude she will give them and how often she will intervene.

It's the old story. Too much whistle and the players turn on the referee.

Too little and things can quickly slide into chaos.

It is early days, but Margaret Wilson seemed willing to allow debate to run a little longer and the noise level to rise a little higher than her predecessor before crying order.

Or, in her case, demanding "order" with an ear-splitting yell.

It was a full half-hour before this was required. Then the cries became more frequent, especially after she refused to take action against Mr Maharey.

She stressed the word "Tory" was not unparliamentary.

But that only prompted an avalanche of complaints from National and Act. They did not mind being called "Tories".

What upset them was the inference that they could not be trusted - and that was insulting, derogatory and impugned their honour. However, the Speaker refused to budge.

The argument was finally resolved by Mr Maharey voluntarily withdrawing his remarks and apologising - but not to the Opposition's satisfaction.

Gerry Brownlee, National's shadow Leader of the House, politely urged her to have a rethink.

She considered the matter closed. However, the Opposition will have quietly chalked that up against her. The going gets tougher from here.