KEY POINTS:
It is good to see controversial Speaker Margaret Wilson getting a bit more exposure for her wit and intelligence rather than just for that awful way she used to screech "Order!" in the House.
As well as her valedictory speech on Thursday, she was on Agenda today (TV One 10 am) offering some interesting views on constitutional reform.
She believes that until there is "a greater resolution on the role of the Treaty of Waitangi" in New Zealand there will be no move forward towards a republic.
"The Treaty of Waitangi will, in fact, preserve the monarchy," she said.
She wasn't picked up on exactly what she mean but it was probably a reference to to enshrining the treaty in a written constitution.
She dismissed the notion of re-introducing an Upper House into New Zealand saying the development of the select committee system was providing a greater scrutiny of legislation.
"I don't see there is any great constituency for an upper house and I think what's happened in New Zealand interestingly is that the select committee system has provided if you like an opportunity that wasn't there for greater scrutiny of legislation that goes through. It would be an interesting debate what they do. Most of the countries I visit that have upper houses are visibly trying to find ways to dissolve them and there's a constant questioning as to what is actually their role in the whole process of decision making. So I don't think we are necessarily disadvantaged by not having an upper house."
She also raised the issue of the actual (U-shaped) seating arrangement in Parliament as encouraging the adversarial exchanges that we regularly see. I am sure she is right: if all seats faced the Speaker's chair it would change the dynamics of the chamber but it would probably be very dull.
The good thing about Wilson as Speaker is that she was very ordered and methodical in every thing she did and was generally held in high regard.
You might not have liked her decisions but they were always based on some reasoning.
The most glaring exception to that was her refusal to allow the press gallery to relocate its historic home in Parliament House, in offices behind the press gallery proper, when we returned to the refurbished Parliament Buildings.
Successive Speakers appear to have been captured by their bureaucrats or leaders in seeing reason or justice on that score.
Wilson told us it would cost too much to move us back and then proceeded with officials to draw up an even costlier plan for a media centre - still well away from the House.
Wilson showed clear bias in the job - not towards parties but for and against certain personalities. For example, she really liked Gerry Brownlee and Winston Peters and Michael Cullen. And she really didn't like Nick Smith, Rodney Hide and Trevor Mallard.
But then maybe she had good cause to be less tolerant of the latter three.
She should feel justifiably proud of getting Parliament televised - though not of the fact that Parliament only relaxed the absurdly strict rules of focusing on the MP speaking when Parliament itself started filming.
There are a couple of rulings she has made which will have consequences on free speech both within Parliament and outside it. The inside Parliament issue is discussed by David Farrar on a blog of media law specialist Steven Price.
The other is a case Wilson has referred to the privileges committee involving the publication of things said in Parliament that might be breaches of suppression orders, including its own Hansard transcripts of Parliament.
Act MP Heather Roy breached a suppression order and named someone in Parliament, which Hansard and some news media then reported.
This has the potential to be dangerous if Parliament gets around to thinking that its own rules and prohibitions should be extended to the news media.
Perhaps Wilson could make a submission on the matter in her new role as Professor of Law and Public Policy at Waikato University
Wilson may yet have more controversy ahead of her even though Parliament has adjourned.
Coupled with the censure motion against him, Winston Peters has been ordered by motion of the House to amend his submissions to the registrar of pecuniary interests by the end of tomorrow.
What will she do if he doesn't?
Top: Margaret Wilson gives her valedictory speech in Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell
