Prebble says new Speaker fills job description almost to the letter

Wanted: A Speaker who listens, is fair, courteous and knows standing orders.

That is the job description for a good Speaker for Parliament as devised by veteran MP, former Act leader, and the occasional thistle to presiding officers, Richard Prebble.

Attorney-General Margaret Wilson need not be too worried that he is going to give her a thorny time when she takes the giant leap on Thursday from Government minister to neutral Speaker.

He is surprisingly optimistic about her ability to do the job, despite her having been an MP for only five years, because of her experience as Labour president in the tempestuous 80s.

Mr Prebble, a former Labour member, believes she will do much better than MPs and commentators have suggested.

"I remember her being chairman of the Labour Party conference in the days when it wasn't a made-for-television set-piece but had real rip-roaring debates. And she always listens and she was unfailingly courteous and was unfailingly fair."

He also said that if she followed the advice of the Clerk of the House, David McGee, she would keep out of trouble.

"And I think there's a bit of steel there."

Reflecting on the performance of Jonathan Hunt, Mr Prebble, like other MPs does not put him in the category of The Greats - Sir Kerry Burke is the most often mentioned - but said he would give Mr Hunt "a pass".

"Despite people getting frustrated with him, he is very likeable. Jonathan likes people, he likes Parliament, he is famously hospitable and this makes people very reluctant to point out that he just likes taking the softest course."

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, who has tested Mr Hunt probably more than any other MP, would not rate the outgoing Speaker.

"I don't answer those sorts of questions - because we're talking about someone who is still the incumbent and I am not allowed to by convention and protocol.

But he was complimentary when asked what he would miss about him: "As someone who has not agreed with some of the things that Jonathan has decided on, nevertheless a Parliament is a lesser institution when it loses that level of experience and memory and, I might say, intelligence."

A useful tip for Margaret Wilson from Mr Peters was that consistency is not essential.

Gerry Brownlee, National's shadow leader of the House, said the Opposition expected that she would operate "in good faith" and so would they.

His recipe for Margaret Wilson's success: "A good Speaker must understand standing orders, who can readily apply previous speaker's rulings but has a very good feel for the atmosphere of the House and for the level of tolerance in the House for how the particular debates are being handled."

Assessing Mr Hunt, he said: "Jonathan Hunt's long service in the House gives him an instant feel for the mood and on most occasions, he gets it right."

Mr Brownlee's fellow frontbencher and former leader, Bill English, said Mr Hunt had failed his measure of what makes a good Speaker: to stand for the rights and privileges of Parliament when they are under real pressure.

He cited Mr Hunt's actions in responding to the realisation that New Plymouth MP Harry Duynhoven had been inadvertently disqualified in law from being an MP through his Dutch citizenship.

"By law he was disqualified from Parliament and the Speaker worked with the Government to circumvent that disqualification for political reasons."

Mr English believed it would be a challenge for Margaret Wilson to adapt to the neutrality of the Speaker and resist pressure from Prime Minister Helen Clark to politicise her role.