Managing a hung parliament can be a tricky business. Convincing a renegade member of the opposition to take up the role of speaker can seem like a masterstroke. It simultaneously boosts the government's vote, diminishes the opposition's vote and causes internal conflict within the opposition. However, it can be a dangerous game to play.

One hundred years ago, the same game was played by a Labor government in NSW. Labor lost its majority when two members resigned, mid-debate, over a rural land policy. Facing an imminent loss of confidence, the acting premier, Bill Holman, convinced his speaker to resign. The opposition realised that it could not form a government and provide a speaker from its own numbers, so Labor remained in government until the byelections were held. Labor won one and lost the other, leaving the numbers tied. This made the election of the speaker critical. Whichever side provided the speaker would lose its capacity to govern. If no speaker could be elected, the Parliament could not function and a new election would have to be held.

Holman's coup was to convince a Liberal, Henry Willis, to be speaker. Upon his nomination, the opposition embarked upon a campaign of abuse. Willis was described, among other things, as a vile worm, a political leper, a pariah dog and a skunk. All night the opposition filibustered in the chamber, hoping that either Willis would give up or the governor would become so fed-up that he would force an election. But the opposition had made a tactical error in not proposing an alternative speaker. The government realised, in the middle of the night, that in the absence of another candidate, Willis could be ''called'' to the chair by acclamation. At 7.30am, while the opposition members were at their most exhausted from a night of unrelenting abuse, an army of Labor supporters burst into the chamber, bawling out ''Willis'' while his nominators quickly dragged him to the chair before the opposition realised what had happened. Willis was speaker and the opposition was thwarted.

This did not end Labor's problems. First, it was careless in losing members, with one tripping over on the stairs, flying over the balustrade and having to take up residence next door, in Sydney Hospital. Its second problem was that Willis was an erratic and aggressive speaker who seemed to provoke disorder. The opposition, however, needed no provocation. Its rage at the traitor was manifested by unruly behaviour and dissent within the chamber. Matters came to a head on September 19, 1911. The Herald reported that the speaker raised tensions by referring to the opposition as ''a pack of ruffians''. Crowds flocked to the public galleries ''on the tiptoe of excitement'' to see how the opposition would respond. The speaker disallowed all questions on the subject and then ''named'' an opposition member who was, the Herald reported, ''sitting most inoffensively in his seat''. When the sergeant-at-arms tried to remove him, several opposition members of ''large stature and weight'' surrounded him so he could not be ousted. The speaker then adjourned, ''harmless paper missiles'' being thrown in his wake.

Upon the resumption of Parliament, another opposition member was named for no obvious reason. The opposition responded in the same manner but this time the speaker pressed a button and ''a posse of heavyweight policemen rushed into the midst of the struggling legislators'' to the cheers of the crowd. Some described it as resembling a scene from a Gilbert and Sullivan opera, while the Herald described it as ''one of the most disgraceful episodes of disorder and confusion'' ever witnessed in a parliament.