Whilst Labor appear safe to form a majority government with the electorate of Hartley providing the valuable 24th seat, Labor will be praying to get Bright to get up to 25 seats.
With the government obliged to provide the speaker, a majority of 24 will be reduced to 23 on the floor with the appointment of a Labor member to the position.
If Labor end up with only 24 seats, the only real options open to them would seem to be Kris Hanna and Bob Such.
To appoint Hanna to the role would be like sleeping with the devil for them, so I wouldn't be surprised that Bob Such is invited to be the Speaker of the House. He has done it before, would be partial to the trappings on offer, and it would allow Labor to keep those vital 24 votes on the floor of the House.
They did the same with Peter Lewis however they cringed for every moment he was in the chair. Will they try to do the same this time around?
Any other thoughts on this?