NSW parliament gets first female speaker

SYDNEY (AAP) - The first female speaker has been elected to NSW parliament as 114 mostly coalition members were sworn in during the first sitting since the landslide state election.
South Coast Liberal MP Shelley Hancock has been given the job of keeping the notorious "bear pit" in order, after she was elected unopposed as the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.
As per custom, she was dragged to the chair, by former speaker Richard Torbay and new Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian.
Ms Hancock thanked lower house MPs for the "considerable honour" of being the first woman to hold the job in its 150-year history.
The former high school teacher, who entered parliament in 2003, promised to be an impartial and independent umpire in the lower house.
"My role is clear: to assist and guide you all and preside over the legislative assembly of the parliament with fairness and impartiality," she told the lower house.
In his first address in the house as premier, Barry O'Farrell praised Ms Hancock for her work as a local MP and on being elected the state's first female speaker.
"Your election on merit to this position is a demonstration of not just your worth but how far we have, indeed, come," he said.
Opposition Leader John Robertson congratulated Ms Hancock on her appointment to the "unenviable task" of keeping the house in check.
"I would also like to acknowledge your appointment as the first female speaker in the history of this great state," he said.
"This is an important moment for the NSW parliament."
All MPs were sworn in during the first sitting of the 55th parliament, which is dominated by the O'Farrell coalition government.
The Liberals and Nationals now hold a thumping majority of 69 seats in the lower house, to Labor's 20, with the ALP members filling just two benches in the corner of the chamber.
In his inaugural speech as the new member for Blacktown, Mr Robertson admitted his small team of Labor MPs would have to make an "extraordinary contribution" if they are to have a voice in NSW parliament.
The former union leader said "the picture already looks very different here in the parliament".
Mr Robertson, who moved from the state's upper house to the lower chamber at the election, said he intended to lead a "constructive opposition".
"I don't pretend for a moment that the task ahead will be easy," he told the lower house.
"Each and every Labor member will need to make an extraordinary contribution if we are to be heard."
In the upper house, Liberal Party MP Don Harwin was elected unopposed as president, as jokes, cheap shots and gaffes characterised its first sitting.
Liberal upper house leader Mike Gallacher tried to nominate Mr Harwin, but because he had the wrong papers in front of him, inadvertently began reading the names of other Liberal MPs.
"Get it right," yelled out former treasurer and Labor MP Eric Roozendaal.
"We haven't even started yet and you're getting it wrong."
But a glum looking Mr Roozendaal was also a target for ridicule, with one coalition MP yelling out: "Big smile, big smile, Eric".
Officially opening the first session of the new parliament, NSW Governor Marie Bashir said it was done with a "great spirit of optimism".
"A spirit that such an historic opportunity for change and renewal rightly brings," she said.
There are 54 new faces, eight in the Legislative Council and 46 in the Legislative Assembly.
The first question time will be held on Wednesday.