Wagga MP-elect Joe McGirr is confident of being sworn in on Tuesday morning and taking his new seat in parliament that afternoon.
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“I have contacted the Speaker of the House’s office and they have confirmed it is happening (on Tuesday) so I am flying down (tomorrow) morning,” Dr McGirr said.
“I think you go to Parliament House and are sworn in before Question Time.”
Dr McGirr’s victory as an independent candidate in this month’s byelection was confirmed over the weekend following a preference vote count on Friday afternoon.
It took a week of vote counting to confirm the result for the first non-Liberal Wagga MP elected in 60 years.
Procedure states that a new MP “cannot sit or vote until he or she has taken the pledge of loyalty or oath of allegiance in accordance with section 12 of the Constitution Act 1902”.
Parliament is due to resume at 2.15pm on Tuesday, with the government planning to debate emergency services and budget estimates.
The opposition also intends to move legislation to “prohibit retailers from supplying certain plastic shopping bags to their customers”.
Dr McGirr is still not sure when he will be able to make his maiden speech but hopes to confirm the schedule in the next couple of days.
“I’m excited and looking forward to the opportunity,” he said.
Dr McGirr said establishing an electorate office was his next priority.
“I anticipate having discussions on Friday around clarifying the situation around an office,” he said.
“It’s a priority to get that established.”
Since the 1600s, it has been a tradition in many parliaments, including in NSW, that new MPs are escorted into the chamber by two current MPs, usually of the same party as the MP to be sworn in.
Dr McGirr has asked soon-to-be fellow independents Greg Piper, Member for Lake Macquarie, and Alex Greenwich, Member for Sydney, to escort him into the chamber.
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