This comes after the Liberal Party voted to not run a candidate after losing the seat of Wagga for the first time in 60 years during last month’s byelection.

Mr McCormack said the National Party is ready to commit itself fully to the upcoming election.

“I would’ve liked to run a candidate in the byelection, but I understood and appreciated the decision not to and I supported the Liberal Party candidate Julia Ham,” Mr McCormack said. 

“I’ll be doing everything I can do to make sure our candidate is successful at the March election.” 

Mr McCormack said the Liberal’s decision presented a rare opportunity for one party to represent Wagga on two levels of government. 

“You’d have consistency, you’d have stability, you’d have someone who is the deputy prime minister with a fair degree of influence in our national parliament, and you’d also have somebody within the state sphere who hopefully would be a voice in government for the people they serve,” he said.

1PM: Freshly elected Member for Wagga Dr Joe McGirr has confirmed he will remain an independent when he runs for parliament again in March. 

Dr McGirr dispelled all rumours that he would become a National Party member on Friday morning in the wake of the Liberal Party’s decision to not contest the seat.

“I’ve run as an independent, I am an independent, I’ll continue as an independent, and I will stand as an independent for the election in March,” Dr McGirr said. 

“I think it’s very important now to reestablish honesty, integrity, and connection to the community – that’s what I set about doing and I intend to keep doing.” 

While Dr McGirr said he did not see the Liberal’s decision to let the Nationals contest the seat coming, he said he would welcome fresh competition at the next election.

“I think it’s good if the local member is held accountable, I welcome that opportunity – I’ll be judged on my performance in March, and I look forward to that,” he said.

“My concern is the people of the electorate and what their views are, and the feedback I’m getting is that people are just a little tired of campaigning and campaign promises.

“What they want to see is concrete action, they want their concerns raised with government, and they want their local member getting on and acting for them, so that’s my focus.” 

The Liberal Party shocked many late on Thursday afternoon when they voted not to recontest the seat of Wagga after byelection candidate Julia Ham’s unsuccessful run last month. 

“Julia Ham was a terrific Liberal candidate, who campaigned very hard during a challenging byelection,” a Liberal Party spokesman said. 

“The decision will enable the National Party to run a candidate representing the Coalition.”

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