Wagga MPs Fang and McGirr vote against referring NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian to ICAC

State member for Wagga Joe McGirr and Wagga-based upper house MLC Wes Fang were in parliament on Thursday for an afternoon of heated debate, in which the Legislative Council voted to refer the premier to ICAC.

The upper house passed a Labor motion, 22-15, to refer Ms Berejiklian to the corruption body for failing to disclose her close relationship with disgraced former Wagga MP Daryl Maguire and for her handling of the controversial Stronger Communities Fund grants scheme.

The Legislative Assembly then passed a motion disallowing the upper house's earlier motion, effectively voting down Labor's calls to have the premier investigated.

Mr Fang, a Nationals MLC, called the upper house motion "politically motivated" and said Labor hadn't raised any evidence during the debate which hadn't already been heard by ICAC this year.

"So when you have to rely on evidence that's being presented through the ICAC hearings as reasoning for referring the premier you're on pretty shaky ground," Mr Fang said.

Ms Berejiklian and Mr Maguire's "close relationship" was not publicly known until October, when it was revealed during an ICAC investigation into claims Mr Maguire misused his parliamentary office for personal financial gain.

Labor Wagga councillor Dan Hayes said the community "has questions left over" after Ms Berejiklian's ICAC appearance.

He accused Mr Fang of hypocrisy for voting against the upper house motion because Mr Fang founded the Wagga Ratepayer's Association in 2016 to call for greater government transparency.

"He got elevated to state government and now there's calls for greater transparency and accountability and he votes against it," Mr Hayes said.

Dr McGirr, the independent MP who won Wagga after Mr Maguire's resignation, sided with the government in the lower house to block the Legislative Council's referral.

"[The three independent MPs] took the view that these matters were already before ICAC, that ICAC had had ample opportunity to this point and have not indicated that the premier was the person of interest," Dr McGirr said.

"These matters are being investigated. In my view, they are with the appropriate authorities."

The Daily Advertiser sent questions to the premier's office including asking why she didn't disclose her relationship with Mr Maguire after he was first called before ICAC for a separate investigation in 2018, but her office did not respond.