Barnaby Joyce to miss final sitting regardless of poll result

Barnaby Joyce is set to miss the final parliamentary sitting week even if he claims back New England.

Barnaby Joyce on the campaign trail in New England sheep country near Walcha. Picture: Peter Lorimer

The chances of Barnaby Joyce being sworn in as a member of parliament for the final sitting week of the year are highly unlikely, even if the former deputy prime minister reclaims New England.

Assuming Mr Joyce wins his NSW seat after Tony Windsor, One Nation and the Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party ruled out running in the December 2 poll, he would still have to wait until the writs are returned before he can be officially sworn in.

Writs for the 2015 by-elections of Canning and North Sydney took 11 days and 18 days respectively to be returned.

With parliament scheduled to rise for the summer recess on ­December 7, a five-day turnaround for the New England writs would be extremely unlikely.

Based on precedent, Malcolm Turnbull would not have his critical one-seat majority restored in the House of Representatives until Mr Joyce was sworn in — likely to be on the first day of sitting next year — leaving open the prospect of a chaotic final parliamentary fortnight.

It is possible Mr Joyce could be sworn in as a minister this year, however, because under the Constitution MPs can hold ministerial positions for three months after the time of their election without being a sitting member.

The uncertainty comes as Mr Joyce dared Labor to “go right ahead” and challenge ministerial decisions he made while in cabinet.

The opposition has advice that up to 118 legislative instruments and ministerial announcements could be open to legal challenges after the High Court found last week that Mr Joyce and his former deputy Fiona Nash were unconstitutionally elected.

“If the Labor Party wants to challenge a whole heap of decisions to make poor people poorer and to show they have absolutely no vision for regional Australia, go right ahead fellas because we have got the Queensland election on and we will be reminding everybody about how completely and utterly out of place you are with ­regional Australia,” Mr Joyce told ABC radio.

Opposition legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus acknowledged federal Labor would not challenge the decisions but South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill said he had sought legal advice about the validity of those relating to the Murray-Darling Basin.

ACTU secretary Sally Mc­Manus also wants to challenge several parliamentary votes — particularly on a Labor bill that would have stopped cuts to penalty rates — but the government and opposition agree the High Court will not overturn a vote of parliament.

“The government needs to say which decisions are potentially ­affected, what are they going to do about it, own up to whether or not anyone is going to challenge them,” Mr Dreyfus told Sky News yesterday.

“The government should never have allowed Mr Joyce and Fiona Nash to continue in their ministerial positions from the instant that there was any doubt about their eligibility to serve in parliament,” Mr Dreyfus said.

Additional reporting: Greg Brown, AAP