Labor opposition threatens Wagga MP Daryl Maguire with expulsion motion if he will not resign after ICAC hearing

“I’m saying he should resign,” Nationals leader and Acting Premier John Barilaro said on Wednesday afternoon.

The Labor Party upped the stakes on Wednesday, threatening to deploy a rarely used standing order to expel Mr Maguire from parliament if he did not resign by August 7.

The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party and Independent Lake Macquarie MP Greg Piper have told Fairfax Media that they would support an expulsion motion but preferred that Mr Maguire go of his own accord.

“I would wait and see how the standing order is presented; I would certainly take counsel on it, probably from others in parliament,” Mr Piper said.

“But my inclination on it at this point is that I would be likely to support it.

“It is an extraordinary situation but it is probably a supportable position. My hope, however, is that Mr Maguire sees sense.”

Mr Maguire has declined to comment on Labor's threat to force him from his seat.

Mr Maguire resigned from the Liberal Party and as a parliamentary secretary on Friday after an ICAC hearing revealed his attempt to profit from a Chinese property deal.

Mr Barilaro on Wednesday used more forceful language than in previous statements, telling Sydney radio 2GB that Mr Maguire should resign from parliament.

“It doesn’t matter what I think, it matters what the people of Wagga Wagga think,” Mr Barilaro said.

“The people of Wagga Wagga are making themselves absolutely clear that Daryl should resign, then Daryl should resign.”

Mr Barilaro did not confirm or deny reports that the Nationals would abstain from voting on any motion to expel Mr Maguire from parliament.

“I believe that the right decision will be made in due course,” he said.

“I’m confident that we will have this resolved before we return to parliament.”

Mr Barilaro said he did not want to disrespect his colleagues by preempting any party room discussions on the motion.

“The Nationals are a broad church of individual members, we are brought together more by geography than ideology and I will allow my party members to have that discussion, if an when it arises.”

Mr Barilaro appeared to confirm speculation that the Nationals would not run a candidate in Wagga against the Liberals unless a byelection was called.

A Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party spokesman said they preferred that Mr Maguire resign rather than be the first MP to be expelled from parliament via a vote since 1917.

"Should it come to that, we will support the motion," the spokesman said.

"But we would prefer that Mr Maguire listen to the Wagga community and resign before parliament resumes.”

The Shooters party is in the process of preselecting a candidate for Wagga in March’s general election, or a byelection if Mr Maguire resigns.

Fairfax Media has contacted the NSW Greens and independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich about their voting intentions on any possible expulsion motion, but has yet to hear back.

The Greens are also planning to run a candidate in the general election but it will be up to the Riverina Greens members’ group whether to contest any byelection.

Labor has proposed to use Standing Order 254 to expel Wagga MP Daryl Maguire from parliament over revelations at an anti-corruption hearing.

The order states “A Member adjudged by the House guilty of conduct unworthy of a Member of Parliament may be expelled by vote of the House, and the Member's seat declared vacant”.

The motion has been attempted just six times in NSW parliament’s 194-year history, with the last successful vote passed in 1917.

Independent MP Richard Price, formerly of the Protectionist party, was expelled in October of that year due to “wantonly and recklessly” making false allegations against the Lands Minister.

The expulsion motion was last attempted, but voted down, against Labor’s Brian Langton in 1998 after the Independent Commission Against Corruption found he improperly used other MPs’ air travel accounts.

EARLIER – 1pm, Wednesday

THE NSW Labor Party has threatened to attempt a rarely used parliamentary procedure to oust Wagga MP Daryl Maguire unless he resigns by next month.

Acting opposition leader Michael Daley said on Wednesday afternoon that if Mr Maguire does not give up his seat before Parliament resumes on August 7, then Labor will move an expulsion motion.

Mr Daley said Labor leader Luke Foley and the shadow cabinet had met to discuss using a vote of parliament to remove a democratically elected MP.

“They were all unanimously clear on this: Daryl Maguire is unfit to sit and if he won’t go, unfortunately, we will take steps to remove him,” Mr Daley said.

Mr Daley gave a date at which the motion would be moved.

“If Daryl Maguire is still a member of Parliament when parliament resumes on August 7, we will move under the standing orders to expel him from parliament,” Mr Daley said.

“That is a very serious thing to do. It has only been done six times in the history of parliament and it hasn’t been successfully moved since 1917.

“We don’t do this lightly; we have been thinking about this all week and wishing it would not come to this.”

This type of motion has usually reserved for MPs convicted of a notorious crime.

Fairfax Media does not suggest that Mr Maguire has committed any crime.

Mr Maguire’s spokesperson said he would not make a comment in response to Labor’s threat to attempt an expulsion motion.

Mr Maguire quit the Liberal Party on Friday after revelations at the Independent Commission Against Corruption investigation’s into Canterbury City Council.

The commission heard a recorded phone call that detailed how Mr Maguire sought to use his influence as an MP for personal gain from a Sydney property deal.

Mr Maguire has said he “won’t resign” but he will “bring forward” a decision not to stand for re-election in March.

This was despite saying he “could not risk Labor getting in” when asked about his political future earlier this year.

“We would like (Maguire) to resign, to show some leadership before the 7th of August ” Mr Daley said.

“It shouldn’t be up to the parliament to take out its dirty laundry, it should be done by Daryl Maguire and the premier.

“But the people of Wagga were very, very clear: they don’t want him representing them any more and he shouldn’t be representing them.”

Mr Maguire issued a video statement via his official Facebook page on Monday afternoon in which he again apologised for breaching parliament’s “very strict code of conduct”.

By Monday night, Mr Maguire had taken down the video and deleted or deactivated his Facebook page, which had about 500 followers.

Mr Daley announced on Tuesday morning that Wagga councillor Dan Hayes would contest the seat of Wagga Wagga for Labor.

The Liberal Party has opened nominations for a Wagga Wagga candidate and the National Party is exploring whether it can run a candidate in the same race as its Coalition partner.

The Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party has used its social media accounts to demand that Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Nationals leader John Barilaro “guarantee they won’t accept (Maguire’s) tainted vote in Parliament”.

On the ground in Wagga, residents have been canvassed about holding a protest against Mr Maguire staying in parliament and an unknown person or persons put up a sign near the corner of Tarcutta and Morgan streets calling for an immediate resignation.