Mr Gee, who will contest the July 2 federal election for the Nationals in the seat of Calare, said legislation stipulated he could not remain a state member of parliament past this date. 

However, Mr Gee did not rule out stepping down before then.

“I will be guided by what’s in the best interests of the electorate,” he said.

In light of Calare MP John Cobb stepping down from office yesterday, Mr Gee said it would be beneficial to have someone “at the wheelhouse” a little longer.

When asked about the upcoming federal election, Mr Gee said he expected the next few months to be “fast and furious”.

Meanwhile, Labor candidate Jess Jennings said yesterday Mr Gee had the advantage of being a new candidate because Mr Cobb was a “bit on the nose”. 

“He might have an existing profile, but he has disrespected the voters of Orange by creating the need to call a by-election to give himself a job promotion.”

Dr Jennings needs a swing of 14.7 per cent to win the seat of Calare after the boundaries were changed slightly last year.

“Realistically, it’s a tall order,” he said. “To benefit the people of Calare the most, I would like to see the seat become marginal.”

Dr Jennings said the big issues of this campaign would be the privatisation of Medicare, $29 billion in cuts to the education system, and the failure to protect Australian jobs.

“It will be an election fought on fairness – whether or not people believe tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires should come before good health and education,” he said.

“Malcolm’s millionaires are getting tax cuts of up to $17,000 while people under $80,000, which is 90 per cent of workers in Calare, get nothing.”

Dr Jennings added that his personal commitment to the Calare electorate is to deliver an agriculture, food and future plans for the electorate, which will be an assessment of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to agriculture in the region.

He said this would be a long campaign and he will be on the road for 80 per cent of that time.