Senator McKenzie will move her office from Bendigo to Wodonga early next year, amid speculation over whether Ms McGowan will run for a third term.

“Good on you Bridget, bring it on,” Ms McGowan said.

“One of the things we loved in regional Australia is a good election and having really good candidates like Bridget to have a fierce battle around ideas and policy.

“I would really welcome it, it’s a great move.

“I hope Bridget makes her announcement soon that she’s running.”

Senator McKenzie is yet to reveal if she will run for Indi and Ms McGowan said she also has not decided if she will step down at the end of this term or next term.

Ms McGowan was speaking in Canberra in a joint press conference with her fellow crossbench MPs, including the likely new Wentworth MP Kerryn Phelps.

They said getting children off Nauru would a priority because it was a matter of emergency.

“It is just not acceptable that these children … are left trapped on Nauru without proper medical attention,” Dr Phelps said.

Ms McGowan agreed and appealed to Prime Minister Scott Morrison as a father to change the government’s position.

She also reiterated her surprise at Barnaby Joyce’s reaction this week to her comments that the National Party should not change its leader, saying it was not about his personal issues.

“In my community there’s anger about what the Liberal Party did,” she said.

“If (the Nationals) are brave or stupid enough to call on the wrath of people in my electorate by having a leadership change now, I will duck my head.

“I would find it really hard to go into my community like I do at the moment.”

But Ms McGowan did accept Mr Joyce’s claim she was “gushy”.

“It’s probably true, it comes from being part of a big family with a lot of sisters,” she said.

The pair found time to talk in Parliament on Tuesday after their war of words.