Despite walking the corridors for 12 years, Barnaby Joyce had to be signed into Parliament House like every other visitor on Monday.
He may have celebrated a resounding by-election win on the weekend, but the Nationals leader will have to wait a little longer for his official parliamentary pass.
Hailed as a hero, the "visitor" was greeted with a standing ovation from his colleagues at a partyroom meeting.
"Thank you so much for your tolerance, your support (and) enthusiasm," Mr Joyce said to his team.
"What we saw on the weekend was a resounding victory."
The New England by-election, as a result of the High Court ruling him a New Zealand citizen in October, showed him people wanted to hear about roads and phone towers and see their politicians talk about jobs and power prices.
"If you want to focus on the person in the weatherboard and iron they will give you the grace of their vote," he said.
Mr Joyce again apologised for the confusion over his citizenship and called on Labor leader Bill Shorten to fess up about opposition MPs with questions about theirs.
"We threw ourselves under a bus. Matty Canavan came out the other side, I got stuck under there for a little while," he said.
Watched on by Queensland senator George Christensen, who has again reneged on his threat to quit the party, Mr Joyce described his re-election as a reset for the coalition.
"The Australian people want the coalition to go well, they really will back us in if we focus in on them."
Mr Joyce said being a visitor until he is again sworn in is a salient reminder about the honour of serving his community in parliament.
"Don't take it for granted. Treasure it," he said.
