Lake Macquarie MP Greg Piper and his two fellow independents have assured Premier Dominic Perrottet they will support the government on supply and confidence after last weekend's by-elections.
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The Coalition lost former transport minister Andrew Constance's seat of Bega to Labor and is in danger of losing former premier Gladys Berejiklian's blue-ribbon seat of Willoughby to independent Larissa Penn.
The results will plunge the government further into minority after Liberal ministers Gareth Ward and John Sidoti were forced to the crossbench last year.
The Coalition will hold 45 of the lower house's 93 seats if it retains Willoughby.
Mr Piper and fellow independents Alex Greenwich and Joe McGirr met with Mr Perrottet on Tuesday to assure him of their support on supply and confidence matters, an understanding they had with Ms Berejiklian before she resigned in October.
"We had discussions about this. Everyone is surprised that we hadn't had them earlier," Mr Piper said.
"The Premier explained that he wasn't aware that the understanding we had was just with the former premier.
"The understanding we had was to ensure confidence and supply to ensure the stability of government, but where there's issues around corruption or maladministration, that's not on.
"And it's not in relation to any other legislation."
Mr Piper was elected assistant speaker unopposed on Tuesday but rejected suggestions this was part of a deal assuring supply to the government.
Mr Piper said the numbers meant the government had to be "more considered" and could not "ram matters through Parliament without proper discussion".
Nationals Myall Lakes MP Stephen Bromhead is battling a serious illness and is likely to be away from Parliament for some time, but Labor has agreed to match his absence with a "pair" when voting in the lower house.
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