Mr Palmer, who was declared the member for Fairfax this month by a margin of 53 votes, was not invited to the two-day induction for new lower-house MPs in early October because his seat was still being re-counted and there was not yet an official winner.

To make up for this, the Department of Parliamentary Services arranged a one-on-one briefing to walk Mr Palmer through the workings of the building and services such as computer systems and security.

But Mr Palmer sent a staff member to last week's briefing.

''We met with Mr Palmer's representative … and ran him through a summary of the induction program,'' Department of Parliamentary Services secretary Carol Mills said. ''We've obviously not yet had an opportunity to meet with Mr Palmer personally to see what interests he might have.''

When asked if he skipped the induction because he did not think it important, Mr Palmer replied ''That's rubbish'', saying his staff member ''happened to be there because his daughter lives in Canberra''.

The member for Fairfax is in danger of not attending this week's opening of Parliament after coming down with a cold. The businessman did not turn up for an interview with Channel Ten's Meet the Press on Sunday and could not guarantee he would make it to Parliament House on Tuesday.

He is also booked to address the National Press Club on Tuesday, a rare honour for a new crossbench MP.

Despite this, and in the flurry of the resumption of Parliament, Mr Palmer has said he is planning a quiet week. Before pulling out of Meet the Press he had planned no meetings during his first official week in Canberra, had no topics he wanted to raise and had not yet thought about his maiden speech.

Mr Palmer has previously said he does not plan to turn up for every vote in the House and has suggested he will commute to Canberra by private jet.

Liberal National Party candidate for Fairfax, Ted O'Brien, warned on Sunday that the people of Fairfax would expect full-time representation from Mr Palmer. ''With every privilege comes commensurate responsibility and this is especially pertinent when it comes to political representation,'' he said.

Voters would expect the colourful businessman to participate ''constructively'' in the House on all matters, Mr O'Brien said. ''This is not to deny him his own unique style and personality. He has every right to be himself.''

The LNP is still deciding whether it will petition the High Court to challenge the close result in Fairfax.

With AAP