Barnaby Joyce to return as deputy PM after deposing Michael McCormack as Nationals leader
Michael McCormack #MichaelMcCormack
Barnaby Joyce has been re-elected leader of the Nationals party and will return as deputy prime minister after MPs dumped Michael McCormack in a leadership spill on Monday.
The move to reinstate Joyce comes after the prime minister, Scott Morrison, earlier praised the “wonderful partnership” he had enjoyed with McCormack, saying the pair had delivered “great, stable leadership”.
But after a spill motion was called by the former resources minister, Matt Canavan on Monday, Joyce was able to secure a majority of 21 votes to take back the top job and double his salary to $433,000 a year.
Confirming the vote for Joyce, Nationals whip Damian Drum said “nothing changes” as a result of the spill other than the leadership position.
“He has to go through a process now to be sworn in, to have all the conversations, to talk to the prime minister, and effectively get on with the job of representing our people,” he said.
Drum said the spill showed the Nationals were “the most democratic party in Australia”.
McCormack, who had said he was feeling “positive” ahead of the meeting, said he had thanked MPs for the privilege of being appointed to the role.
“I said thank you for the great privilege of serving you,” he told reporters.
McCormack had earlier vowed to fight any move against him.
“If I survive then the people who actually run against me, they should think long and hard about their futures,” he said.
“They should think long and hard about the role they need to play in government. They should stop being so destabilising.”
The agriculture minister, David Littleproud, remains deputy leader of the Nationals, but Joyce is likely to want to reshape the Nationals’ ministry representation as part of a new coalition agreement to be negotiated with Morrison.
Joyce’s appointment will complicate the Morrison government’s attempts to recast its climate policy as it edges towards a commitment of net zero emissions by 2050, with Joyce an outspoken critic of the move.
Joyce was forced from the deputy prime ministership in 2018 after a sexual harassment complaint was made against him by high-profile rural woman Catherine Marriott.
This came after it was revealedJoyce had been in a long-running extra-marital relationship with one of his political staffers, Vikki Campion. The affair became public once her pregnancy was revealed in The Daily Telegraph.
Joyce’s behaviour prompted then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull to introduce a ban on MPs having sexual relations with staff members, which became known as the “bonk ban”.
But an eight-month investigation by the NSW Nationals failed to make a determination about Marriott’s complaint about Joyce, citing insufficient evidence.
Marriott said she was furious with the party’s handling of the complaint.
“This outcome simply isn’t good enough,” she said.
“I’m extremely disappointed that after eight months of waiting, three trips to the east coast at my own expense to meet with the party, my name and confidential complaint being leaked to the national media, and my personal and professional life being upended, the National party have reached a no-conclusion verdict.”