Mr Christensen's intervention could be seen as a signal to the new leadership that he intends to continue his abrasive political style of right wing populism which has seen him campaign aggressively on policy differences with the Turnbull government on a range of issues from climate change, to immigration, and even to the formal partnership with the Liberal Party. Mr McCormack automatically becomes Deputy Prime Minister under a Coalition agreement between the Nationals and the larger Liberal Party. "I will honour that faith and trust and responsibility by doing my best always. I am a team player and I am going to be doing it with the very best team in rural and regional Australia," Mr McCormack said shortly after the ballot, flanked by his team. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video The 8am meeting in Parliament House ended weeks of damaging controversy dogging the Turnbull government, the Nationals, and in particular the former high-profile leader, Mr Joyce.

Mr Joyce fell amid criticism of his affair with his former media adviser Vikki Campion, with whom he is now expecting a child, and an allegation of sexual harassment. Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce listens to the party's new leader, Michael McCormack, address the media on Monday. Credit:Domimic Lorrimer In the lead-up to the meeting, Mr McCormack saw off a strong challenge from talented newcomer, Agriculture Minister David Littleproud, who leapfrogged the Mr McCormack and the outer ministry to go straight into cabinet in the reshuffle announced by Mr Turnbull just before Christmas 2017. Sources say Mr Littleproud was as close as one vote away from securing an absolute majority but was subject to a spirited campaign against him by fellow Queenslander, Barry O'Sullivan. Party whip Michelle Landry announced the result of the party room ballot but declined to say what the final numbers were.

"I would like to announce that we had a contested leadership ballot. George Christensen and Michael McCormack put their names forward and Michael McCormack is now the new leader," said Ms Landry. "That is very exciting. I would also like to say I bought myself a new whip this week to keep the boys in line in the party room .... We are not revealing the numbers." National Party whip Michelle Landry announces the new leader of the National Party to the media on Monday. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer Sources from the party room said Mr McCormack won the ballot easily. Mr McCormack declared himself a team builder and praised his predecessor.

"I want to place on record an acknowledgement for Barnaby Joyce," Mr McCormack said. "He has been an outstanding leader. His service to our party and to our nation will never be diminished. His legacy will endure and his continued work for and on behalf of our nation, for and on behalf of our party, and for and on behalf of regional Australia will also continue." "I wish him well into the future and I look forward to him being part of our strong National Party going forward." After embracing Mr Christensen, the newly elected leader left the Nationals' party room to begin talks with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. The new leader of the National Party, Michael McCormack, flanked by Nationals MPs following a leadership ballot on Monday. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

Those talks will cover ministerial posts, and other aspects of the secretive Coalition agreement which is to be renegotiated. He is expected to sworn into cabinet as early as today. Labor's Andrew Leigh said Mr McCormack's selection represented a return to some of the lower key leaders of the past of a party he pilloried as one of "squatters and show-ponies". A former journalist and editor, Mr McCormack is regarded as a mainstream conservative but has struggled to live down homophobic comments he expressed in print and for which he has since apologised. While the Nationals' leadership has now been settled, the hangover for bruised Nationals is expected to continue with simmering resentments over the role of some in publicly undermining Mr Joyce, and the role of others in campaigning against the Joyce loyalist, Mr Littleproud, despite his strong support.</s>A conservative rural politician and a former editor of a regional newspaper, Michael McCormack, replaced Barnaby Joyce as Australia’s deputy prime minister on Monday. McCormack was sworn in after Joyce officially stepped down.

Joyce had announced his resignation on February 23 after a scandal that led to a ban on sexual relations between government ministers and their personal staff.

McCormack, 53, was chosen by the Nationals – the junior partner in the governing Liberal-National coalition – to take over as the leader of the party in an internal vote, AFP reported. As the leader of the Nationals, McCormack automatically becomes deputy to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull who heads the Liberal Party.

“We are the party for small business and farmers and we want to make sure that continues and that can only continue with a close relationship with the Liberals,” McCormack told reporters in Canberra after winning the vote, AFP reported.

McCormack was a relatively unknown politician until now, but was criticised in 1993 for a column in which he described homosexuality as “sordid”. “Unfortunately gays are here and, if the disease their unnatural acts helped spread doesn’t wipe out humanity, they’re here to stay,” he had written, according to BBC.

McCormack has since apologised, and said his views have changed. He even voted in support of Australia’s gay marriage law in 2017. He is seen as a safe choice to help the Nationals repair their relationship with the Liberals after the Joyce scandal.</s>Veterans Affairs Minister Michael McCormack will replace Barnaby Joyce as the Deputy Prime Minister and Nationals leader after beating surprise challenger George Christensen in a ballot this morning.

New Nationals leader Michael McCormack praised Member for Dawson George Christensen for "putting his hand up" and said his rival had given an outstanding speech. (Credit: ABC)

Michael McCormack and George Christensen hug it out after leadership vote

Video: Michael McCormack and George Christensen hug it out after leadership vote

Michael McCormack has been sworn in as Australia's new Deputy Prime Minister.

The Nationals have chosen Mr McCormack to replace Barnaby Joyce, who formally quit this morning.

George Christensen also stood for leader but was defeated by Mr McCormack.

The Nationals have not said what the winning margin was.

Mr Joyce will now be a backbencher and Mr McCormack has been promoted to Cabinet, taking over the Infrastructure and Transport Ministry.

After winning the leadership, Mr McCormack said huge trust, faith and responsibility had been placed in him.

"I will honour that faith and trust and responsibility by doing my best always. I am a team player and I am going to be doing it with the very best team in rural and regional Australia," Mr McCormack said.

Mr Christensen's surprise bid for leadership meant the Nationals faced a vote when they wanted it to be a smooth handover with only one candidate.

Mr McCormack praised Mr Christensen for "putting his hand up" and said his rival had given an outstanding speech.

He conceded this morning's vote meant his colleagues disagreed with his push to split the Coalition between the Liberals and the Nationals.

"I expressed my views on the need to change the current political direction the Nationals are moving in, in a Facebook post over the weekend," Mr Christensen said.

Children and Families Minister David Gillespie also made a run for the job, but ended his candidacy yesterday conceding he did not have the numbers.

Agriculture Minister David Littleproud was considering a leadership bid but did not nominate.

Mr McCormack is expected to push for the Small Business portfolio to be included in Cabinet as part of the new Coalition agreement he will negotiate with Malcolm Turnbull.

The PM has already congratulated his new deputy and noted how enduring the Coalition has been.

The Labor Party is demanding that agreement be made public.

The new leader has a much lower profile than Mr Joyce.

His colleague John 'Wacka' Williams said he was sure that "as time goes on, Michael McCormack will get very well known".

"As time goes on he will build his profile," Senator Williams said.</s>Michael McCormack of the National Party on Monday replaced Barnaby Joyce as Australia's Deputy Prime Minister.

Joyce announced his resignation on Friday after an allegation of sexual harassment against him was revealed by the National Party, which followed the fallout over an affair he had with a former employee, who is now his partner and is pregnant with his child.</s>The junior partner in Australia’s coalition government elected as its new leader on Monday a former newspaper editor who takes over as deputy prime minister after an embarrassing sex scandal threatened a decades-old conservative alliance.

Michael McCormack was chosen in a party-room ballot to replace Barnaby Joyce as the leader of the rural-based National Party after Joyce, who campaigned on family values, resigned over an extramarital affair with his former media secretary.

Joyce is expecting a child with his former staff member and has left his marriage of 24 years. He resisted weeks of pressure to quit but said on Friday he would resign as party leader after a new allegation of sexual harassment emerged.

Under the terms of the coalition deal with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s centre-right Liberal Party, the leader of the Nationals automatically becomes deputy prime minister.

The drawn-out saga over Joyce’s extramarital affair had threatened to fracture the alliance between the Liberals and Nationals that has been in place for almost 100 years. McCormack won the party-room vote over a single challenger, George Christensen, who had proposed breaking the alliance with the Nationals’ senior partner.

“I will honour that faith and trust and responsibility by always doing my best,” McCormack told reporters in Canberra. The alliance suffered during a public falling-out between Turnbull and Joyce over the deputy leader’s affair. Turnbull described it as a “shocking error of judgment”, to which Joyce replied by calling Turnbull “inept”.

Turnbull pointedly did not leave Joyce as acting prime minister when he left Australia last week for meetings with US President Donald Trump in Washington.

McCormack has kept a low profile in recent years but his appointment is not without controversy. He was forced to apologise for stridently homophobic comments he made in an editorial when he was running a rural newspaper in 1993. Turnbull, also a former journalist, welcomed McCormack’s appointment. “Our enduring and successful political partnership will continue under Michael’s leadership of the National Party,” Turnbull said in an emailed statement.

Political analysts saw McCormack’s low profile as an early obstacle before elections due by May 2019. “It will take quite a bit of time before McCormack registers with voters in rural and regional Australia,” said Haydon Manning, a political science professor at Flinders University in South Australia. “Turnbull doesn’t have much time before the election and he losses his best asset in Joyce, who is, without doubt, the best retail politician,” he said.

Joyce now moves to the backbench. Little-known outside Australia, he made international headlines in 2015 when he deported two dogs brought into Australia by US actor Johnny Depp without the proper paperwork, a row that became known as the “war on terrier”.

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App</s>SYDNEY, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Michael McCormack was on Monday elected Australia's new deputy prime minister after being selected as the leader of the country's National Party, the junior partner in the country's coalition government.

McCormack replaces former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce who was forced to resign last week amid public anger over an extramarital affair with his former press secretary with whom he is now expecting a child.

The leader of the National Party automatically becomes deputy prime minister under the terms of the coalition agreement with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's Liberal party. (Reporting by Colin Packham, editing by David Evans)</s>Michael McCormack attends his first Question Time as Deputy Prime Minister, as his predecessor Barnaby Joyce moves to the backbench.</s>Share On more Share On more

Australia, meet your new deputy prime minister and Nationals leader: Michael McCormack.

"There's a new era now, Michael McCormack is our new leader," chief Nationals whip Michelle Landry announced just before 8:30am on Monday morning.

The New South Wales MP for the Riverina was elected by the 21-strong Nationals party room meeting with a clear majority, after former deputy Barnaby Joyce announced he was standing down on Friday and forced a leadership spill.

Outspoken National MP for Dawson George Christensen was a last minute surprise candidate, with other contenders withdrawing before the vote. Bridget McKenzie will remain as deputy.

The exact result of the vote is unknown and was not made public to the room after the ballots were counted.

"I want to place on record an acknowledgement for Barnaby Joyce. He has been an outstanding leader," McCormack said on Monday. "His service to our party and to our nation will never be diminished.

"His legacy will endure. And his continued work for and behalf of our nation, for and behalf our party and for and an behalf of regional Australia will also continue.

"I wish him well into the future and I look forward to him being part of our strong National Party going forward."

A question about whether McCormack was a "seat warmer" for Joyce until he can mount a comeback was met with an awkward silence.</s>SYDNEY - A conservative rural politician was on Monday (Feb 26) chosen to replace scandal-plagued Barnaby Joyce as Australia's deputy prime minister after he resigned over an affair with his now-pregnant aide.

Michael McCormack, 53, was chosen by the Nationals - the junior partner in the governing Liberal-National coalition - to take over as leader and deputy PM in a party-room vote.

"We are the party for small business and farmers and we want to make sure that continues and that can only continue with a close relationship with the Liberals," McCormack told reporters in Canberra after winning the vote.

"Look forward to having a good discussion with (Prime Minister and Liberals leader) Malcolm Turnbull in a few moments," he added.

McCormack, who had been serving as veterans' affairs minister, was widely expected to win the leadership role after other Nationals MPs withdrew from the race.

Maverick Queensland MP George Christensen launched a late bid for the leadership, but was defeated. The vote count was not released.

McCormack is not as well-known as Joyce, who made international headlines for threatening to euthanise Hollywood star Johnny Depp's dogs over a quarantine violation.

But he is seen as a safe pair of hands as the Liberal and National parties seek to repair their relationship after the Joyce scandal.

Tensions between the two parties rose after 50-year-old Joyce's affair with ex-staffer Vikki Campion, 33, was splashed across the frontpage of Sydney's Daily Telegraph in early February.

Revelations about the affair and allegations that Joyce breached ministerial rules made daily headlines, prompting Turnbull to harshly criticise his deputy's behaviour and impose a formal ban on sex between ministers and their staff.

Joyce in turn slammed Turnbull's comments as "inept" and initially refused to step down, before resigning Friday after a separate sexual harassment complaint was lodged against him. He denied the allegation.

Turnbull welcomed McCormack's appointment, saying he expected the more than 70-year coalition between the two parties would continue under his leadership.

McCormack was first elected to the lower House of Representatives in 2010 representing Riverina, a rural region in southwest New South Wales state.

More than two decades ago as a local newspaper editor he wrote a column in which he described homosexuality as "sordid behaviour".

In August 2017, as he oversaw a voluntary nationwide postal vote on same-sex marriage as the minister in charge of the government agency running the poll, he "apologised wholeheartedly for the comments at the time".

McCormack later voted in parliament in support of amending the Marriage Act to legalise gay unions.</s>MICHAEL McCormack has seen off a surprise bid by Queensland Nationals MP George Christensen to become the party’s new leader.

The member for Riverina and Veterans Affairs Minister, Mr McCormack replaces Barnaby Joyce who announced his plan to stand down last week.

Ahead of this morning’s vote, it had been expected Mr McCormack – a former newspaper editor – would become leader without challenge.

But Mr Christensen, who at the weekend called for an end to the coalition, put his hand up in the closed meeting of the 21 Nationals.

Mr McCormack, who entered the parliament in 2010, paid tribute to Mr Joyce.

“I want to place on record an acknowledgement for Barnaby Joyce,” he said.

“He has been an outstanding leader. His service to our party and to our nation will never be diminished.

“His legacy will endure. And his continued work for and behalf of our nation, for and behalf avow party and for and an behalf of regional Australia will also continue.”
The cogoverning National Party of Australia elects Veterans' Affairs Minister Michael McCormack to succeed Barnaby Joyce as their leader. McCormack is later sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister.