McCormack Becomes Australia's Deputy Leader After Joyce Resigns

(Bloomberg) -- Michael McCormack is Australia's new deputy prime minister, replacing Barnaby Joyce who stepped down last week after an extramarital affair with a former aide.

McCormack, 53, a former journalist and businessman who's largely unknown to the general public, landed the role Monday after he was selected as leader of the Nationals, the junior partner in Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's coalition government.

“I want to make sure that people know that in me they have a fighter,” McCormack, who has been in parliament since 2010, told reporters after he beat George Christensen in a ballot of National politicians. “I have a huge challenge ahead of me.”

McCormack's appointment should act as a circuit-breaker for the Liberal-National government after Joyce's affair dominated headlines for weeks and saw the main opposition Labor party pull further ahead in opinion polls. Turnbull needs to focus voters' attention on his policy agenda, including passing corporate and personal tax cuts, ahead of elections due by next year.

“Before this scandal blew up, the coalition was doing a good job in keeping the focus on its core message of economic management, so now with a new deputy leader it should be able to re-establish its legislative agenda and move on,” said Zareh Ghazarian, a Melbourne-based political analyst at Monash University.

Joyce, who led the rural-based Nationals for two years, will remain in parliament on the backbench. After the story broke this month that the 50-year-old father of four is expecting a baby with his new partner, ending his 24-year marriage, Turnbull accused Joyce of making a “shocking error of judgment.”

The prime minister, who returned to Canberra on Monday after visiting the U.S. for trade and defense talks with President Donald Trump, said he was delighted with McCormack's elevation. The new deputy leader will also take over Joyce's infrastructure and transport ministerial portfolio.

“The Liberal Party has been in coalition with the Nationals for more than 70 years and our enduring and successful political partnership will continue under Michael's leadership of the National Party,” Turnbull said in a statement.

The saga has spurred a debate about what parts of a parliamentarian's life are private and should be off-limits to media reporting. Citing the scandal, Turnbull overhauled the code of conduct for government ministers and barred them from sexual relations with their staff.

Since he entered parliament almost 13 years ago, Joyce has garnered media headlines for his forth-right and often contentious views on issues including water management, foreign investment and the need for Johnny Depp to comply with Australia's quarantine laws. He briefly cost the government its lower-house majority last year after discovering he was also a citizen of New Zealand, contravening the constitution.

Joyce returned to parliament in December after a special election victory. In comparison, McCormack has had a much lower profile.

“Joyce had a very high public profile, so getting a leader of the junior coalition party who won't take attention away from Turnbull may be a good thing for the government,” Ghazarian said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jason Scott in Canberra at jscott14@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Edward Johnson at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net, Ruth Pollard

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