Matt Canavan is the new Nationals leader after winning a party room vote triggered by David Littleproud’s shock resignation.
The Queensland rightwinger defeated Kevin Hogan and Bridget McKenzie in a three-cornered contest to replace Littleproud, who blindsided colleagues on Tuesday by announcing he was stepping down as leader.
Darren Chester was elected deputy leader, replacing Hogan.
The new leadership pairing will be tasked with helping to rebuild the Coalition’s dire position in the polls and fending off One Nation’s attempt to gain a foothold in regional Australia.
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The first test will come at the 9 May Farrer byelection, which was triggered by former Liberal leader Sussan Ley’s retirement from parliament.
Elected in 2013 after serving as the chief-of-staff to Barnaby Joyce, Canavan has emerged as the country party’s most hardline and influential rightwing voice.
He led the campaign to dump net zero by 2050, has advocated for building new coal-fired power stations and opposed Covid-19 vaccine mandates.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: theguardian.com
