The Riverina MP has replaced Barnaby Joyce who quit after weeks of controversy surrounding his extra-marital affair with a former staffer who is now pregnant.
Mr McCormack, 53, was confirmed as Nationals leader at a partyroom meeting on Monday morning in Canberra having been challenged by George Christensen.
Headlines and controversies
Michael McCormack is not nearly as well-known as Barnaby Joyce, who has long been the Nationals’ best-known political operative.
But the NSW MP has made headlines a few times in recent years.
He was tasked with taking the Census online for the first time in 2016, while he was minister for Small Business.
The online process was plagued with major technical problems, shutting down for two days in an alleged cyberattack, and became known as #CensusFail on social media.
Many were blamed for the bungle, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics to IBM, the company contracted to design the software.
Mr McCormack has also made headlines for an unearthed 20-year-old newspaper column he wrote, in which he described homosexuals as "sordid" and blamed them for AIDS.
The MP has apologised for the comments and says he no longer holds those beliefs.
“I have grown and learnt not only to tolerate but to accept all people, regardless of their sexual orientation, or any other trait or feature which makes each of us different and unique,” he said in a statement in August, as the nation debated the legalisation of same-sex marriage.
Standing up to the Liberals
Barnaby Joyce was regarded as a powerful voice for the Nationals within the Coalition agreement, who was capable of standing up to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
Nationals MP Darren Chester said it was unhelpful to compare Mr McCormack’s leadership style with that of Barnaby Joyce.
But he said Mr McCormack had “some fire in his belly” and would stand up for regional constituents.
From Wagga’s local paper to the front bench
Mr McCormack began his working life as a journalist at Wagga Wagga’ local newspaper, the 'Daily Advertiser'.
He rose up the ranks and became the paper’s editor in the early 1990s, before moving on to start his own publishing business.
He was elected to parliament in 2010 as the member for the Riverina.
He became an assistant minister for Defence in 2016, then went to be appointed minister for Small Business after the election.
He now serves on the front bench of the Turnbull government as Veterans’ Affairs minister.
