Senator Matt Canavan acknowledged the threat of One Nation to his party's vote, but said he would 'fight for the Australian people' as National Party leader, replacing David Littleproud in the top job.
He also called for a "hyper Australia", with "more Australian babies."
"We need to have more Australian everything. We need to manifest a hyper Australia.
We need more Australian humour, more Australian jokes, with more Australian barbecues," Canavan said during his leadership announcement.
Canavan won the leadership ballot in a 45-minute meeting of the National members on Wednesday morning, with Victorian MP Darren Chester elected his deputy.
The party was forced to vote on a new leader after Queensland MP David Littleproud resigned from the top job on Tuesday, saying he was too "buggered" to stay in the role.
Flanked by his entire party, Canavan said he was "humbled" to emerge as the party's leader and was determined to "fight back" as "people are losing their standard of living".
"I will now not rest to fight for our nation, to get back, to use our resources, to fight for the Australian people, to put our country first," he told reporters in Canberra.
Canavan's appointment comes as the Liberal-National party Coalition, which has split and reformed twice since May, is suffering in the polls.
The latest Newspoll has One Nation at 27 per cent of the primary vote, recording mid to high 20s across Redbridge and Resolve too — polling that puts it ahead of the Coalition.
It's a measure of success not seen since the party's height in 1998, when it polled at nearly 23 per cent nationally and picked up 11 seats at the Queensland state election.
Senator Bridget McKenzie, who remains the Nationals' Senate leader, said the new leadership team has a depth of experience that can rival One Nation's surge in popularity.
"The talent that we've got here at the front, but also behind us, I think will mean we're not just be taking it up to Labor. Watch out, One Nation," she said.
Canavan said he is concerned by the rise of identity politics under One Nation leader Pauline Hanson.
"What unites us as a country is more than what divides us."
The first test of the Coalition's new leadership, under Canavan and Liberal leader Angus Taylor, will be the 9 May Farrer by-election, following the retirement of Sussan Ley.
Canavan's views at odds with prior leadership
The National Party appointed Canavan, an outspoken critic of net zero, to lead an internal review of the Coalition's energy policy after its federal election loss.
In recent months, he has often been at odds with the party's official position, under the leadership of David Littleproud.
He has repeatedly told the Coalition to ditch commitments to achieving net zero, an issue pertinent to the Coalition's first breakup last year.
When the Coalition reunited, Canavan refused to join the shadow ministry, allowing him to cross the floor on several issues and express his views without being tied by cabinet solidarity.
Canavan also opposed Labor's hate speech laws in February, in reaction to the Bondi terror attack, arguing they gave federal agencies too much power.
As he voted against the legislation, he encouraged his party members to walk away from the Coalition.
The resignation of Bridget McKenzie, Susan McDonald and Ross Cadell, and subsequent members, fractured the Liberals and Nationals for a second time in eight months.
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