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Michael McCormack

May

Jacinta Price might have to wait a while before returning to shadow cabinet.

Jacinta Price at risk of relegation in new shadow ministry

Her decision to defect to the Liberal Party could come at a cost as she faces being relegated to the shadow outer ministry on the new Coalition frontbench.

Former Nationals leaders Barnaby Joyce and Michael McCormack.

Joyce, McCormack face exile on the backbench

Former Nationals leaders Barnaby Joyce and Michael McCormack are set to be excluded from the shadow ministry.

Nationals leader David Littleproud speaks to journalists in the press gallery at Parliament House.

Coalition to rejoin forces but knives out for Littleproud

The Liberal Party and Nationals will reform the Coalition, but a cloud hangs over David Littleproud’s leadership.

‘I don’t think John Howard has met these Nats’

This week’s stunning split in the Coalition has been building for a decade and insiders blame the Nationals, who have become a party of protest.

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Harvard ban hits Aussies; Bonds may upend markets; End of the iPhone?

Read everything that’s happened in the news so far today.

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New Liberal leader Sussan Ley would not give the Nationals any policy guarantees.

It took five days for the Coalition to fall apart

Negotiations between the two parties fell at the first hurdle. When parliament resumes, the Liberals will hold all 30 shadow ministries and the Nationals will be on the crossbench.

Willing Coalition? Liberal Leader Sussan Ley and Nationals Leader David Littleproud.

The longer the split, the harder it will be to reconcile

Sussan Ley, who used to hold her own in shearing sheds, is playing hard ball.

February

Advocates say the rollout of community batteries will help address scepticism about the energy transition.

Rural electorates to benefit from Labor renewables fund

Seats held by National Party MPs are among the big winners of Labor’s $50 million community energy grants program.

August 2024

Sydney University boss Mark Scott has warned of possible job losses as the government cracks down on international students.

Sydney Uni enters hiring crackdown amid foreign student cap fallout

Sydney University head Mark Scott has flagged that vacant roles may not be filled in light of the migration reforms targeting international students.

November 2023

Racing NSW boss Peter V’Landys is playing a key role in growing Melbourne Cup rival The Everest.

Peter V’Landys haunts AHA lunch

The powerful lobby group entertained a room bustling with Labor types. And a few Nationals too.

September 2023

Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka. The airline’s IPO process hasn’t taken flight, raising big questions over Australia being the world’s most open aviation market.

Why claims Australia’s aviation market is competitive don’t fly

The idea that Australia is the world’s most competitive aviation market doesn’t stack up when viewed against arguments used to justify the Qatar decision.

December 2022

Former deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack falls ill after drinking a bowl of strong kava.

McCormack hospitalised after drinking entire bowl of kava

Former deputy prime minister Michael McCormack has opened up about being hospitalised after drinking a full bowl of kava during the government’s trip to the Pacific.

Penny Wong has restored joint government and opposition visits to the Pacific after they fell into abeyance.

Penny Wong takes political foes on Pacific trip

Foreign Minister Penny Wong will lead a bipartisan sweep through the Pacific this week.

May 2022

Joyce has had a tumultuous political career since his affair with a former staffer.

Pitt supports Joyce as leadership contenders grow

Nationals deputy leader David Littleproud is talking to colleagues about a possible bid to replace Barnaby Joyce, as a possible party room fight looms.

Mick McCormack says Australia has wasted 17 years in the renewable energy process.

‘After 17 wasted years Australia still has no energy plan’

The nation could have resolved its energy transition by now had it put a price on carbon in 2005, says Origin Energy director and former APA boss Mick McCormack.

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October 2021

Prime Minister Scott Morrison, left with Barnaby Joyce, told Parliament on Monday he would stick with the target that he took to the 2019 election.

Politics is often counterintuitive, and climate action is no different

Barnaby Joyce looks every bit the man who knows he has to deliver something that every sinew of his body disagrees with.

September 2021

Not possible to reach net zero carbon without farmers on board.

For farmers, climate change is both headache and a motivator

Unlike coal, there is no easy substitute for meat or dairy produced by belching livestock. But farmers do have other options in their own hands.

July 2021

Qantas said outsourcing the ground handling work would save it about $100 million annually, reduce capital expenditure costs by $80 million over the next five years and allow it too match fluctuating demand.

Qantas feared government attack over outsourcing

The airline thought the government would see the outsourcing of 2500 ground handling jobs last year as ‘inconsistent with the policy aims of JobKeeper’.

The audit office’s Brian Boyd says  the federal government rejected Treasury advice that funding be awarded on a competitive basis.

Car park scheme started out targeting marginal seats

The Auditor-General says a $660 million program to build commuter car parks targeted marginal seats – including one that did not have a railway station.

June 2021

Comeback: Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce in parliament last week.

Barnaby Joyce might have the right leadership stuff

The resurrected Deputy Prime Minister has a good chance of success – despite what the critics claim – because of the common traits shared with other long-term political leaders.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/person/michael-francis-mccormack-jfd