McCormack ideal as Nationals leader and Deputy PM

Former Nationals federal director Scott Mitchell.

Barnaby Joyce has been a strong, effective leader of the Nationals, but history will record that he was the first leader to factionalise the 98-year-old party.

Joyce could cut through with a clear message when others missed their mark, and he delivered several good agricultural policies.

But the newly factionalised Nationals — divided not by philosophy but by personality, populism and ambition — were unattractive to voters.

The Australian people are sick of this style of leadership and the political soap opera of Canberra.

With the election of Michael McCormack as leader and the 19th Deputy Prime Minister, that style of leadership and the division it caused are brought to an end.

The Nationals must now work as a united and disciplined team for their constituents.

Commentators have harshly accused the Nationals of having no alternative, but that is just evidence of how misunderstood are the forever understated Nationals.

McCormack will prove them wrong.

The Nationals have recruited candidates sensibly for recent federal elections and have an unrecognised depth of talent.

McCormack will be a strong leader.

He is a talented, experienced, empathetic and humble politician who represents the values of rural and regional Australia and in the second highest office in the land will fearlessly advocate for the Nationals’ constituency while governing in the national interest.

He and his deputy, Victorian senator Bridget McKenzie, will make a formidable team and in them rural and regional Australia have staunch allies.

Like all developed countries, Australia will become increasingly urbanised.

So it is essential that the Nationals, along with their regional Liberal colleagues, provide focused representation, without distraction, to the 23 per cent of Australians who live in our regions.

A united team working on the substantive issues that matter to rural and regional Australians — rather than populist policy issues that often have unintended consequences and fail to deliver long-term benefits — is what is now most important.

The role of the Nationals is to develop, influence and put in place policies that offer a long-term benefit to rural and regional Australians. This is paramount, and is the key challenge for the new leadership team.

It is a secondary concern that the Nationals’ leader be a household name.

The recipe for electoral success for any political party is to be a true champion of the constituency it represents. In the case of the Nationals this is the 30 or so House of Representative seats they seriously contest across our nation at each election.

Their successes at the past three federal elections, and in particular in 2016 when the party managed not only to hold all its seats but even gained one despite a general swing against the government, have not been achieved simply by being a household name.

They were achieved because the Nationals ran a series of electorate-by-electorate campaigns focusing on important local issues.

They have a proven ability to not be distracted by immaterial debates, and to focus on issues that really matter and that make a positive difference to people’s lives.

Australia can have confidence that McCormack and McKenzie will lead a team that will present and articulate a strong policy platform before the next election.

They know it is vital that Australia has vibrant communities, sound financial management, including an internationally competitive tax environment, affordable energy and profitable small and large businesses with the confidence to employ people.

They know it is vital to have plans to ensure we have 21st-century infrastructure, constantly improving health and education systems, a world-class telecommunications system and a strong defence and law enforcement focus for a safer, stronger Australia.

McCormack is also a Coalitionist and will work constructively and seamlessly in partnership with Malcolm Turnbull and his Liberal team to provide a clear and genuine contrast to the imminent danger of a left-leaning Labor-Greens government.

The end of last year and the beginning of this year went well for the government, only for it to be put off course by the events of the past few weeks.

McCormack’s election represents a circuit-breaker and is a cause for optimism for all who wish for good government.

Scott Mitchell is a government relations and business consultant who was the Nationals’ federal director at the 2013 and 2016 elections.