Australia gets new Deputy Prime Minister elected, after Joyce's resignation
After Australia's Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce resigned following a sexual harassment allegation, the Australian government has appointed a new Deputy Prime Minister. Lawmakers in the Nationals party elected Michael McCormack as their leader. The junior coalition partner's former leader Joyce resigned on Friday as party leader as well as the Cabinet minister. However, he didn't resign from the Parliament.
I have a huge challenge ahead of me: McCormack
McCormack is a former veterans affairs minister. The rural-focused Nationals' leader automatically becomes Turnbull's deputy under their coalition agreement with the prime minister's conservative Liberal Party. "I want to make sure that people know that in me they will have a fighter. I have a huge challenge ahead of me," McCormack, 53, told after his election.
McCormack was sworn in for the portfolios Joyce held
McCormack was sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister as well as minister for infrastructure and transport, portfolios that Joyce had held. Recent controversies over Joyce's private life had strained the coalition partnership. Further, he did not resign from the Parliament to ensure that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's single-seat majority in the House of Representatives is maintained.
