After a Party room vote in Canberra early Monday morning, Weddin Shire Mayor Mark Liebich was delighted to hear the news that Riverina MP Michael McCormack had been elected as Australia’s new Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the National Party.
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Cr Liebich said it was great news Michael McCormack had been elected as Australia’s new Deputy Prime Minister.
“Mr McCormack has been instrumental in securing funding for our shire for a number of projects, most notably the new medical centre that is now under construction,” he said.
“Mr McCormack works tirelessly toward improvements and better conditions for his electorate and I have wished him all the best in his new role as Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister.
“I am definitely looking forward to the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia officially opening our town’s new medical centre on completion of the project, it will be a terrific day for Grenfell and the Weddin Shire.”
Mr McCormack’s meteoric rise to the top of the nation’s political arena is complete. The 53 year-old minister for veterans affairs and small business had been widely tipped as a potential next head of the Nats as the Barnaby Joyce saga unfolded over the last fortnight.
Federal Nationals MPs and senators gathered for a special meeting at Parliament House at 8am last Monday where Mr Joyce officially stood down from the leadership position.
Mr McCormack was comfortably elected the Riverina member in August 2010 after the retirement of long-standing MP Kay Hull. He has three children with his wife, Catherine, and prior to the election ran a small business in Wagga. His election to the head of the Nationals could put an end to a tumultuous few weeks in parliament.
