The junior Coalition partner held a party room meeting this morning to decide Littleproud’s successor, at which Canavan defeated Bridget McKenzie and former deputy Kevin Hogan.
The Nationals don’t disclose the tallies of party room votes, so his exact margin of victory isn’t known.
Victorian MP Darren Chester was chosen as deputy leader, while McKenzie remains the party’s leader in the Senate.
“It’s extremely humbling to be elected the leader of this great party,” Canavan said, before making his first pitch to voters.
“We need to have more Australian everything… we need more Australian babies,” he said.
“We need more Australian humour, more Australian jokes. We need more Australian barbecues, sometimes – often – fuelled by fossil fuels.
“We need more Australian everything. We don’t need to look overseas for our solutions.”
When asked about his at-times maverick approach to politics, Canavan said he was committed to a new role as leader.
“I’ve got a different job to do as leader, and I’ll commit myself to do that,” he said.
An outspoken critic of renewable energy and net-zero policies, and vocal supporter of coal power, Canavan had previously run for leader following last year’s federal election but lost out to Littleproud.
Since then, One Nation’s surge in the polls has presented a major ultra-conservative threat to the Nationals, potentially putting their regional seats at risk.
9News political editor Charles Croucher said the election of Canavan – himself one of the most prominent populist, right-wing politicians in Canberra – puts the Nats at direct loggerheads with Pauline Hanson’s party.
“This clearly puts the Nationals going head-to-head with One Nation,” he said.
“Two pretty similar characters with similar ideas – Matt Canavan is very outspoken, he’s really ramped up his criticism of One Nation in the last few weeks.
“He will now be given the task of leading that charge for the Coalition.”
Canavan wasted little time in continuing that criticism today.
“Pauline has been in politics for more than double the time I have,” he said.
“And I struggle to point to a single dam, a single road, a single hospital, that Pauline has delivered in Australia.
“I can point to swathes of those things with the work I’ve done…
“That is ultimately what we’re here for. We’re here to deliver results. We’re here to make people’s lives better.”
Littleproud announced his resignation yesterday afternoon, saying he was “buggered” and no longer had the energy to lead the party.
Heading into today’s party room meeting, the former leader said he had no regrets after quitting the top job.
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