Updated March 11, 2026 — 12:47pm,first published March 11, 2026 — 8:55am
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Populist right-winger Matt Canavan has been elected leader of the Nationals in a major pivot for the ailing regional party as it seeks to take on a resurgent One Nation.
Canavan had spent years rebelling against the Coalition’s net zero emissions target and arguing for the use of fossil fuels. He has taken on a more disciplined role since the opposition dumped net zero as a policy position last year, telling colleagues for months he was ready to lead the party.
The senator, speaking in his first press conference as party leader on Wednesday, marked out battle lines with One Nation, labelling the minor party leader as divisive and ineffective, and arguing the Nationals were a genuine grassroots movement as opposed to the Hanson-dominated party.
“Pauline has been in politics for more than double the time I’ve been, and I struggle to point to a single dam, single road, single hospital that Pauline has delivered in Australia,” he said.
Canavan, a trained economist who favours state intervention, said he stood for the role because Australians were losing their standard of living.
“They’re losing their confidence, we’re losing our relaxed and larrikin nature, and we have to fight back for Australians,” Canavan said.
Nationals Senator Matt Canavan arriving at the party room meeting.Alex Ellinghausen
“We need to have more Australian everything… We need more Australian babies. We need more Australian humour, more Australian jokes. We need more Australian barbecues, sometimes often fuelled by fossil fuels. We need more Australian everything.”
Canavan won the party room vote, after convincing his colleagues that his straight-talking, Christian-right brand of politics was fit to take on One Nation, which is eroding the regional party’s support in the regions by portraying the Coalition as meek and out of touch on migration and energy.
He also persuaded enough of his colleagues he could overcome the hurdle of leading a major party from the Senate.
Former deputy leader Kevin Hogan was viewed as the safer pick and won support from most of Littleproud’s more moderate support base, who have long viewed Canavan as too far outside the political mainstream to lead the party.
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Canavan, a father of five from Queensland, has shown colleagues in recent months that he has the fight and the skills to joust with Hanson, criticising her for her remarks about Muslims, dismissing her party as impotent and driven by protest, and questioning Joyce’s character when he defected from the Nationals.
The new leader, 45, laid out a forthright attack on One Nation in his first press conference, saying the new populist force was driven by the same identity politics driving far-left actors.
“I’m very concerned that the identity politics of division that we’ve seen on the left is creeping into the right now. And was very critical of Pauline’s comments dividing Australians to different groups, saying that suggesting there are no good in certain groups of Australians. I totally reject that,” he said.
Victorian MP Darren Chester was elected as Canavan’s deputy. Chester, the member for Gippland, is one of the most moderate MPs in the National Party and will help alleviate worries from Liberals that Canavan is too right-wing.
Canavan previously served as Joyce’s chief of staff and the pair have been close allies for years.
One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce at Parliament House in Canberra.Dominic Lorrimer
“The apprentice has become the master,” former leader Michael McCormack said when asked on Sky about Joyce’s claim he’d taught Canavan everything.
Previewing One Nation’s future arguments against Canavan, Joyce told reporters that the Canavan agreed with the One Nation position on income splitting in families, pulling out of the Paris Agreement and other contentious issues that would force Canavan to compromise.
“One side is going to have to compromise, either Matt Canavan or the Coalition,” Joyce said.
“The reason I’m in One Nation is its clear air for me. It’s clarity.”
The vote, which the Nationals do not disclose, was expected to be tight heading into the meeting.
David Littleproud had stunned nearly all his colleagues when he quit after Question Time on Tuesday.
Only Kevin Hogan, Littleproud’s loyal deputy, was told of the leader’s decision early on Tuesday.
One MP said the decision to tell Hogan early and hold a ballot the morning after Littleproud’s call appeared designed to give Hogan the best chance of winning.
Canavan has been planning for years to eventually run for the lower house seat of Capricornia, should Michelle Landry retire. Landry said on Wednesday she would make her mind up closer to the election.
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Paul Sakkal is chief political correspondent. He previously covered Victorian politics and has won Walkley and Quill awards. Reach him securely on Signal @paulsakkal.14Connect via X or email.
Brittany Busch is a federal politics reporter for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.
Mike Foley is the climate and energy correspondent for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.From our partners