Breaking news - "Barnaby Joyce returns to
nations'second highest office..."

And there it was - Barnaby Joyce making a political
comeback 3 years after losing the deputy Prime
Ministership to scandal.

For me it's hard to believe that Michael McCormack has
been defeated. I thought that he and Scott Morrison
made a very good team.

So what happened and how close was it - and what
does that mean for the country and for the Coalition?

To paraphrase from an old Hollywood movie -

Fasten your seat belts folks. It's going to be a bumpy
ride.

Unfortunately, that's not a Foxy joke !

Individual,

Joyce's win will automatically make him Deputy
Prime Minister of this country. This has major
implications and challenges for Scott Morrison,
who I imagine would have been hoping that
Mr. McCormack would survive. McCormack has more
of a capacity for adaptive change.

We don't know how close the vote was because it was
a 2 horse race but in line with its practice, the
National Party did not announce numbers.

The PM is going to find it challenging with a hard liner
like Joyce on issues (climate change and coal). And on
a different front, Joyce recently declared the Biloela
Tamil family should be allowed to return to the town.

Interesting times ahead.

Hi Foxy,

It shows that during a serious pandemic the National Party is more interested in itself that the people of Australia. Despite the shambolic rollout of vaccinations and their total ineptitude at providing proper quarantine facilities members of this government are more interested in fighting each other, to see who gets the juicy bauble of Deputy Prime Minister than working for the good of the people.

As for Barnyard Joy, he is a self-serving obstructionist who will make life hell for Morrison. The first issue he intends to grab Morrison by the balls is an Australian commitment to "Net-Zero Carbon Emissions By 2050". With a majority of Liberals, and many Nationals in support, Morrison intended to go to Glasgow with such a commitment, which is supported by every State and Territory governmnets, the National Farmers Federation, large Australian companies, and all of our major trading partners, and more importantany the Australian people. However this self-serving yokel intends to sabotage Australia and put us in the laughing stock class.

Just to add, on a personal level the guy has shown himself to be a grub, but in the Coalition he's in good company.

Politicians should not be allowed to be recycled !
Had they performed in the first place they wouldn't be out in the first place !
Another fault in the Constitution !

Dear Paul,

I don't envy Scott Morrison's job. He's set to come out
from lockdown facing battles on climate change,
and the government's treatment of women (rural women
are upset at Barnaby's re-election) and all this with his
new Coalition partner. Good luck with that.

This change leaves the Coalition with its sixth Prime
Minister and Deputy combination since coming to power in 2013.

I felt sorry for Michael McCormack in Question Time
yesterday - still championing the Government's agenda
while Barnaby watched from the backbench (he gets sworn in
today).

"Que sera sera" McCormack said as he ended his last
Question Time in charge. This was followed by applause from
across the chamber.

I wonder if Morrison can rescue this situation?