Mr McCormack said “I’ve done my very best” in his three years in charge of the Nationals.
“The National Party has always been more than the individual and that is very much which I respect the decision taken by my colleagues today,” Mr McCormack said.
The Riverina MP has been preselected to run again for the Nationals at the next election,but he did not commit to running again.
“I’ll weigh those options up,” he said.
Mr McCormack said he didn’t think the party was dissatisfied with his performance.
“Some others wanted their job back and that drove them for three years. And I appreciate that this is democracy and it’s all about numbers,politics is the brutal arithmetic of numbers,” he said.
The outcome is likely to harden the party’s position against further action on climate change out of concern in the party room that the Nationals were not pushing strongly against Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s talk of reaching net zero emissions by 2050.
Worried that the Nationals were not being heard inside the Coalition,some of the Nationals shifted to Mr Joyce in order to return to a more aggressive style of leadership.
Nationals were also unimpressed with Mr McCormack’s performance in Parliament last week when he was Acting Prime Minister during Mr Morrison’s visit to Europe for the G7 summit and other meetings.
While Mr Joyce has been named party leader,he is yet to be sworn in as a minister and Deputy Prime Minister or reach a formal Coalition agreement as the new leader with Mr Morrison.
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Mr Joyce will not sit as Acting Prime Minister in Parliament because Mr Morrison has returned to Australia and will lead the government in question time,albeit by video while he is in quarantine at The Lodge.
Nationals MP Damian Drum announced the change after the meeting saying the Nationals were “the most democratic party in Australia”.
Nationals MP Darren Chester tweeted his thanks to Mr McCormack for what he delivered for regional Australia.
“Politics can be brutal&today my party deposed one of the most dedicated,resilient&passionate advocates regional Australia has ever produced. I regard Michael as a personal friend&trusted colleague. Thankyou for everything you delivered for regional Australia,” Mr Chester tweeted.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Liberal-National Coalition would continue under the new leader.
“I welcome Barnaby Joyce to the role of Leader of The Nationals and soon to be Deputy Prime Minister and I look forward to working closely together to ensure Australia continues its recovery from COVID-19 and the recession it caused,” he said in a statement from quarantine at The Lodge.
“Our focus remains on two outcomes – protecting lives and protecting livelihoods,as we continue to bolster our vaccine roll out and build on the economic recovery that has led to the creation of almost one million jobs since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Barnaby and I have a shared passion for ensuring our regions and rural communities thrive.
“I thank Michael McCormack for his dedicated service as Deputy Prime Minister. Michael will continue to be an invaluable member of the National Party,and a passionate advocate for regional and rural communities. I wish him and his wife Catherine and their children well.”
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