Barnaby Joyce is set to be sworn in as Australia’s deputy prime minister after the Nationals selected him as their next leader, paving the way for a change in style at the top of Malcolm Turnbull’s Coalition government.

Joyce, who forged a reputation as a “maverick” retail politician during his stint in the Senate, was elected unopposed as the Nationals leader at a party meeting in Canberra on Thursday evening.

Fiona Nash, the rural health minister, was selected as the new deputy leader of the Nationals in a contest with six other colleagues but the vote tally was not released. She is the first woman to hold the position and is set to enter the cabinet.

Joyce said the leadership was “an awesome responsibility” and he felt a responsibility to country people who deserved strong representation.

Nash said she was humbled by the appointment, describing it as “an exciting time to be a regional Australian”.

“We represent some of the most disadvantaged people across the country and we will never stop fighting for them, making sure that we look after them and that they get their fair share,” Nash said.

Joyce and Nash declined to say what ministerial portfolios they would be seeking in the forthcoming reshuffle.

One of their first tasks, together with the continuing leader in the Senate, Nigel Scullion, will be to discuss the agreement underpinning the partnership between the Liberals and Nationals.

Barnaby Joyce arrives for the leadership meetingon Thursday evening. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Joyce said they would ensure the National party’s aspirations were clearly outlined in the Coalition agreement, but he signalled they were unlikely to seek any major changes given the existing document is only five months old.



“We believe a substantive document was drawn up last time,” Joyce said. “I don’t think there will be anything dramatic. We aren’t foolish. We know we’re not that far away from an election.”

The election-year upheaval follows a decision by Warren Truss to bring forward his long-expected departure from the leadership and cabinet.



Truss, a stabilising figure who has led the Nationals since 2007 and served as deputy prime minister and infrastructure minister since the Coalition’s 2013 election victory, said earlier on Thursday that he would quit the posts “at a convenient time for the government, probably within the next few days”.

“I have every confidence in Barnaby, he’s obviously got a high profile in the community; he has a different style to me, but you would expect that from a new leader,” Truss said after announcing his decision.



“While his leadership will be different, I’m sure he’ll be constructive. That he will build a good working relationship with Malcolm Turnbull and our Coalition partners and he’ll be an effective minister in whatever portfolio he chooses to take.”

Outgoing leader Warren Truss addresses the members of the Nationals party room with Barnaby Joyce on Thursday evening. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

The leadership handover is the trigger for a broader reshuffle of Turnbull’s frontbench team, which has remained unchanged since Jamie Briggs resigned and his Liberal colleague Mal Brough stood aside late last year.

Truss’s announcement coincided with a decision by the trade minister, Andrew Robb, to retire from parliament at the next election.

Turnbull is also considering the future of another Liberal minister, Stuart Robert, who has faced questions over a “private” 2014 trip to China when he was assistant defence minister to witness a mining deal and meet with a Chinese vice minister.

Amid the upheaval, the Nationals are expected to win another seat in cabinet. Turnbull is set to announce the details of his reshuffle in the next few days.

In Coalition governments, the Nationals leader serves as the deputy prime minister and steps in as acting prime minister when the prime minister is on leave. Truss also sat on powerful cabinet bodies including the national security committee and the “razor gang” that shapes budgets.

The existing Coalition agreement, signed after Turnbull seized the Liberal leadership in September last year, included promises not to reintroduce an emissions trading scheme and to stick with the policy of having a national vote on same-sex marriage during the next parliamentary term.



Truss said because the Coalition agreement was between the Liberal and National leaders personally, Joyce and Turnbull would need to discuss the particulars, but he did not envisage any substantial renegotiation.

The New South Wales Nationals senator John Williams said Joyce had adopted a more disciplined approach since his early rebellious days as a backbencher, but there was still “plenty of fight in the man”.

“He has backed off a bit,” Williams told Sky News. “When he first got in, in those first 12 months, he was crossing the floor a lot. He doesn’t do that any more - he’d lose his job.”

Another observer said while Joyce was not the “unguided missile” that some people claimed, he still might be prone to “occasional breakouts”.

“He’s not going to end up as Mr Beige or Mr Bland,” a former Nationals MP, Peter McGauran, told Sky News. “He needs strong staff. With the office of deputy prime minister he’ll get that. He’ll get the structure he needs.”

McGauran said the new leader would lift the National party’s profile and strength within the Coalition.

“The question is to what extent will Malcolm Turnbull support him and the Nationals as the junior party,” he said, noting that the former prime minister John Howard gave his Nationals colleagues some “wins” to take back to their constituency.

Turnbull used a parliamentary tribute to Truss to send a signal to his successor about upholding Coalition unity. Truss, he said, had delivered “great stability” and had “always been committed to the strength of the Coalition”.

“He understands the importance of the National party’s distinct identity, but the reality that we are so much stronger when we are working closely together,” the prime minister said.

Joyce entered the upper house as a Queensland senator in 2005 and quickly developed a reputation for defying party discipline. As a backbencher he broke with his colleagues by crossing the floor 28 times, but had to clip his wings once he started working his way up the frontbench and the leadership hierarchy.

The former accountant was outspoken in his opposition to the Rudd government’s proposed emissions scheme and helped lead the Coalition’s internal revolt against Turnbull’s supportive stance.

After Tony Abbott ousted Turnbull as Liberal opposition leader in 2009, Joyce was appointed spokesman for finance and debt reduction, but was soon moved into the more comfortable area of regional development after some missteps, including suggesting Australia was at risk of defaulting on its debt.

Joyce furthered his leadership ambitions by moving to the lower house in 2013, when he was elected to represent the NSW seat of New England and also became the deputy Nationals leader.

Last year, the agriculture minister attracted international attention by threatening to euthanise Johnny Depp’s dogs if they remained in Australia. “It’s time that Pistol and Boo buggered off back to the United States,” Joyce said then.

Joyce has also garnered headlines outside his portfolio area, including his suggestion that some parts of Asia could view Australia embracing same-sex marriage as “decadent”.