Shorter Michael McCormack Nationals MP for Riverina: turns up for work, never rebels

So who is the 53 year-old Nationals MP for Riverina Michael Francis McCormack, the new Leader of the National Party in federal parliament and Deputy Prime Minister of Australia?

Like Barnaby Joyce before him he was raised Catholic in a country New South Wales town.

Also like Joyce his professional career before entering politics was not associated with the land or farming.

After leaving school McCormack became a journalist at The Daily Advertiser in Wagga Wagga, went on to become a run of th mill editor before starting a small publishing firm, MSS Media Pty Ltd which appears to have produced very forgetable books.

Like many federal politicians he's a homeowner with an investment property, a working wife and children who are now adults. 

Again, like many Liberal-Nationals politicians before him he failed to properly declare income derivied from this investment property - until it became certain that he would be putting his name forward for the deputy prime minister ballot.

Also like many other federal ministers he regularly attends major sporting events as the guest of big business.

According to They Vote For You McCormack, first as an ordinary backbencher and later as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance, Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister, Assistant Minister for Defence, Minister for Small Business, Minister for Defence Personnel, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Centenary of ANZAC and Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, has never voted against the Coalition Government party line since he entered the House of Representatives in 2010.

He voted very strongly for:

A plebiscite on the carbon pricing mechanism

A same-sex marriage plebiscite

An Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC)

An emissions reduction fund

Charging postgraduate research students fees

Compensating victims of overseas terrorism since the September 11 attack

Decreasing ABC and SBS funding

Decreasing availability of welfare payments

Deregulating undergraduate university fees

Drug testing welfare recipients

Getting rid of Sunday and public holiday penalty rates

Government administered paid parental leave

Increasing funding for road infrastructure

Increasing indexation of HECS-HELP debts

Increasing or removing the Government debt limit

Increasing scrutiny of unions

Increasing the initial tax rate for working holiday makers to 19%

Increasing the Medicare Levy to pay for the National Disability Insurance Scheme

Increasing the price of subsidised medicine

Live animal export

Privatising government assets

Recognising local government in the Constitution

Reducing the corporate tax rate

Senate electoral reform

Speeding things along in Parliament (procedural)

Stopping people who arrive by boat from ever coming to Australia

Strengthening gun control laws

Temporary protection visas

The Coalition's new schools funding policy ("Gonski 2.0")

Tighter means testing of family payments

Unconventional gas mining

Voluntary student union fees

In other words the new Deputy Prime Minister is a typical National Party member.

In favour of: selling off government assets, raising the cost of health care, lowering the take-home pay of ordinary workers, making the lives of welfare recipients miserable; breaking international law in relation to the treatment of asylum seekers; upending state CSG mining moratoriums and hounding the unions.