Who Is the New Nationals Leader and How Will He Confront the One Nation Surge?

New Nationals leader Matt Canavan has taken over the leadership after months of internal discord within the regional party following the May election.

The Queensland-based senator has traditionally appealed to conservatives with his vocal opposition to policies like net zero, COVID-19 mandates, and his “Australia-first” approach.

“We need to go hyper-Australia for our country,” he told reporters in the Nationals party room in Canberra on March 11 after his successful accession.

He has made several attempts at winning the leadership to try influence the direction of the party.

His recent success comes weeks after the centre-right Liberal Party chose the right-leaning Angus Taylor as its leader.

Both leaders of the Liberal-National Coalition must now chart a path forward to hold onto existing seats, win over disaffected voters, and stave off a surging One Nation, which risks toppling the Coalition as Australia’s foremost conservative-leaning party.

Who is Matt Canavan?

Canavan grew up in Logan south of Brisbane and holds a first class honours degree in economics from the University of Queensland.

The Queenslander was elected to the Senate at the 2013 election and joined federal parliament in July 2014 as a senator based in Rockhampton.

Under the Turnbull government, he was promoted to Minister for Northern Australia and Resources and served under both the Turnbull and Morrison governments.

Prior to entering parliament, Canavan was a chief of staff to former Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce—who months ago defected to One Nation—and also worked as a director for the Productivity Commission.

Canavan has five children with his wife Andrea, including four sons and a daughter.

Canavan has consistently crossed the floor on issues like climate change, COVID policies, and the under-16 social media ban.

What’s Canavan’s Vision for the Nationals?

In his first press conference as leader, Canavan spruiked an “Australia-first” strategy, highlighting the Nationals efforts in delivering outcomes for regional Australians.

In his pitch, Canavan called for a “hyper-Australia” approach.

“We need more Australian humour, more Australian jokes. We need more Australian barbecues, sometimes–often–fuelled by fossil fuels,” Canavan told reporters on March 11. “We need more Australian everything. We don’t need to look overseas for our solutions.”

Canavan has also expressed support for his Liberal Party counterpart.

The Nationals leader said he’s “got a lot of time for Angus [Taylor]” and a “long history working with him,” told Sky News on March 10.

“I think Angus has done a remarkable job in just the short time he has been leader, and I think he’s going to be a very successful leader of the Liberal Party long time,” Canavan said.

Canavan’s Stance on Net Zero

Canavan has been a consistent opponent of net zero and played a major role in ending his party’s support for it.

“The people pushing net zero promised that we’d get lower energy prices. Electricity and gas prices are up 40 percent,” he said.

He has also championed the building of new coal fired power stations.

Canavan ran for leadership of the Nationals in 2025 on the net zero issue0.

On COVID-19

Canavan has been a major critic of the COVID-lockdowns and mandates during the pandemic.

In 2021, Canavan crossed the floor along with Gerard Rennick, Alex Antic, Sam McMahon, and Concetta Fierravanti-Wells to back a One Nation bill against vaccine mandates.

How Will Canavan Handle the One Nation Surge?

Canavan’s views largely resonate with conservative-leaning voters who are now drifting to One Nation, according to multiple polls over the last six months.

A recent Roy Morgan poll sampling 1,532 people found One Nation outpolled the Liberal-National Coalition federally with 23.5 percent of the vote, compared to 22.5 percent.

A YouGov poll on March 11 found One Nation on 26 percent compared to just 19 percent for the Coalition.

While his colleague, Senator Alex Antic, has taken a more conciliatory approach to One Nation’s rise, Canavan appears to have taking a more combative one.

“Pauline has been in politics more than double the time I’ve been and I struggle to point to a single dam, single road, single hospital that [One Nation leader] Pauline Hanson has delivered in Australia,” he told reporters.

“I’m sorry. I worry about where Pauline would take this country to an area of more division.”

Previously, following Hanson’s comments that there were “no good Muslims,” Canavan again went on the offensive.

“It is these kinds of ill-disciplined comments that make people worry that Pauline just doesn’t have what it takes to lead a major party,” he told reporters.

Upon Canavan’s leadership accession, Hanson accused him of preferring to attack her party rather than work together.

“Nationals leader Matt Canavan has joined the woke pile on, choosing to attack One Nation instead of opening the door to working together in Australia’s interests,” Hanson said on X.

“Canavan joins the likes of the ABC, the Guardian, and left-wing fact checkers who have started a war against One Nation to try and tear us down.”