Following his re-election as leader of the National Party yesterday, Barnaby Joyce was this morning sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development.
Joyce replaces former Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, who will return to the backbench.
Joyce has previously served a short stint as Minister for Infrastructure and Transport from December 2017 to February 2018, resigning from the front bench and Nationals leadership after being accused of sexually harrassing a WA businesswoman, which he denied.
Since the Coalition came to power in 2013, the minister for transport has changed four times, with Warren Truss, Darren Chester and Michael McCormack also serving in the role.
During his time as Minister for Transport, McCormack committed the General Aviation Advisory Group (GAAG) to developing a GA Flight Plan for the future of the industry, then reformed the advisory group into the General Aviation Advisory Network (GAAN), which has since produced a Future of Aviation paper.
McCormack also oversaw the $100 million Regional Airports Program and released an issues paper on the future of airspace management in Australia. He also introduced to parliament legislation to change the Civil Aviation Act 1988 to commit CASA to taking cost into account when framing regulations.