Michael McCormack (Australian politician)
Michael Francis McCormack (born 2 August 1964) is an Australian politician who served as the 18th deputy prime minister of Australia from 2018 to 2021 under Prime Ministers Malcolm Turnbull and later Scott Morrison. He was also Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development, having previously served as Minister for Defence Personnel and Minister for Veterans' Affairs from 2017 to 2018. McCormack has been a member of the House of Representatives since 2010, representing the Division of Riverina in New South Wales. He was a newspaper editor before entering politics.
For other people named Michael McCormack, see Michael McCormack (disambiguation).
Michael McCormack
Barnaby Joyce
Barnaby Joyce
Barnaby Joyce
Craig Laundy (as Minister for Small and Family Business, the Workplace and Deregulation)
David Fawcett (2018)
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Early life[edit]
McCormack was born in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales as one of five children born to Eileen Margaret (née Margosis; 1938–2018)[1][2] and Lance McCormack (d. 2008),[3] a dryland farmer. His maternal grandfather, George Peter Margosis, was born in 1896 in Akrata, Greece; his other three grandparents were born in New South Wales.[4][5][6] He had four siblings, Denise, Robyn, Julieanne and Mark.[2] He grew up on the family farms in nearby Marrar and Brucedale. He attended St Michael's Regional High School and Trinity Senior High School (later merged into Kildare Catholic College).[7]
After leaving school, McCormack took up a cadetship at The Daily Advertiser, the local daily newspaper. He was appointed editor of the paper in 1991, aged 27, making him reputedly the "youngest newspaper editor in Australia".[8] McCormack was sacked from The Daily Advertiser in February 2002. In response, "more than 20 journalists, photographers and other editorial staff" staged a 24-hour walkout.[9] He went on to sue the Riverina Media Group for unfair dismissal, and in 2003 settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.[10] McCormack subsequently started his own media and publishing company, MSS Media Services and Solutions.[11] He also served as a director of the Murrumbidgee Turf Club from 1994 to 2003, as well as its official historian.[12]
Personal life[edit]
McCormack, a Roman Catholic, married Catherine (née Shaw) in Saint Michael's Cathedral, Wagga Wagga in 1986. They have three children.[7][2]
In 1995, he became the owner of "the biggest collection of bound volumes of The Times anywhere in the world outside London", acquiring 900 volumes from Charles Sturt University when it ran out of storage space.[30]
In 2022, McCormack was taken to the hospital after drinking a bowl of Micronesian sakau,[31] a concentrated version of kava.[32] He had reportedly underestimated its potency.[33]
Controversy[edit]
Anti-gay stance[edit]
In 1993, McCormack published a controversial editorial in which he blamed homosexuality for AIDS and criticized pride parades. He wrote that "a week never goes by anymore that homosexuals and their sordid behaviour don't become further entrenched in society [...] unfortunately gays are here and, if the disease their unnatural acts helped spread doesn't wipe out humanity, they’re here to stay". He asked "how can these people call for rights when they're responsible for the greatest medical dilemma known to man – Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome?"
The article was the subject of three complaints to the Australian Press Council, though none was upheld.[34] In further editorials from the same period he said "I’m not sorry, why should I be?" about his views, and branded himself "homophobic".[35] McCormack subsequently wrote a second editorial apologising for the first.[36] His remarks resurfaced when he embarked on a career in politics, and he issued further apologies in 2010 and 2017, stating that he had "grown and learnt not only to tolerate, but to accept all people regardless of their sexual orientation or any other trait or feature which makes each of us different and unique".[37][38] Despite his apologies, the controversy resurfaced after he became Deputy Prime Minister (2018–2021).[39]
Advocacy for corporal punishment and the death penalty[edit]
In other editorials, he called for the return of caning in high schools, saying "there is nothing wrong, in my opinion, with students [...] being given a 'stinging reminder' about how to conduct themselves". He also voiced support for the death penalty.
When asked for comment by The Guardian, he said that "editorial views expressed more than 25 years ago in no way reflect how my views and community views have changed since publication [...] as people get older and start families, and grow as members of their community it is completely reasonable their views change over time".[35]
Pacific Islands comments[edit]
In August 2019, McCormack was Acting Prime Minister while the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, was at a Pacific Islands Forum. Morrison was being criticized by Pacific Islands leaders for Australia's contribution to global warming and rising sea levels, which threatened their low-lying territories. McCormack assured an Australian audience: "They’ll continue to survive because many of their workers come here and pick our fruit".[40]
Pork-barrelling comments[edit]
In January 2020, McCormack's deputy leader Bridget McKenzie resigned her ministerial post after she admitted to having breached the ministerial code of conduct[41][42] and widespread accusations of pork barrelling.[43]
It was subsequently revealed that regional infrastructure grants program administered by McCormack in the months leading up to the 2019 federal election awarded 94 per cent of its grants to electorates held or targeted by the Coalition.[44]
[edit]
In September 2020, McCormack was forced to backtrack an opinion attributing Victoria's second COVID-19 outbreak to a Black Lives Matter protest in Melbourne as a panellist on the Q+A program. When he was told there was lack of evidence regarding this by host Hamish Macdonald, McCormack stated that he'll "accept that but people shouldn't be protesting".[45] The Department of Health and Human Services in Victoria had confirmed that no positive cases of COVID-19 came from the protest in June 2020, despite the fact that allowing the protest went against emergency health regulations in the state.[46]
United States Capitol storming comments[edit]
In January 2021, McCormack was criticised for comparing the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump to Black Lives Matter protesters saying, "Any form of protest, whether it’s a protest over racial riots or indeed what we’ve seen on Capitol Hill in recent days, is condemned and is abhorred.” [47] McCormack's statement was criticised by Amnesty International and the Opposition. A spokesperson for McCormack later said, "Any form of violence should be condemned."[48]
