In 2010, the trained economist was working for the Productivity Commission, the federal government's independent, economically dry think-tank.

Sick of sitting on the sidelines of the big policy debates, he cold-called Tony Abbott, then the leader of the opposition, and asked for a job.

Abbott didn't need an economist. But Barnaby Joyce, who had endured a tumultuous stint as shadow finance minister, had an opening. So Canavan, previously a member of the Liberal Party, went to work for the outspoken Nationals senator.

After a little more than three years as Joyce's chief-of-staff, he was elected to the Senate. Now, after just two years in Parliament, the Queenslander has shot into Cabinet as the Minister for Resources and Northern Australia. The 35-year old's ascent through the National Party was as speedy as it was surprising.

"I come into the Nationals partyroom not as your typical National Party senator," he said in his maiden speech in July 2014.

"I am not a farmer and I am not a small businessman . . . It is an unusual path to travel from the Productivity Commission to the National Party."

While the Nationals are often derided as "agrarian socialists" by their Liberal colleagues, the Productivity Commission is a bastion of free-market economics.

While supporting measures that cut the cost of doing business, Canavan didn't buy into the prevailing orthodoxy which favoured deregulation, slashing subsidies and letting competition sort itself out.

"While I am an economist, our national debate is sometimes driven too much by economists," he said.

"Just because something does not have a price does not mean it has no value."

Identifying himself as an opponent of "big government, big banks, big unions and big corporations", he said: "In the National Party, we believe that small is beautiful."

In his maiden speech, he called for the introduction of an effects test into competition law to protect small business. That idea, shelved under Tony Abbott's leadership, is now official Coalition policy thanks largely to lobbying by Nationals such as Joyce and Canavan.

Canavan, who lives in Yeppoon with his wife and four sons, also proposed other radical policy ideas. He backed allowing young people to access their superannuation to buy a home and "income splitting", which gives single-income families more favourable tax treatment.

Rather than trying to maximise the number of people who work, he said governments should help mothers stay at home to raise children if that is their preference.

And he's certainly no greenie. The new Resources Minister praised fossil fuels for allowing humans to move beyond lives that were "nasty, brutish and short to ones of comparative luxury and leisure", saying: "The only form of energy that I want to promote is cheap energy."

There's no doubt Canavan's close relationship with Joyce was crucial to his rise. As the contenders to replace Warren Truss jostled for the leadership, Canavan was a fierce defender of his old boss, lashing out at "low-lifes" in the party who were undermining him.

When he became leader in February, Joyce kicked Luke Hartsuyker off the frontbench and rewarded Canavan with a spot in the ministry. As the Minister for Northern Australia, he endorsed a referendum on the creation of a seventh Australian state by splitting Queensland in two - a stance he can now take up in the cabinet room.

Canavan's elevation was the biggest boost for the rising generation of young conservatives in the Coalition.

Zed Seselja, the Liberal Senator from Canberra, was the other big winner - rising from the backbench to become the assistant minister for social services and multicultural affairs. His promotion is seen as a nod from Malcolm Turnbull that he is listening to the concerns of his party's right wing.

The son of Croatian immigrants fleeing the restrictions of communism, Seselja is an opponent of same-sex marriage, supports scrapping restrictions on racially offensive speech and reduced weekend penalty rates for hospitality workers.

"Is it pro-worker for thousands of restaurants, bars and cafes to be routinely shutting down on Sundays due to prohibitively high penalty rates," he said in his maiden speech. The 39-year old knows how to operate in hostile environments, having spent six years as Liberal leader in the ACT Parliament.

Michael Sukkar, the socially-conservative member for Deakin in Victoria, was widely speculated to be in line for promotion but missed out on a frontbench spot.

Abbott backer Dan Tehan received an expanded role, including responsibility for cyber-security. One-time leadership aspirant Michael McCormack scored the small business portfolio - a prize for the Nationals - but remains out of cabinet. 

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