Barnaby Joyce hasn't ruled out ever returning as Nationals leader but says he doesn't expect that to happen.
A day after he was replaced as the party's leader - and deputy prime minister - Mr Joyce said he had hoped to "do a circuit breaker" after weeks of scrutiny over his marriage break-up and relationship with a former staffer who is now pregnant.
He said his successor Michael McCormack had a big job in front of him in "an incredible position".
"For any person in that position, I do nothing more than wish them the very best on behalf of our nation because that is what the job is for," Mr Joyce told reporters from a football pitch outside Parliament House on Tuesday.
For his part, he planned to use his time now getting around his electorate of New England and talking to people who might not have had as much chance to see him while he was in the top job.
He doesn't adhere to the theory that Mr McCormack was a seat-warmer until he was redeemed and could return to the leadership.
"I never rule anything in or anything out, right, because otherwise later in life you look like a hypocrite ... I don't expect to ever return," Mr Joyce said.
Asked whether he would be like Tony Abbott while on the backbench - who famously promised not to wreck, snipe or undermine after losing the leadership but has regularly criticised the Turnbull government - Mr Joyce said: "I will be Barnaby."
