Cory Bernardi Disbands Australian Conservatives Party

Jun 21, 2019

Senator Cory Bernardi has announced that he will disband the Australian Conservatives party, following its poor showing in the recent federal election.

Bernardi defected to the Australian Conservatives in February 2017, seven months after his re-election as a Liberal Party senator from South Australia. The party had been founded a year earlier as a right-wing activist group. He claimed the new party was opposed to the left-wing direction of the Liberal Party under then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Shortly after its formation, the party was merged with Family First, which gave up its well-developed political identity.

The Australian Conservatives won just 102,769 Senate votes (0.70%) nationwide at the May 18 election. Its best result was 1.47% in South Australia, its worst 0.42% in Western Australia. The party did not contest House seats.

It is not known what Bernardi’s longer-term intentions are. Media reports suggest he may return to the Liberal Party, which he has reliably supported during his self-imposed exile. Some reports say he may leave parliament altogether.

Bernardi became a senator in May 2006, filling a casual vacancy left by the retirement of Robert Hill. He was re-elected in 2007 from the number one position on the Liberal Party ticket. In 2013, he was re-elected, again from the number one position. He was re-elected at the 2016 double dissolution election from the number two position.

Bernardi issued the statement shown below:


Filed Under: 2019 Federal Election, Liberal Party Tagged With: ,

Dastyari Statement On Top Education Payments; Bernardi On The Attack

Aug 31, 2016

The issue of foreign political donations is back in the news with the revelation that NSW ALP Senator Sam Dastyari sought and received payment of expenses by a Chinese company.

Dastyari

In a statement to the Senate today, Dastyari confirmed information on his register of pecuniary interests. He said a bill of $1,670.82 for electorate staff travel was paid by Top Education Pty Ltd.

Dastyari said he should have paid the money himself. He said he had donated a similar amount to charity. [Read more…]

Filed Under: A.L.P., Audio, Election Funding, Perquisites, Senate, Turnbull, Video Tagged With: ,

Senate President Announces Decision On Covered Visitors To Parliament House

Oct 02, 2014

The President of the Senate, Senator Stephen Parry, has announced that visitors who do not wish to be identified when visiting Parliament will be required to sit in the public galleries enclosed in glass that are normally reserved for school groups.

Parry announced the decision in response to a question from the Opposition’s Senate leader, Penny Wong. He said the decision was an interim measure, pending further advice from specialist agencies.

Visitors who cannot be clearly identified will be asked to be identified and to produce identification. They will then be free to move around the building but will be required to sit in the glassed enclosures in order to view parliamentary proceedings. [Read more…]

Filed Under: General Information, Parliamentary Procedures, Senate, Terrorism, Video, Women Tagged With: , , , , ,

Senator Cory Bernardi (Lib-SA) – Address To The National Press Club

Jul 17, 2014

The conservative Liberal Senator from South Australia, Cory Bernardi, has addressed the National Press Club in Canberra.

Bernardi has been a senator since 2006. He is a former shadow minister.

Transcript of Cory Bernardi’s speech to the National Press Club.

BernardiThank you Steve and may I thank the honourable members and officials of the National Press Club. It’s a great honour to be here and a delight to be here on such an auspicious day.

It seems like a long time ago, in fact it was 2007, that I authored a report which ran very heavily in the Adelaide Advertiser that we needed cool heads on global warming.

If I could characterise one aspect of my political career it’s been that we’ve constantly been in that battle and today I think the Liberal Party and the Coalition parties, at least from my perspective, [have] made significant inroads into restoring some common sense for the people of Australia. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Liberal Party Tagged With: , ,