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Cory Bernardi (born 6 November 1969) is an Australian
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
political commentator and former politician. He was a
Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
for
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
from 2006 to 2020, and was the leader of the
Australian Conservatives The Australian Conservatives was formed in July 2016 as a conservative political activist group in Australia and as a political party in February 2017. It was led by Cory Bernardi, who had been elected to the Senate for the Liberal Party, but ...
, a minor political party he founded in 2017 but disbanded in 2019. He is a former member of the
Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...
, having represented the party in the Senate from 2006 to 2017. Bernardi is a committed conservative
Catholic Christian The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and author of ''The Conservative Revolution''.


Career

Bernardi entered politics in 2006 when he was selected by the Liberal Party to fill a Senate seat vacancy for South Australia left by the resignation of Robert Hill. During his time in Parliament, Bernardi attracted controversy over several statements and views. On 7 February 2017, he announced that he would be leaving the Liberal Party to form his own party, the
Australian Conservatives The Australian Conservatives was formed in July 2016 as a conservative political activist group in Australia and as a political party in February 2017. It was led by Cory Bernardi, who had been elected to the Senate for the Liberal Party, but ...
. In June 2019, Bernardi announced that he was disbanding the Australian Conservatives and the party was voluntarily deregistered by the Australian Electoral Commission on 25 June 2019. Bernardi announced his resignation from politics on 19 November 2019, and on 20 January 2020 resigned from the Senate with immediate effect.


Personal life

Bernardi was born and raised in
Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
and attended
Prince Alfred College , motto_translation = Do Brave Deeds and Endure , established = 1869 , type = Independent, single-sex, day & boarding , headmaster = David Roberts , chaplain = Reverend ...
in
Kent Town, South Australia Kent Town is an inner suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters. History Kent Town was named for Dr. Benjamin Archer Kent (1808 – 25 November 1864), a medical practitioner of Walsall, Staf ...
. His father was an Italian immigrant who came to Australia in 1958. His maternal grandfather was a trade unionist and staunch
Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...
supporter. Bernardi took a business and management course at
South Australian Institute of Technology The University of South Australia (UniSA) is a public research university in the Australian state of South Australia. It is a founding member of the Australian Technology Network of universities, and is the largest university in South Australi ...
before winning a scholarship and furthering his rowing career at the
Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...
in 1989. After a back injury terminated his rowing career, Bernardi travelled Europe and Africa, working as a labourer. Returning to Australia, he managed the family's hotel before spending four months in a hospital with
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
. He subsequently worked as a stockbroker and financial adviser before entering politics. Bernardi and his Irish-born wife Sinéad, an economics graduate, have two sons.


Rowing career

Bernardi made state representative appearances for South Australia in the State Youth VIII at the
Australian Rowing Championships Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...
in 1987 and 1988. In 1988, as part of a
Mercantile Rowing Club The Mercantile Rowing Club is based in Melbourne, Australia on the Yarra River. It was founded in 1880 and has occupied its current site since 1885. More than 40 Mercantillians have represented Australia at Olympic Games. Club history A group o ...
eight, he won the
Ladies' Challenge Plate The Ladies' Challenge Plate is one of the events at Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. Crews of men's eight-oared boats below the standard of the Grand Challenge Cup can enter, although international standard ...
—open to 2nd grade/varsity/college crews below the heavyweight
international standard international standard is a technical standard developed by one or more international standards organizations. International standards are available for consideration and use worldwide. The most prominent such organization is the International Or ...
—at the
Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It differs from the thre ...
in England. In 1989, Bernardi was selected in the seven seat of the South Australian Men's Senior VIII. Unfortunately, the nationals interstate events that year were cancelled when a cyclone hit the Wellington Dam course in WA, part-way through the programme of events. Three weeks later at Carrum in Victoria, Bernardi's South Australian crew placed 2nd in an unofficial men's eight race attended by the Victorian, Western Australian and South Australian crews who raced for the Patten Cup. That same year Bernardi became an Australian national representative when he was selected in the three seat of the coxless four which competed at the
1989 World Rowing Championships The 1989 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 2 to 10 September 1989 at Lake Bled near Bled in SR Slovenia, Yugoslavia. Medal summary Men's events Women's events Medal table References {{Wo ...
in
Bled Bled (; german: Veldes,''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 146. in older sources also ''Feldes'') is a town on Lake Bled in the Upper C ...
—formerly of
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
but what is now the
Republic of Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...
—and placed tenth. Later that year Bernardi suffered a back injury that effectively ended his rowing career.


Political career


Elections to the Senate

After South Australian Senator Robert Hill resigned from the Senate to become Ambassador to the United Nations in March 2006, Bernardi was selected by the Liberal Party to fill the vacancy, officially commencing his senate term on 4 May 2006. On 17 February 2007, Bernardi was pre-selected ahead of
Simon Birmingham Simon John Birmingham (born 14 June 1974) is an Australian politician who has been a Senator for South Australia since 2007. A member of the Liberal Party, he served in the Morrison Government as Minister for Finance from 2020 to 2022 and as Min ...
and Senator
Grant Chapman Hedley Grant Pearson Chapman (born 27 April 1949) is an Australian politician. Born in Adelaide, South Australia, Chapman was educated at Prince Alfred College and the University of Adelaide and worked as a marketing executive in the oil indust ...
by the State Council of the South Australian Liberal Party to be the number one candidate on the South Australian Liberal Senate ticket for the federal election to be held in late 2007. At the election, Bernardi was elected to a full six-year term. He was again given the first place on the Liberal ticket at the 2013 federal election and was re-elected. Following a
double dissolution A double dissolution is a procedure permitted under the Australian Constitution to resolve deadlocks in the bicameral Parliament of Australia between the House of Representatives (lower house) and the Senate (upper house). A double dissolution ...
of Parliament at the 2016 federal election, Bernardi was re-elected from the second place on the Liberal ticket. He was elected for a term of six years, ending on 30 June 2022.


Opposition under Brendan Nelson: 2007–2008

In December 2007, Bernardi was appointed the federal
Coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...
's Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Families and Community Services. On 19 March 2008, Bernardi was named in a story published in ''The Australian'' newspaper as having been linked to a scheme that sold financial advice on how divorcees could hide money from their former spouses. In a media statement released shortly after the article was published, Bernardi described the story as "a rehash of a factually incorrect story that first appeared in 2006 before my appointment to the Senate." Bernardi claimed that he had been "made aware that a colleague adbeen approaching numerous journalists in an attempt to 'push' this matter as a means of personally attacking me." In a statement he went on to say, "I find it disappointing that there are people who clearly pine to background journalists with half-truths and mischievous suggestions in an attempt to smear others. The people who creep out of their darkened closets to resurrect previously discredited accusations do no service to themselves or the community. Politics is a battle of ideas, not a battle of smears." On 20 March 2008, Bernardi introduced a motion calling for a Senate inquiry into swearing on television and the effectiveness of the Code of Practice after a television show was broadcast at 8.30 pm containing the word "fuck" eighty times in 40 minutes. The Senate supported the motion. Then in June, Bernardi stated his personal view on onlineopinion.com.au regarding a proposed reform relating to same-sex relationships. He stated, "Same-sex relationships are not the same as marital relationships and to treat them the same is to suspend common sense." A month later, Bernardi questioned the ethics of granting human rights to great apes while ignoring the rights of the unborn child on the ABC "unleashed" website. In August 2008, the ''Herald Sun'' newspaper reported that the Federal Parliamentary Library had, following a request from Bernardi, identified a loophole in government legislation that allowed some women who aborted their pregnancies to claim a $5,000 " baby bonus". The Government later stated that the bonus was not available for aborted pregnancies and was committed to following up on any such occurrences.


Opposition under Malcolm Turnbull: 2008–2009

In September 2008, new Federal Liberal leader
Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Turnbull grad ...
appointed Bernardi the Coalition Spokesman for Disabilities, Carers and the Voluntary Sector. In October, Bernardi caused a stir with a speech to the Senate against the ''Same-Sex Relationships (Equal Treatment in Commonwealth Laws-Superannuation) Bill 2008'' supported by the Liberal Party. The bill led to discontent within the Party's conservative faction—of which Bernardi was a key figure. Turnbull was "unhappy that Party authority was being challenged" by Bernardi. In Bernardi's speech, he complained that society should not "throw open the doors and welcome into the fold those whose relationships are uncharacteristic of the most basic elements of a marital union." The next morning Turnbull rang Bernardi to "chip him", having felt the speech was intemperate in tone and that it went against the party line and Turnbull's own leadership. Bernardi was removed from the Shadow Ministry by Turnbull in February 2009 after reportedly making unsubstantiated claims regarding a fellow Liberal MP in his weekly blog. Recalling an encounter with the Liberal MP at the
Royal Adelaide Golf Club The Royal Adelaide Golf Club (often referred to as Seaton) is a private Australian golf club located in the Adelaide suburb of Seaton, northwest of the city centre. The links at Seaton has been the venue for many international and interstate ...
about 14 years before, he wrote:
In response to my question of why he joined the Liberal Party, the MP blithely responded "I live in a Liberal seat so I had to be a member of the Liberal Party to get into Parliament. If I lived in a Labor seat I would have joined the Labor Party." Frankly I was aghast at this response. Where was the conviction, the beliefs, the values that I believe should motivate our political leaders? Several follow up questions disclosed that the only motivation for his own political involvement was for him to become Prime Minister.
The MP involved was thought to be
Christopher Pyne Christopher Maurice Pyne (born 13 August 1967) is a retired Australian politician. As a member of the Liberal Party, he held several ministerial positions in the Howard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison governments, and served as a member of p ...
, who denied the allegations as "preposterous."


Opposition under Tony Abbott: 2009–2013

Following the election of
Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott was born in Londo ...
as the leader of the federal Liberal Party in late 2009, Bernardi was appointed Shadow Parliamentary Secretary Assisting the Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure and Population Policy, and in August 2012 was appointed Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate. In September 2012, Bernardi resigned from his position as parliamentary secretary as a result of statements he had made the day before, when he argued that permitting same-sex marriages would lead to legalised
polygamy Crimes Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married ...
and bestiality.Cullen, Simon. (19 September 2012
Bernardi resigns after bestiality comment
Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 19 September 2012.


Abbott and Turnbull Governments: 2013–2017

In January 2014, Prime Minister Tony Abbott again distanced himself from Bernardi after the latter called for a new debate on abortion, called for more flexible industrial relations laws, stated his belief in the primacy of the traditional family and claimed that non-traditional families may cause negative social outcomes, linked a secular polity with Australia having lost its way, and claimed that Christianity was under siege from both the political
Greens Greens may refer to: *Leaf vegetables such as collard greens, mustard greens, spring greens, winter greens, spinach, etc. Politics Supranational * Green politics * Green party, political parties adhering to Green politics * Global Greens * Europ ...
and Islam. Bernardi was re-elected for a six-year term in the Senate at the July 2016 election. In September 2016, Bernardi spoke in favour of the repeal of section 18C of the ''
Racial Discrimination Act The ''Racial Discrimination Act 1975'' (Cth). is an Act of the Australian Parliament, which was enacted on 11 June 1975 and passed by the Whitlam government. The Act makes racial discrimination in certain contexts unlawful in Australia, and als ...
'', which prohibits speech that is reasonably likely to "offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate on the basis of race, colour or national or ethnic origin". In December 2016 Bernardi got into a public spat with former Prime Minister
Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott was born in Londo ...
over reports that Bernardi may start his own party. In the same month, it was reported that Bernardi in 2009 set up an entity called the Conservative Leadership Foundation, "a fundraising entity that inhabits a grey area in the political donations system and permits gifts from foreign donors." and that "it has never made a disclosure to the Australian Electoral Commission as an associated entity, nor disclosed any political expenditure."


Departure from the Liberal Party

In February 2017, seven months after the 2016 election, Bernardi left the Liberal Party to form a separate party, the
Australian Conservatives The Australian Conservatives was formed in July 2016 as a conservative political activist group in Australia and as a political party in February 2017. It was led by Cory Bernardi, who had been elected to the Senate for the Liberal Party, but ...
, which was born out of Bernardi's Australian Conservatives movement. The Australian Conservatives movement was formed by Bernardi in July 2016 to "unite conservatives", and which by August claimed 50,000 members. In June 2019, Bernardi announced that the Australian Conservatives would apply to be voluntarily deregistered with the Australian Electoral Commission. He cited a poor result in the
2019 Australian federal election The 2019 Australian federal election was held on Saturday 18 May 2019 to elect members of the 46th Parliament of Australia. The election had been called following the dissolution of the 45th Parliament as elected at the 2016 double dissolut ...
, and that the removal of
Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Turnbull grad ...
as prime minister meant that his supporters would return to the Liberal Party. The AEC confirmed the party had been deregistered on 25 June 2019. In November 2019, Bernardi announced that he would resign from his Senate position; his resignation formally occurred on 20 January 2020. Because he was elected as a member of the Liberal Party, a member of that party would fill the vacancy caused by his resignation. The former
President of the South Australian Legislative Council The president of the South Australian Legislative Council is the presiding officer of the South Australian Legislative Council, the upper house of the Parliament of South Australia. The other presiding officer is the speaker of the South Australia ...
Andrew McLachlan Andrew Lockhart McLachlan, (born 14 January 1966) is an Australian politician who has been a Senator for South Australia since 6 February 2020, representing the Liberal Party of Australia. He was previously a member of the South Australian Le ...
filled Bernardi's vacancy on 6 February 2020.


Political views and controversies

Prior to forming the
Australian Conservatives The Australian Conservatives was formed in July 2016 as a conservative political activist group in Australia and as a political party in February 2017. It was led by Cory Bernardi, who had been elected to the Senate for the Liberal Party, but ...
, Bernardi was a member of the conservative faction or right-wing of the
Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...
.


Global warming

On 21 April 2007, Bernardi published an essay questioning whether
global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
was caused by human activities. Then-environment Minister
Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Turnbull grad ...
and other Liberal parliamentarians promptly distanced themselves from his views.


Islam

Bernardi has been publicly
critical Critical or Critically may refer to: *Critical, or critical but stable, medical states **Critical, or intensive care medicine *Critical juncture, a discontinuous change studied in the social sciences. *Critical Software, a company specializing in ...
of
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
. In 2010, he wrote an opinion piece calling for a ban on wearing the
burqa A burqa or a burka, or , and ur, , it is also transliterated as burkha, bourkha, burqua or burqu' or borgha' and is pronounced natively . It is generally pronounced in the local variety of Arabic or variety of Persian, which varies. Examp ...
in public. In 2011, Bernardi referred to the controversy over paying funeral expenses for asylum-seekers, declaring it was "wrong" for the government to pay. He also said that "Islam itself is the problem—it's not Muslims", and that multiculturalism had failed. He subsequently clarified his remarks by stating "When I say I'm against Islam, I mean that the fundamentalist Islamic approach of changing laws and values does not have my support." For these comments he received death threats. Liberal leader
Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott was born in Londo ...
distanced himself from the comments. Bernardi has shared values with Dutch anti-Islam politician
Geert Wilders Geert Wilders (; born 6 September 1963) is a Dutch politician who has led the Party for Freedom (''Partij voor de Vrijheid'' – PVV) since he founded it in 2006. He is also the party's leader in the House of Representatives (''Tweede Kamer'' ...
whom he met while on a trip to Europe. Bernardi offered to assist Wilders in a visit to Australia but, in February 2013 when Wilders did come, Bernardi did not meet with him. Wilders stated in an interview that Bernardi's decision not to meet him was a "sad but true" reflection on politics, particularly in an election year. The opposition treasury spokesman,
Joe Hockey Joseph Benedict Hockey (born 2 August 1965) is a former Australian politician and diplomat. He was the Member of Parliament for North Sydney from 1996 until 2015. He was the Treasurer of Australia in the Abbott Government from 18 September 2 ...
, said in response "Neither Cory Bernardi nor the Coalition will be facilitating this visit." Abbott rejected suggestions that Bernardi was trying to bring Wilders to Australia, saying the Coalition had nothing to do with the organisation of any trip. In September 2016, Bernardi proposed the Turnbull government take up a modified version of the immigration policy of One Nation, aiming to mollify people fearing Muslim immigration as he felt soft immigration policies were to blame for a fall in government support. In February 2017, he attracted criticism for speaking at the
Q Society of Australia The Q Society of Australia Inc. was a far-right, Islamophobic and homophobic organisation that opposed Muslim immigration and the presence of Muslims in Australian society. Q Society described itself as "Australia's leading Islam-critical orga ...
. The event received protests who called the event "racist".


Publicly funded broadcasting

Bernardi has publicly expressed his concern over the effect of Australia's public broadcaster, the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
, on commercial operators. His view is that the ABC has grown beyond its initial charter and its size is unjustifiably encroaching into the online news sphere at the expense of commercial operators and media diversity. However, Bernardi supports the continued existence of iView (internet based television service) and podcasting services. Bernardi agrees that the ABC provides useful services to regional areas often under-serviced by commercial operators; however, he suggests that the scale of the ABC's funding should be reviewed.


Same-sex marriage

Bernardi has said that permitting same-sex marriages would lead to legalised
polygamy Crimes Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married ...
and bestiality; and said that the "safe schools program" designed to make homosexual children feel safer at school "bullies" heterosexual children. Several of his colleagues from the Liberal Party at the time distanced themselves from Bernardi's comments, including
Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott was born in Londo ...
who also opposes same-sex marriage. Bernardi was one of twelve senators who voted against what became the
Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Act 2017 The ''Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Act 2017'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia, which legalises same-sex marriage in Australia by amending the '' Marriage Act 1961'' to allow marriage between two persons o ...
.


Abortion

He is
anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...
saying those who support it are "pro death". On 16 November 2017 Bernardi moved a motion in the Senate to ban abortion on gender grounds. He was one of the 10 senators who voted in favour of the motion, which was defeated 10 votes to 36.


Nuclear industrial development

Bernardi supports the legalisation of
nuclear fuel cycle The nuclear fuel cycle, also called nuclear fuel chain, is the progression of nuclear fuel through a series of differing stages. It consists of steps in the ''front end'', which are the preparation of the fuel, steps in the ''service period'' in w ...
activities in Australia which, as of November 2017, are prohibited under the
EPBC Act The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cultu ...
and ARPANS Act. In November 2017, he presented the Nuclear Fuel Cycle (Facilitation) Bill in the Senate to repeal these prohibitions, effectively enabling future proposals for activities such as:
nuclear waste Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. Radioactive waste is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, rare-earth mining, and nuclear weapons r ...
importation, storage and disposal,
nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...
generation, further processing of
uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...
and the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel.


Criticism

On 28 September 2015, Tony Jones, host of the television program '' Q&A'' on
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
, referred to "Cory Bernardi's Golden Dawn or something" in the context of the prospect of Bernardi forming his own political party. The Greek political party
Golden Dawn Golden Dawn or The Golden Dawn may refer to: Organizations * Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a nineteenth century magical order based in Britain ** The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Inc., a modern revival founded in 1977 ** Open Source ...
has been characterised as neo-fascist. ABC later stated that the words were intended only as shorthand for a new conservative party and not to suggest that Bernardi shared the views of Golden Dawn. In February 2016,
Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...
Opposition Leader The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
Bill Shorten William Richard Shorten (born 12 May 1967) is an Australian politician currently serving as Minister for Government Services and Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme since 2022. He previously served as leader of the opposition a ...
labelled Bernardi a "
homophobe Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy, m ...
". In March, student protesters trashed Bernardi's Adelaide office and wrote slogans such as "stop homophobia" after Bernardi raised concerns about the content of the Safe Schools Program. Bernardi claimed the program was indoctrinating minors. Bernardi was criticised for comments regarding the role of women in the military. Liberal Senator
Linda Reynolds Linda Karen Reynolds (born 16 May 1965) is an Australian politician. She is a member of the Liberal Party and has served as a Senator for Western Australia since 2014. She held senior ministerial office as a cabinet minister in the Morrison g ...
called Bernardi a 'disgrace' in response to Bernardi's condemnation of women seeking combat roles in the military.


References


External links


Official website: CoryBernardi.comOfficial biography: Parliament of AustraliaSummary of parliamentary voting for Senator Cory Bernardi on TheyVoteForYou.org.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernardi, Cory 1969 births Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Independent members of the Parliament of Australia Australian Roman Catholics Australian monarchists Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for South Australia Australian male rowers Australian sportsperson-politicians Australian people of Italian descent Politicians from Adelaide Australian Institute of Sport rowers Australian critics of Islam People educated at Prince Alfred College 21st-century Australian politicians Leaders of political parties in Australia Australian anti-abortion activists Australian Conservatives members