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Associated Press

An Australian senator and outspoken supporter of US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday he will start a new political party to appeal to disenfranchised conservatives.
Cory Bernardi decided to abandon Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s conservative Liberal Party as the ruling coalition trails further behind the centre-left Labor Party in opinion polls seven months after elections.
Bernardi told the Senate he had resigned from the party to start his new party called Australian Conservatives.
“The body politic is failing the people of Australia. It is clear that we need to find a better way.”
Senator Bernardi said the “respect for the values and principles that have served us well seem to have been set aside for expedient, self-serving, short-term ends”.

“I have spoken of the need to restore faith in our political system and to put principle back into politics. I regret that too often these warnings have been ignored by those who perhaps needed to hear them most. It really is time for a better way. For a conservative way.”
“Today I begin something new, built on enduring values and principles that have served our nation so well for so long. It is a political movement of Australian Conservatives.”
He pledged a political movement that would help create stronger families, limit the size and scope and reach of government and rebuild confidence in civil society - but with little detail about how those aims would be delivered.

Bernardi’s defection came on the first day that Parliament has met since Trump’s inauguration.
Senator Nick Xenophon, leader of a minor party Nick Xenophon Team, marked the occasion by bringing a doormat emblazoned with Trump’s face and with the message: “Australia: not your doormat.”
Xenophon has taken exception to a terse phone call between Trump and Turnbull when they first spoke as national leaders last month. Xenophon said Trump’s reported language was “completely uncalled” for in a conversation with an ally such as Australia.
“This doormat might be a good gift for Cory Bernardi, given that as he’s such a big fan of Donald Trump,” Xenophon said.

Bernardi won in an election last July that saw a record number of Australians vote for anti-establishment parties that splintered the conservative vote.
Bernardi’s former government colleagues accused him of being a traitor, saying he was obliged to serve the party on whose policy platform he had been re-elected.
The 47-year-old had long been among the Liberal Party’s most conservative figures. He was demoted from a senior party position in 2012 for suggesting legal recognition for gay marriage could lead to legalisation of bestiality and polygamy, offending many same-sex marriage advocates.
Bernardi recently spent three months in New York seconded to the United Nations and met Trump associates. He owns a red hat with a Trump-like slogan: “Make Australia Great Again.”
Bernardi said on Tuesday the major political parties had failed Australians.
“The level of public disenchantment with the major parties, the lack of confidence in our political process and the concern about the direction of our nation is very, very strong,” Bernardi said.
Additional reporting by Fairfax Media


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Australian politics

Australian senator who supports Trump quits Turnbull government for new right-wing party

Australian Senator Cory Bernardi announced his defection from the Liberal Party. Photo: EPA

epa05775555 Australian Senator Cory Bernardi arrives to address the Australian Senate of his defection of the Liberal Party at Parliament House in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia, 07 February 2017. According to reports, Bernardi launched his own Australian Conservatives right-wing party. EPA/MICK TSIKAS AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT

Australian Senator Nick Xenophon holds up a novelty doormat bearing the face of U.S. President Donald Trump as he arrives at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, February 7, 2017. AAP/Mick Tsikas/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE. AUSTRALIA OUT. NEW ZEALAND OUT.

epa05775560 Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull speaks during House of Representatives Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia, 07 February 2017. EPA/LUKAS COCH AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT

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