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How the Bernardi backlash could affect the carbon tax

Mark Kenny

by Mark Kenny

23 Sep 05:55am

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Filed under: Cory Bernardi, Elections, Politics, Senate, Tony Abbott, Upper House

29 comments

Tony Abbott’s slim hopes of scrapping Julia Gillard’s carbon tax without having to call another election have been undermined by the backlash against Cory Bernardi.

Man of the Senate doing damage

And in an ironic twist, the big winner could be the determinedly pro-gay marriage Greens’ senator Sarah Hanson-Young.

Senator Bernardi, the Liberals’ number one on his state’s Senate ticket, was relegated to the backbench on Wednesday after suggesting that by allowing same sex couples to marry we were entering a slippery slope towards legalised polygamy and even sex with animals – assuming some “creepy people” get their way that is.

Facing public fury, Mr Abbott sacked his Parliamentary Secretary first branding his comments ill-disciplined but subsequently calling them repugnant.

However Liberal hardheads say while his demotion and Abbott’s more muscular condemnation were necessary, Bernardi’s ongoing notoriety could yet cost the party a winnable third senate seat in SA.

“His brand is damaged, permanently,” said one.

And they say that could be the difference, for an incoming Abbott government, between securing the numbers in the Senate to axe the carbon tax or, needing a whole new double-dissolution election to get it done.

People are not happy.

“It’s hard enough to stem the bleeding of votes to a populist like (Nick) Xenophon without having a turn-off like Bernardi on the ticket,’’ said another senior Liberal.

The Bernardi affair has attracted international coverage and even forced the party of British Prime Minister David Cameron to run for cover.

“We strongly condemn Mr Bernardi’s comments which don’t reflect David Cameron’s or the Conservative Party’s viewpoint in any way,’’ it said as the South Australian arrived in the UK to address a young conservatives conference.

Senior state Liberals fear Mr Bernardi’s prominence as the party’s first name on the Senate ballot will become a rallying point for competitors seeking the final Senate spot.

Labor and the Greens have previously committed to blocking any move in the Senate to unwind the carbon tax should Mr Abbott win in 2013.

But the Coalition has argued it would have a clear mandate to do so if it were elected on the simple promise to repeal it. It is likely that independent senators Nick Xenophon and John Madigan would share that view meaning there is an outside chance of the Coalition securing the 39 votes to repeal the tax if it performs well in a number of Senate contests.

“We realistically had a chance of picking up the third seat in South Australia, but not with him as the face of our party,’’ said a Liberal insider.

Six Senate seats are up for grabs at each regular election except when there is a full double-D election and all 12 from each state are declared vacant.

Of the six on offer in SA in 2013, the Labor and Liberal parties will almost certainly retain two each, with a fifth going to the popular independent senator, Nick Xenophon.

The final seat will probably come down to a two-way contest between Senator Hanson-Young and the third (as yet unspecified) Liberal. It is the squandering of this possibility, however remote, that has made senior Liberals in SA and beyond, livid at Mr Bernardi’s “bone-headed” behaviour.

While the centrist Xenophon is expected to benefit first from any Liberal disaffection, he is expected to easily achieve a quota for his own re-election. However, any excess votes he accumulates after that, are likely to flow to other minors and the Greens before getting to the Liberals thus increasing Senator Hanson-Young’s chances.

Meanwhile, the ultra-conservative Ron Boswell, a fierce opponent of same-sex marriage and a 30-year Queensland Nationals senator, announced Friday he will retire when his term expires in two years time.

Most commented

29 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • Kathy says:

      08:41am | 23/09/12

      Tony Abbotts hopes of ever being PM have gone out the door period. Thank god for Australia’s sake.

      Reply

    • nihonin says:

      09:48am | 23/09/12

      I don’t think god really cares who the PM is of the country, but for your ideologies sake you may possibly have a reason to toot your horn or the horn of one of your many screen names, if that’s how you swing.  wink

    • Richard says:

      10:13am | 23/09/12

      Don’t write off Tony, he still has a lot of fight left in him yet.., we might see some of his best punching now it’s a more even electoral contest. I think Abbott is at his best when he’s attacking a moving target, not when he’s defending a static advantage. In a fifty-fifty matchup, he’s gonna be more desparate to land heavy punches and really do some good damage to the government.

    • jasoerjen says:

      10:30am | 23/09/12

      You got up early, for goodness sake wake up and smell the coffee,60 years of watching Political parties come and go,but hardcore labor supporters never change Thank God for the swinging voters who can actually think for themselves and make the changes to set this Country back on the right tracks.

    • Kathy says:

      11:09am | 23/09/12

      The Liberal Party for whom you work nihonin says thank you for a mindless reply. Its all over for Abbott nihonin.

    • Sharon says:

      11:09am | 23/09/12

      What has gone out the door period because of the buying and selling of preferencial votes is our true democratic voting process of one vote one candidate!

      We now have a Claytons voting system which allows Governments to govern on default by buying your second preferencial vote and therefore the mess we are experiencing now!

    • Yak says:

      03:43pm | 23/09/12

      @ Sharon.

      Preferential votes are shit when there are 3 or 4 candidates, as at least 1 will get bugger-all support. The Preferential system shows its true form when there are, say, 10 candidates. If 9 candidates receive 89% of the votes between them, with a couple getting 10%, the winner is the dude/dude’ess with 11%. Would you like to be represented by someone who got 11% support? Do they deserve that position? It’s hard to espouse democracy, when it’s not.

      Apart from preferential voting, the only way for someone to get a majority is to restrict the candidacy numbers. Not democratic either. Rock on one side, hard place on the other.

      BTW, I don’t like it either but it’sprobably the fairest way.
      Have a marvellous day.

    • nihonin says:

      04:09pm | 23/09/12

      lol thanks kathy wink  I obviously hit the mark….......precious thing aren’t you.

    • nihonin says:

      05:20pm | 23/09/12

      Kathy (nossy), good to see you back mate, been a bit quiet round here without you. So why would the Libs dump Tony Abbott after one poll according the Labor faithful, can any of you answer that.  Yet Labor kept Julia Gillard while the polls were continuously horrendous for them and Libs say she’ll be dumped.  You party people, funnier than roadkill, but a blight on good governance for the country.

    • Emily says:

      09:14am | 23/09/12

      And meanwhile in Kenny’s home state his Labor friends keep looking at kiddie porn. Where is the article deploring such vile behaviour. Best to clean up ones own backyard first and then think about someone elses.

      Reply

    • Steve says:

      07:07pm | 23/09/12

      Another Labor grub that the media choose to ignore

    • Krys says:

      09:23am | 23/09/12

      I cannot believe that in 2012 comments like these are made.  I think a double dissolution is the only way forward.  I for one, hope Senator Hanson Young wins!  She is a well articulated, educated woman and is an excellent role model for all young women.  What Mr Bernadi has done, goes beyond “disappointment”.  He shouldnt have been relegated to the back bench, he should have been evicted from the Party all together.

      I surely hope that an Election is called sooner rather than later, both state and federal!!! I also really wish Mr Turnbull would do a leadshership challenge!

      Reply

    • Gregg says:

      09:30am | 23/09/12

      You do have a way with words Mark, no worse than Corey it would seem.
      ” Senator Bernardi, the Liberals’ number one on his state’s Senate ticket, was relegated to the backbench on Wednesday after suggesting that by allowing same sex couples to marry we were entering a slippery slope towards legalised polygamy and even sex with animals – assuming some “creepy people” get their way that is. “

      Would it not be more accurate to emphasise ” creepy people “
      The Senator was not even promoting that people would be more engaging with their animals than the normal patting/walking/whatever but merely raising what it would seem is an irrelevance in his address re the gay marriage bill.

      I reckon it is all a bit over the top the furore that has developed re his poor linking reference but then we see poor speech by many parliamentarians all the time and it would be good to see some straight reporting ( no pun intended ) on what has been nothing more but some straight talking re ” creepy people ” out there, as irrelevant as it may have been.

      I’d expect it to ultimately be of the tea cup storm variety.

      Reply

    • Sam Spade says:

      01:58pm | 23/09/12

      Err, no.  His own words, in the Senate Hansard, cant be so easily weaselled away from.

      Senator Benardi tried to argue that “consensual sex with animals” was somehow equivalent to gay marriage. 

      In the first place, the idea that bestiality could somehow be “consensual” is not just nonsensically wrong, it’s utterly repulsive to the last degree.

      Furthermore, there is no basis in fact, in common sense, in common decency, to suggest that two people wishing to marry is in any way related to bestiality. It’s a disgusting falsehood.

      Worse still, Benardi wasn’t trapped into some shoot from the lip blunder caught on the hop on some street corner, or after one too many sherberts at some Hills barbecue.

      It was his speech, made in Senate debate on the marriage Bill.  He knew exactly what he was saying.

      He chose to advance two utterly nonsensical and unspeakably vile suggestions.  If he really believed either of them, he needs psychiatric help.

      More likely, he believes neither but expected to could get away with making such wild claims.  His rapid advancement in the SA Liberal Party hierarchy is based on no more than habit of overblown Right rhetoric.

      How he ever got the SA No 1 Liberal Senate preselection is beyond understanding.  But Abbott apparently still thinks he is a “good politician” with “a lot to offer”.

      The simple fact is that Senator Benardi represents the vilest face of unprincipled partisan Liberalism. Vote for him and you’re voting for more of the same: blind sloganeering intellectual thuggery from the sewer. His every utterance demeans the position of Senator, and the function and value of our Parliament.

    • St. Michael says:

      03:51pm | 23/09/12

      Perhaps Bernardi’s words can be “so easily weaselled away from.”  But on the other hand, perhaps you ought to actually read them in the Hansard before attributing comments to him that he didn’t make.

    • marley says:

      04:16pm | 23/09/12

      @Sam Spade - well, you know, I’ve heard all sorts of versions of what was said, so I actually went back and looked at Hansard. 

      Sen. Bernardi did not argue that “consensual sex with animals” was equivalent to gay marriage.  His whole argument was based on gay marriage being an attack on traditional marriage, which would lead down the “slippery slope” to the collapse of an important social institution. 

      He cited as an example the support for polyamorous marriages.

      He then added that:  “There are even some creepy people out there—and I say ‘creepy’ deliberately—who are unfortunately afforded a great deal more respect than I believe they deserve. These creepy people say it is okay to have consensual sexual relations between humans and animals.” 

      He wasn’t saying that one can have consensual sex with animals;  he was citing people who hold that belief, specifically Peter Singer, as evidence of some of the weirder takes on what constitutes a relationship, and the threat they present to the traditional institution of marriage.

      So, I don’t agree at all with your claim that Bernardi thinks bestiality can be consensual when he’s clearly saying the opposite.  Nor do I think he was making the link between gay marriage and bestiality. I think he was simply saying, if we approve gay marriage, the next thing will be polygamy and then knows where it will all end. 

      That’s the slippery slope argument, and a weak one at best.  I don’t agree with it.  And I think his speech was incredibly clumsy, dumb, even.  But I don’t think your depiction of it is quite fair.

    • jimbo says:

      10:02am | 23/09/12

      Maybe, maybe not.

      Reply

    • Craig Mc says:

      10:09am | 23/09/12

      Step1: Cory Bernadi does something mildly embarrassing.
      Step 2: ?
      Step 3: Sarah Hanson-Young profits!

      Reply

    • Gayle says:

      10:09am | 23/09/12

      I agree wholeheartedly Kathy.    I hope the Liberal Party find someone else to be leader.  I won’t be voting for them whilst there is even a remote chance the Tony Abbott will be PM.

      Reply

    • malcolm says:

      10:13am | 23/09/12

      the views of bernadi are very simular to the nsw senator who is the opposition mental health spokesperson or shud i say thing

      Reply

    • Richard says:

      10:16am | 23/09/12

      Xenaphon’s a shoe-in, as are the two each mainstream party contenders, but is there any chance of a democrat or DLP senator edging out the greens?

      Reply

    • London Calling says:

      10:24am | 23/09/12

      ‘the South Australian arrived in the UK to address a young conservatives conference.

      Which he pulled out of.  If he really is the tough guy he thinks he is, he should of gone ahead with his speech.

      Although he may know that ‘posh boy games’ are done so much better, by UK pollies.

      Reply

    • Achmed says:

      10:27am | 23/09/12

      Still waiting for Abbott to explain the costs of his Direct Action carbon tax.  Thats the plan where he taxes the people to give taxpayer money to the polluters.
      His plans to repeal the legislation are lacking in any detail.
      How will he ensure that any price rises attributed to the carbon “tax” are removed? 
      How will he determine what is a rise due to the “tax” and what is normal business operation price increase?
      Will the tax cuts and compensation under the current system also be repealed?
      How will fund the tax cuts and compensation under the current system if they are not repealed?
      How will he ensure that the taxpayer money he gives to the polluters is properly spent?  And not just added to the CEO bonus or company profit line.
      How much is it going to cost taxpayers to “police” the the spending of taxpayer money by the polluters?
      How is he going to compensate companies that have bought carbon credits? What is the estimated cost to the taxpayer to pay any such compensation?

      Too little detail and unanswered questions for any thinking intelligent person to just mindlessly jump on the anti carbon “tax” bandwagon and the one line “repeal the tax” policy

      Reply

    • MHT says:

      05:37pm | 23/09/12

      Achmed - Notice how Tony has dumbed down his attack on the ‘toxic tax’, as time goes by and the voters realise that the tax is not as toxic as Tony made it out to be, his credibility on other issues will also take a dive. Tony is at best…finished.

    • Daemon says:

      10:36am | 23/09/12

      On behalf of Julia Gillard may we thank the honorable member.

      Reply

    • vox says:

      03:20pm | 23/09/12

      The ‘backlash, Mark, is not evident among Liberal Parliamentarians. Abbott and the rest of his rabble obviously don’t think they should move to have Bernardi ejected from the Party. They are quite happy having this repulsive creep as a participating member of their team.
      Actually I am not surprised by this, as they seem to attract some real nutters, but I would have thought that this particular one might have gone beyond the Liberal pale. Obviously they don’t have one.
      I haven’t seen TimB, Dash, and all of the other Abbott worshippers coming to the aid of the Party. I would have thought the presence of a bestiality-obsessed Senator and a Leader who keeps him in close, mated with the news that Abbott is the least supported potential P.M. in history would have had them out in droves. No?
      Ah, well.

    • Wilma J Craig says:

      12:38pm | 23/09/12

      Do we actually Vote for who should be Prime Minister? No we don’t & for that Ms. Not-so-Perfect Julia Gillard must be truly thankful for if we did she would never, ever have been able to betray Kevin Rudd - like him or loathe him she betrayed him & usurp the Prime Ministership.
      We put people into Parliament and the party with the most seats elects their own leader.
      We may not have liked John Howard, indeed those on the left of politics laothed him & made no secret of it…BUT…WE, the people kept re-electing the Party he led because his Party was getting results. Yes, there was WorkChoices but have a look at the FairWork Legislation. Huge chunks of that were carried over from the hated WorkChoices & simply incorporated into FairWork!!
      Polls which our MPs all say they pay no attention to and that there is only 1 Poll which is important: The El;ection - have the most ridiculous question ever dreamt up:
      “Who do you think is the Best Prime Minister? (or something like that)
      The only Prime Minister anyone can judge is the incumbent or an Opposition Leader who has actually been Prime Minister so instead of asking people to compare apples with apples they ask them to compare apples with oranges!
      We don’t know how good, bad or awful Tony Abbott would be as PM until he has actually held the job.
      We all know how Julia Gillard has been as, firstly, usurping PM & then PM Courtesy of the Greens, Andrew Wilkie, Rob Oakeshott & Tony Windsor.
      Have a look at those silly Polls, until the sympathy votekicked in the other day, Gillard & Abbott were occupying the same low level of support which was abysmal.

      Reply

    • Kevin Rennie says:

      04:21pm | 23/09/12

      Interesting to look at Oz online reactions to Cory’s man bites dog/dogs bit back moment. My roundup at Global Voices: Same Sex Marriage Debate Unleashes Beast http://bit.ly/UAfEzj Even the Young Conservatives in the UK don’t want him.

      Reply

    • Daz says:

      04:51pm | 23/09/12

      What a load of rubbish! The people who comment here, including myself represent about .00000001% of the population. The political class and the journalists and political commentators are less that half that.

      Normal ordinary people, the great silent majority, who unlike you and me, keep their opinions to themselves and follow grandma’s advice and “don’t talk religion or politics” will nonetheless make their beliefs felt at the ballot box. They don’t want gay marriage and they don’t want a bar of labor anymore.

      Reply
 
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