Bernardi, page-2

The retired Independent Tony Windsor has launched an extraordinary spray, daring the conservative Cory Bernardi to do Malcolm Turnbull a favour and quit the Liberal party while urging the Prime Minister to "piss" and kick the outspoken Senator out of the party or "get off the potty."
And Fairfax Media can reveal the Queensland Nationals MP George Christensen is considering his own future over the festive season.


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Cory Bernardi: a cartoonist's dream

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Speculation is rife that Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi is preparing to defect, despite the conservative South Australian dismissing suggestions for months of a breakaway.
Senator Bernardi could not be reached late Wednesday and has told friends he plans to keep a low profile over the Christmas and New Year break. Late last month he said witnessing the election of political maverick and outsider Donald Trump to the US Presidency had been an epiphany.

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Senator Derryn Hinch arrives at Parliament House in Canberra as Senator Cory Bernardi speaks to the media on Wednesday 31 August 2016. Photo: Andrew Meares Photo: Andrew Meares
He wrote at the time that he had realised he wanted to be a "catalyst for change" in Australian politics but did not specify how. This week a major study of the Australian mood found Australians' satisfaction with democracy has collapsed to its lowest level since the dismissal of the Whitlam government in the 1970s.
One MP close to the conservative Senator said they believed the South Australian had already made up his mind and would split from the Liberal party.
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The MP said Senator Bernardi believed the Liberal government was in a no-win situation and could not be turned around.
On Thursday News Corp reported Senator Bernardi was "on the brink" of quitting and forming a breakaway movement.

The then Prime Minister Tony Abbott with George Christensen in Parliament House, 2014. Photo: Andrew Meares
Fairfax Media understands George Christensen is another Coalition MP considering his future over the weekend. When contacted late on Wednesday the MP said: "I am loyal to Barnaby, loyal to the Nationals, and loyal to local LNP members."
But in an ominous sign for the future of the Coalition, he warned: "But the Turnbull government needs to start being more loyal to the voters who sent us here or there will come a time when remaining inside the tent is no longer tenable to my conscience or my voters."

Retired MP Tony Windsor. Photo: James Brickwood
"Bernardi should do us all a favour and get on with it and Malcolm should either piss or get off the potty."
Retired Independent MP Tony Windsor
The retired Independent Tony Windsor said he was sick of the constant speculation surrounding Senator Bernardi and urged him to do the Liberal party a favour by leaving.
"Malcolm Turnbull should pull on these idiots. What's the point of being Prime Minister?" Mr Windsor said.
"Bernardi should do us all a favour and get on with it and Malcolm should either piss or get off the potty," he said.
And in a reference to former Prime Minister Tony Abbott's verbal gaffe, when he referred to no one being the "suppository of all wisdom", Mr Windsor labelled both Senator Bernardi and Mr Christensen as "suppositories."
"Bernardi and the other suppositories are lemming leaders not leaders of a nation in a time of need."
"Australians are not bigots but if there is no leadership on key issues, like the Germans in the 1930s they may follow the lemming trail."
Mr Windsor said he believed Mr Christensen was trying to recapture lost ground by parroting what One Nation voters wanted to hear.