Cory Bernardi Thinks The Government Should Be More Like One Nation
The Liberal senator reckons Pauline Hanson has got it right on immigration.
He may be on a three month secondment to the United Nations in New York, but don’t think for a second that rogue Liberal senator Cory Bernardi won’t take any opportunity he can to undermine the government while pushing his ultra-conservative agenda.
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Appearing on Tuesday night’s episode of The Bolt Report, Bernardi said that the Coalition’s showing in recent polls was “not good,” and pointed to the increasing popularity of minor parties.
“What I noticed today was the drop in the Liberal poll, there was about a commensurate lift in the ‘others’ poll,” said Bernardi. “So it hasn’t gone to Labor, it’s gone to others. And I suspect that is One Nation, and others, who are saying the things that the Liberal Party should be saying, with a bit more nuance and maybe a little bit more delicacy.”
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, a recent Newspoll saw the Coalition suffer a 3 per cent drop, while Labor, the Greens and ‘other’ all enjoyed a 1 per cent gain.
Among the One Nation policies Bernardi would be keen to see the government adopt is a hardline approach to immigration. “I think we should be reconsidering our refugee intake,” said the senator. “I would be particularly concerned about the 12,000 additional ones we’re taking from Syria.”
“I know that there’s some people that are doing it desperately tough there, but we don’t better our country by bringing in potentially greater problems,” he continued. “Not only is it expensive, it has serious social and cultural ramifications for us, and so I would encourage the government to rethink its humanitarian intake.”
.@corybernardi admits the polls are not good. On #TheBoltReport#auspolhttps://t.co/XDFyaZpbdR
— The Bolt Report (@theboltreport) September 27, 2016
Bernardi is one of a number of conservative Libs to suggest Turnbull should embrace One Nation’s signature brand of xenophobic fear-mongering. MP George Christensen recently called on the government to restrict migration “from countries where there is a high prevalence of violent extremism and radicalism”, while Senator Barry O’Sullivan said that migrants should be “quizzed about their religion.”
What’s more distressing about all this is that these (formerly) fringe, right-wing pollies now wield significant influence within the Liberal Party. They’re the ones calling the shots on everything from marriage equality to economic policy. It’s certainly not outside the realm of possibility, having been emboldened by the resurgence of One Nation, that they might be able to shift Liberal party policy even further to the right on things like immigration.