Bernardi said that at the election his Australian Conservative party polled “a tiny fraction of the votes” required. He said potential voters returned to supporting the Coalition under Morrison.
While minor right-wing parties are advancing specific policy agendas, Australia’s major right-of-centre force appears to be grappling with internal divisions about its policy direction.
The departure of up to two crossbench senators and the uncertainty over who might replace them is giving the government fresh obstacles in their efforts to pass legislation.
Changes to Senate voting laws and the particular case of Senator Bob Day make for an unprecedented constitutional tangle, and one that will change the make-up of the Senate.
Within hours of Bob Day submitting his Senate resignation on Tuesday, the government announced it would move for the High Court to rule on whether he had been ineligible to sit in the upper house.
Pauline Hanson’s return to public life and the emergence of right-wing parties such as Katter’s Australian Party and the Rise Up Australia Party has rekindled interest in far-right politics in Australia…