South Australian Greens MPs walked out of state parliament during One Nation leader Cory Bernardi’s maiden speech to the Legislative Council on Tuesday, after comments he made about transgender people, gender-affirming care and Welcome to Country ceremonies.
Bernardi, a former Liberal senator who retired from federal politics in 2020, was elected to the South Australian upper house at the March state election, where One Nation secured four lower house seats and three upper house positions.
During his speech, Bernardi criticised what he described as the “creeping hand of socialism” and said Australia’s “political class” had “squandered our golden opportunities with false ideology and promises”.
“People are sick of being fed a steady diet of tasteless vegan political tofu and being told that it’s tasty eye fillet, and really good for them,” Bernardi said.
“They want their country back and I want to give it back to them, starting right here in South Australia.”
Bernardi also mocked Welcome to Country ceremonies during the address.
“I don’t need to be welcomed to my own country and neither do the overwhelming majority of Australians,” he said.
Greens MLCs Robert Simms and Melanie Selwood left the chamber after Bernardi turned to discussing transgender people and gender-affirming healthcare.
“The media are silent, while the government allows doctors to mutilate children in the name of gender-affirming care,” Bernardi said.
“To me, it’s sheer madness that can be countered with a commonsense analogy.”
Bernardi also criticised communism during the speech, saying he refused to buy Cuban cigars.
“It’s my personal crusade, Mr President, to starve the communist regime of Cuba of any funds so they collapse and democracy can ring true,” he said.
“Now I’ve since learned that the Cuban cigar business has been bought by the communists in China, so I’m now bringing down two regimes as a personal crusade.” – Star Observer
