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AUSPOLLIEWATCH EVERY CLAIM LINKS TO ITS SOURCE · NOT A SCORECARD

Portrait of Cory Bernardi

Cory Bernardi

Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party · South Australia · South Australian Legislative Council · Statewide (SA) · incumbent

Early life & education encyclopedia

Cory Bernardi was born in Adelaide, South Australia, on 6 November 1969; his father was an Italian immigrant who came to Australia in 1958. He was educated at Prince Alfred College and later took a business and management course at the South Australian Institute of Technology. Before politics he worked as a labourer while travelling through Europe and Africa, managed his family's hotel, and subsequently worked as a stockbroker and financial adviser.

Elected 2026 · SA Legislative Council Cory BERNARDI (Pauline Hanson's One Nation) was declared elected 2nd of 11 at the 2026 South Australian State election. [ECSA results]

Sourced positions

Each position is the member's own stated view or vote, supported by the listed sources. The badge says what kind of source backs it — official record (Hansard, a parliament, a government or an electoral commission), own statement (their own site or their party's), news report (journalism or a third-party organisation) or encyclopedia. That is a statement about the evidence, not about how much we believe it. This page records public statements and conduct only — see methodology.

AyeNoPairedDid not vote

Immigration own statement

In posts on his X account in mid-2026, Bernardi (One Nation's SA state leader) set out an assimilationist position on immigration: he wrote that while many migrant families became 'fierce patriots', others 'have refused to integrate and have instead tried to impose their culture on us' (1 July 2026), and endorsed Pauline Hanson's stance that there is 'no place' for those who will not abide by Australian law and way of life, saying she 'speaks for the majority of Aussies' (17 June 2026). On the return to Australia of so-called 'ISIS brides' and their children he wrote 'This is outrageous' (30 June 2026). Recorded as a stated position; as a state MLC he does not vote on federal immigration law.

Economy & tax recorded votes

Votes on record · 1

  • –Roxby Downs (Indenture Ratification) (Amendment of Indenture) Amendment BillRatifies a new agreement between the State and BHP for the Olympic Dam mine, replacing much of the 1982 indenture so BHP can expand copper mining, smelting and refining there. The mine will be regulated mainly under the Mining Act, its environment protection applications go to the Environment Protection Authority, and it has a pathway to move to the current Aboriginal Heritage Act. Its special mining lease grows by about 51,352 hectares. Water extraction from Great Artesian Basin Wellfield A ends by 2036. BHP must give financial assurance for rehabilitation and pays royalties under the Mining Act unless the State and BHP agree otherwise, and after three years it funds any Roxby Downs council deficit. A hybrid bill, referred to a select committee after its second reading in the House.Second reading · South Australia · Legislative Council · Second reading thus carried; bill read a second time. 14–216 Jun 2026 ↗

Abortion & reproductive policy recorded votes

Votes on record · 2

  • ✓Termination of Pregnancy (Restrictions on Terminations After 24 Weeks and 6 Days) Amendment BillA private member's bill from Sarah Game (Family First). As introduced, it restricts terminations of pregnancy after 24 weeks and 6 days of gestation, with an exemption for a procedure necessary to save the woman's life. Unlike her 2025 bill, it has no exemption for foetal abnormalities. The Council amended it in committee before passing it.South Australia · Legislative Council · Second reading Second reading thus carried; bill read a second time. 10–9 · Third reading Third reading thus carried; bill passed. 10–917 Jun 2026 ↗

Gender & LGBTQ+ policy own statement

One Nation MLC and party state leader; former Liberal senator. A long-standing opponent of same-sex marriage: in a federal speech he linked redefining marriage to bestiality, and in 2026 said he stands by those comments '100 per cent.' In his SA maiden speech to the Legislative Council on 20 May 2026 he criticised gender-affirming healthcare, stating 'the government allows doctors to mutilate children in the name of gender-affirming care,' prompting Greens MLCs to walk out. In July 2026 he announced he had introduced a bill to ban puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for under-18s in South Australia, saying 'Kids in distress deserve counselling and support rather than irreversible intervention when the evidence is uncertain' and 'Kids first, not ideology.'

Votes on record · 2

  • ✓Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (South Australia) (Childhood Gender Dysphoria) Amendment BillA private member's bill from Cory Bernardi (One Nation). Makes it an offence for a registered health practitioner to prescribe or administer puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones or other prescribed drugs to a person under 18 to treat gender dysphoria. Treatment begun before the law takes effect is not affected, nor are these drugs' uses for other conditions such as precocious puberty or disorders of sex development.Second reading · South Australia · Legislative Council · Second reading thus negatived. 8–112 Sep 2026 ↗
  • ✗Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration (Birth Certificates) Amendment BillA private member's bill from Robert Simms (Greens). Lets each parent choose to be described as "mother", "father" or "parent" on their child's birth certificate. At present only the birth mother can be registered as a mother; her partner is registered as "father" or, otherwise, "co-parent".Second reading · South Australia · Legislative Council · Second reading thus carried; bill read a second time. 11–103 Jun 2026 ↗

Religious freedom news report

In July 2019, as a federal Senator, Bernardi tabled an 'Australian Freedoms Bill' intended to 'ring-fence Australia's key freedoms', and warned that a religious freedom act, unless handled carefully, 'gravely risks a slippery slope towards blasphemy laws.'

Freedom of speech official record

Voted for the second reading of the Human Rights Legislation Amendment Bill 2017, which proposed replacing 'offend, insult, humiliate' with 'harass' in section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act (Senate, 30 March 2017; Ayes 32, Noes 29). Voted for Schedule 1 of that bill to stand as printed, the provision making the substitution; the Schedule was negatived and the change did not proceed (Senate, in committee, 30-31 March 2017; Ayes 28, Noes 31). He cast these votes as a senator for South Australia and has since moved to the South Australian Legislative Council.

Votes on record · 1

  • ✓Human Rights Legislation Amendment Bill 2017Would have replaced 'offend', 'insult' and 'humiliate' with 'harass' in section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975, so that the section would cover conduct reasonably likely to harass or intimidate a person on the basis of race, judged by the standard of a reasonable member of the Australian community, and changed how the Australian Human Rights Commission handles complaints so that unmeritorious complaints are discouraged or dismissed.Second reading · Senate · 45th Parliament · carried 32–2930 Mar 2017 ↗

First Nations & treaty recorded votes

Votes on record · 1

  • ✓First Nations Voice Repeal BillA private member's bill from Nicola Centofanti (Liberal, Leader of the Opposition). Repeals the First Nations Voice Act 2023, abolishing the First Nations Voice to Parliament established under it. The mover said the opposition would redirect its funding to programs for Aboriginal South Australians.Second reading · South Australia · Legislative Council · Second reading thus negatived. 9–1017 Jun 2026 ↗

Integrity & anti-corruption recorded votes

Votes on record · 1

  • ✗Local Government (Elections) (Periodic Elections) Amendment BillMoves South Australia's council elections from November 2026 to April 2027, with voting closing on 7 April 2027, and then to November 2031 and every four years after. Councillors stay in office until the 2027 elections, anything already done for the November 2026 elections is void, and voters enrolled after 1 January 2026 stay on the roll. The government brought it in after the Acting Electoral Commissioner advised a delay following problems at the March 2026 state election, which are under independent review.Third reading · South Australia · Legislative Council · Third reading thus carried; bill passed. 10–725 Jun 2026 ↗

Health recorded votes

Votes on record · 1

  • ✓Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (South Australia) (Childhood Gender Dysphoria) Amendment BillA private member's bill from Cory Bernardi (One Nation). Makes it an offence for a registered health practitioner to prescribe or administer puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones or other prescribed drugs to a person under 18 to treat gender dysphoria. Treatment begun before the law takes effect is not affected, nor are these drugs' uses for other conditions such as precocious puberty or disorders of sex development.Second reading · South Australia · Legislative Council · Second reading thus negatived. 8–112 Sep 2026 ↗

Environment & water recorded votes

Votes on record · 1

  • –Roxby Downs (Indenture Ratification) (Amendment of Indenture) Amendment BillRatifies a new agreement between the State and BHP for the Olympic Dam mine, replacing much of the 1982 indenture so BHP can expand copper mining, smelting and refining there. The mine will be regulated mainly under the Mining Act, its environment protection applications go to the Environment Protection Authority, and it has a pathway to move to the current Aboriginal Heritage Act. Its special mining lease grows by about 51,352 hectares. Water extraction from Great Artesian Basin Wellfield A ends by 2036. BHP must give financial assurance for rehabilitation and pays royalties under the Mining Act unless the State and BHP agree otherwise, and after three years it funds any Roxby Downs council deficit. A hybrid bill, referred to a select committee after its second reading in the House.Second reading · South Australia · Legislative Council · Second reading thus carried; bill read a second time. 14–216 Jun 2026 ↗

Votes are shown as the official record lists them — Hansard federally and in New South Wales; Votes and Proceedings, Minutes of the Proceedings and Hansard in Victoria; the Record of Proceedings in Queensland; the Votes and Proceedings and Minutes of Proceedings in Western Australia; the Votes and Proceedings (House of Assembly) and Hansard (Legislative Council) in South Australia; the Votes and Proceedings of both chambers in Tasmania. "Did not vote" means the member held the seat that day and is on neither list — the record says who was in the chamber, not why, so it is never an abstention. Western Australia’s record prints no pairs, so a member paired there shows as did not vote. Nothing is shown for a presiding officer who by law gives only a casting vote (the Speaker and the President in South Australia, the President in Tasmania), nor for the member presiding at a Tasmanian division, which Tasmania’s journals record. Which bills sit under which issue is an editorial choice, made bill by bill with a reason read from the second-reading speech. A bill decided by an earlier parliament (Queensland’s 2018 abortion law reform, for one) is shown with that parliament named, read from the official record of the day. For Queensland and the federal parliament “did not vote” there means the member held a seat that day, as their service is recorded; for the other earlier parliaments the record of who held a seat could not be read, so only the printed Aye, No and paired votes are shown.

Record last updated 2026-10-27.