'Midwits' and media bust-ups herald One Nation's arrival in SA parliament

One Nation state leader Cory Bernardi and federal leader Pauline Hanson the opening of South Australia's new parliamentary term earlier this month. (ABC News: Che Chorley) Link copiedShareShare articleOne Nation SA leader Cory Bernardi's maiden speech was more closely watched than most last week. "If you really want to have a political barney, trust me, there is no-one more willing to engage," he said in the address. His speech marked the first contribution of the new One Nation contingent to South Australia's parliament, following the party's breakthrough election in March. Mr Bernardi used the opportunity to rail against the political left, "self-serving elites" and a nation of "easily offended snowflakes". He also described COVID "hysteria" as something that showed the dangers of a government run by "the midwit managerial class and unaccountable bureaucrats". "There is no race or creed or colour in this country that needs special privileges or preferment by the state," Mr Bernardi said. "There is also a modern habit of insisting that people like me should abandon this culture war … but to abandon it is to surrender to forces that have already made our country manifestly worse." Federal One Nation leader Pauline Hanson speaks to new upper house MPs Rebecca Hewett, Cory Bernardi and Carlos Quaremba. (ABC News) The Greens walked out when Mr Bernardi began criticising gender-affirming care for children. The combative message sent in parliament on Tuesday was followed by a heated exchange with the media on Thursday. With federal leader Pauline Hanson in Adelaide for an oil and gas conference, One Nation staffer Richard Henderson ended a press conference by telling a Guardian journalist to "shut up". Senator Hanson was later captured walking away and uttering the words "nasty bitch", although it is unclear who she was referring to. Culture wars, political barneys and media bust-ups: there's no doubting One Nation has made its presence felt in SA. But what does all the noise mean for their next four years in parliament? One Nation leader Cory Bernardi is hoping to make an impact in the Legislative Council. (ABC News) There were few surprises in Mr Bernardi's maiden speech, given his long history of public comments as a federal senator. But much less was known about his six One Nation colleagues. Among them is MacKillop MP Jason Virgo, a former Christmas Island detention centre worker who was formerly a Labor and an Australian Sex Party member. Mr Virgo said he left Labor because he was "deeply disillusioned" by the Rudd government's "capitulation" on climate change and treatment of refugees. "I love migrants," Mr Virgo said in his maiden speech, "the overwhelming majority are simply searching for a better life. "But two things can be true at once, and I do believe migration levels in recent years have been too high." Jason Virgo won the seat of MacKillop over an incumbent independent and a Liberal challenger. (Supplied) In what was an emotional speech, Mr Virgo said he was told during the 2026 campaign that "people were going around the electorate telling people I was gay". "I guess I will never know whether it was intended maliciously, but that was the impression I got," he said. "The reality is I have been openly gay throughout my entire adult life. I do not wave the flag in the air as I walk down the street; I prefer people to find out these things naturally. "There are times when those of us who are gay feel we have to hide it … but I would rather my community hear it directly from me than from a potential political opponent or from whispers." Mr Virgo and Mr Bernardi were on completely different sides of the marriage equality debate in the 2010s. In March, Mr Bernardi stood by his comments 14 years ago linking gay marriage to bestiality. But Mr Virgo was keen to emphasise that different views are tolerated within One Nation. "Nobody agrees with anybody 100 per cent of the time, but, as Cory Bernardi has said, we are united by common sense and putting Australians first," he said. The maiden speeches of Mr Virgo and other One Nation MPs "run against the grain" of the federal party's social conservatism and "inflammatory anti-immigration rhetoric" — that is the view of Flinders University associate professor Rob Manwaring, an expert in public policy and political science. "What's really going to be very interesting and quite unclear is the overall degree of kind of policy coherence between those candidates," Dr Manwaring said, adding that it was an "open question" as to how One Nation would corral its votes in parliament. "That relationship as a sort of coherent block, I think that will start fraying relatively quickly." Rob Manwaring says it is unclear how well the One Nation MPs will work together. (ABC News: Lincoln Rothall) And therein lies One Nation's core challenge. The two major parties — still working through the lessons of One Nation's election success, which cost

'Midwits' and media bust-ups herald One Nation's arrival in SA parliament

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