Cory Bernardi (born 6 November 1969) is a retired Australian politician.
He was a Senator representing the state of South Australia in the Australian Senate since 2006 and was the leader of the Australian Conservatives, a minor political party he founded in 2017 but disbanded in 2019.
He is a former member of the Liberal Party of Australia, having represented the party in the Senate from 2006 to 2017.
Bernardi is a staunchly conservative Roman Catholic and author of The Conservative Revolution.Bernardi entered politics in 2006 when he was selected by the Liberal Party to fill a Senate seat vacancy for South Australia left by the resignation of Robert Hill.
During his time in Parliament, Bernardi has attracted controversy over several statements and views.
On 7 February 2017, Bernardi announced that he would be leaving the Liberal Party to form his own party—the Australian Conservatives.
In June 2019, Bernardi announced he was disbanding the Australian Conservatives and the party was voluntarily deregistered by the Australian Electoral Commission on 25 June 2019.
Bernardi announced his resignation from politics on 19 November 2019, effective 5 December 2019.
As he was elected as a member of the Liberal Party, that party will have to claim his seat to fill the vacancy.