Liberal senator Cory Bernardi has raised the threat of a split in the Liberal party over the new leadership, invoking the damaging battle that saw Malcolm Turnbull lose his leadership in opposition over climate change policy.

Bernardi, who has described this week’s leadership spill which deposed Tony Abbott as “treachery”, was asked by conservative commentator Andrew Bolt if there was a possibility of a split.



“If we go back to the days when Malcolm Turnbull was determined to assist Kevin Rudd in putting in an emissions trading scheme, that was as close to seeing a split within the Liberal National coalition as I’ve ever seen and I would ever want to see,” Bernardi said.

“But certainly, you’ve got to have voices at the table and if we are going to be a party that goes down the path of being more like Labor, than like the traditional Liberal vision, which is a distinctly conservative vision, then who knows what will happen?

“But I don’t want it to come to that, Andrew, I want us to be a mainstream conservative party, rather than just a vehicle for ‘anything goes, as long as I can climb the greasy pole’. And I know there are many Liberals that are concerned about that.”



Turnbull was preparing to unveil his new ministry on Sunday as reports surfaced that the noted republican prime minister would take a plan to abolish Abbott’s newly reinstated imperial honours system to the party room.

The prime minister’s office said any move to remove knights and dames was not a high priority and that the party room would be consulted.



On Sunday, Liberals were heartened by a win by their candidate Andrew Hastie in the Canning byelection with a 6% swing against the government when they had been bracing for 10% under Tony Abbott.

Sinodinos said: “I think it is a better result than we would have expected at the beginning of the campaign”.

Finance minister Mathias Cormman said: “It was a very good result for the Liberal party and it was a very good result for Andrew Hastie ... this is a great victory for the Liberal party under the leadership of Malcolm Turnbull.”

But Bernardi doubted whether the result was due to the change of leadership and countered that the long-term consequence of changing to Turnbull was damage to the Liberal brand.

He hit back at claims by key frontbencher and fellow South Australian Christopher Pyne that his views were “boutique”.

“This week, I’ve been criticised from pillar to post for demonstrating loyalty to the previous government. I had Christopher Pyne say I was a boutique politician, meaning, you know, I only appeal to a tiny little subsection of the community,” said Bernardi.



“When someone demonstrates loyalty in the Liberal party, when they stick up for the Liberal conservative principles, they’re honest and have values and are determined to speak up for the silent majority, when that he is considered some sort of boutique narrow cast, I reckon the party has lost the broader approach it needs to have.”

But Arthur Sinodinos, John Howard’s former chief of staff and a Turnbull loyalist, predicted the new prime minister would be much better at listening to his ministers in a veiled swipe at Abbott’s leadership style.

Asked on the ABC if Turnbull’s style of “going on a bit” was a problem, Sinodinos said “I’d rather have someone who goes on a bit and makes an effort to explain things rather than say ‘This is the way it’s got to be and you’ve got to accept that’.”

Turnbull won the ballot by 54-44 in the party room on Monday night while Julie Bishop won the deputy’s position 70-30 to Kevin Andrews. While the losing votes may be an indication of the number of Liberals upset with the decision, Abbott won the leadership in 2009 by one vote.

Turnbull will unveil his first ministry on Sunday afternoon. Scott Morrison is expected to be appointed treasurer and more women are expected to move into the ministry.



Sinodinos gave some clues as to how the new Turnbull government would approach key policy areas and the mechanics of government. He made the point that while Turnbull was part of the cabinet that agreed on the renewable energy targets post-2020, the debate would move away from that seen under Abbott.

Last month, the government unveiled emissions targets of 26% below 2005 levels by 2030, which was less ambitious than most other developed countries.

“I think you will see that there will be a bit of an end to the idea that the environment and development have to be a loggerheads, that is a zero sum game – it’s not,” said Sinodinos.

“Good environmental policies can be good economic policies and they give you capacity to deal with environmental issues.

“I don’t think we should be hung up on the battles of the past, the battles of 2009 and whatever and also to accept that existing resources as well as renewables have their place, forgive the pun, in the sun. It is very important that we now move on from those battles.”

Sinodinos’s remarks refer to the Liberal party leadership spill over climate change which resulted in Turnbull being dumped as opposition leader in favour of Abbott.

Sinodinos predicted the leaks to media of internal cabinet workings could be addressed by having a more consultative style of government and a more diverse cabinet membership which allows the “interplay of opinions”.



“What’s important about leaks is, again, giving people the opportunity to have their say because if people feel they don’t have ownership of what’s going on, they’ve got nothing to lose then by being outside the tent if you like,” Sinodinos said.

“So it’s very important, if you want to stop leaks, make sure people feel like their opinion is valued and they are in the tent.”



Bernardi said he has had thousands of people contact him complaining the Liberal party had become too much like the Labor party in jettisoning a leader midterm.

Asked about Scott Morrison’s role in the coup – given he voted for Abbott but did not direct his supporters either way – Bernardi said there’s “a lot of mistrust”.

“Ultimately, the only thing you’ve got going for you in this business is your credibility and integrity and if you give that up cheaply, it’s very, very hard to get back and I think some people have given it up pretty cheaply this week,” Bernardi said.