Cory Bernardi's inflammatory remarks on gay rights, Islam and climate change have made him one of the most recognisable faces on the Government's backbench.

The 47-year-old says he is on a mission to "restore common sense ... and traditional values", but that has put him at odds with his colleagues in the Liberal Party and at outright war with the left.

Senator Bernardi was elected to the Senate in 2006 on the South Australian ticket, backed by right-wing power broker Nick Minchin.

In his maiden speech, he pledged to be guided by God, spoke about "the sanctity of human life" and marriage, and thanked his mother for staying at home to raise him.

Eight years earlier, Mr Minchin had manoeuvred him into the presidency of the Liberal Party in South Australia.

Senator Bernardi never won over his more moderate colleagues and his public feud with fellow South Australian Liberal Christopher Pyne has been public and toxic.

'Make Australia great again'

Senator Bernardi's three months in the US during Donald Trump's run for the Presidency buoyed his confidence in Australia's conservative movement.

Sorry, this video has expired Tony Abbott calls for unity in the Liberal Party

Donning a "Make Australia Great Again" hat, the senator warned his party not to ignore the lessons of Mr Trump's victory.

"Unfortunately there are too few in our body politic willing to take the path less travelled — a trustworthy track that has fallen out of use," he wrote in a newsletter earlier this month.

"For the sake of our nation, we must get back on track."

Last year, he set up the Australian Conservatives, modelled on the grassroots tactics of the US Tea Party, and he says his supporters now number more than 60,000.

Australian Conservatives is not a registered political party and a related fundraising group set up by the senator in 2009, the Conservative Leadership Foundation, does not purport to directly fund Australian politics.

It has never made any declarations to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) about the source of its money or its expenditure, meaning it operates in a grey area of the political donations system.

He has previously threatened to quit the Liberal Party and in his most recent newsletter foreshadowed his move.

Bestiality and gay marriage

Cory Bernardi has debated Labor's Penny Wong over same-sex marriage in the past. ( AAP: Stefan Postles )

When Senator Bernardi questioned whether gay marriage would lead to bestiality in 2012, the backlash was fierce and swift.

"There are even some creepy people out there ... [who] say it is OK to have consensual sexual relations between humans and animals," he said during a debate on same-sex marriage.

"Will that be a future step? In the future will we say 'These two creatures love each other and maybe they should be able to be joined in a union?'"

Then opposition leader Tony Abbott said he did not share Senator Bernardi's view and accepted his resignation as parliamentary secretary.

At the time, Malcolm Turnbull described the views as "extreme."

"They are hysterical, they're not the views of the mainstream Australian society — let alone of the Liberal Party," Mr Turnbull said.

Islam and immigration

Senator Bernardi has described Islam as a "totalitarian, political and religious ideology," but says he's not racist because his issue is with the religion, not Muslims.

He has been rebuked by the Liberal leadership for meeting with Dutch anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders, and has attended rallies and events with Reclaim Australia and Q Society.

Both groups oppose Islam, and describe the Halal certification of food as a tax that benefits terrorism.

Senator Bernardi has been a strong backer of a ban on the burka, describing it as a "flag of fundamentalism" and a "shroud of oppression."

He was born to an Italian immigrant, but has strong views on others who cross the sea to make Australia home.

He has described asylum seekers as "welfare squatters" and during the outpouring of emotion over the drowning death of toddler Aylan Kurdi, he said the boy's father was to blame.

"The father sent them on that boat so the father could get dental treatment. They were in no fear, they were in no persecution and they were in no danger in Turkey," he said.

The comments earned him a sharp rebuke from Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.

He was also told off over his criticism of the Government's decision to fly survivors of the Christmas Island refugee boat disaster to Sydney for their families' funerals.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 7 minutes 54 seconds 7 m Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi joins Leigh Sales to discuss amending the Racial Discrimination Act, last year.

Family values

In his maiden speech, Senator Bernardi set his agenda as one of the Liberal Party's key defenders of conservative values.

He spoke about the "sanctity of human life" and marriage, and the role of his mother in the family home.

In a book titled The Conservative Revolution, Senator Bernardi described abortion as an "abhorrent form of birth control" and anyone who supports it as "pro-death".

"Given the increasing number of non-traditional families, there is a temptation to equate all family structures as being equal or relative," he writes.