Liberal senator Cory Bernardi says his colleagues would be foolish to ignore recent Tea Party elections in the US, adding that Australians are increasingly dissatisfied with both major parties.

''The message seems very clear,'' Senator Bernardi said. ''The people want something different to what establishment politics is offering.''

Liberal senator Cory Bernardi. Credit:Andrew Meares

Senator Bernardi, a friend of right-wing US politician Rick Santorum, said this week's shock defeat of the Republican Party's second-highest-ranking office holder Eric Cantor to a libertarian Tea Party candidate was the ''clearest indication yet'' that people were fed up with the ''authoritarian'' Obama administration.

Senator Bernardi also pointed to the rise of the UK Independence Party - a conservative fringe party that won a stunning victory, taking 24 seats, in the recent European elections - as further evidence major parties were not listening to ''mainstream'' views. He said the success of Clive Palmer and Family First proved Australians were ''not entirely happy'' with Labor and the Coalition.