TONY Abbott was yesterday forced to ditch the man he hand-picked as his parliamentary secretary - Cory Bernardi - for suggesting that legalising gay marriage could lead to bestiality, comments roundly condemned as disgusting.

The House of Representatives yesterday defeated 98-42 a private member's bill on gay marriage, with 38 Labor MPs including 15 ministers supporting it and 26, led by the Prime Minister and five ministers, voting against.

Senator Cory Bernardi. Credit:Andrew Meares

Coalition members opposed the bill, which was sponsored by left-wing Labor backbencher Stephen Jones. The Senate will knock out another bill today, taking the issue off the federal agenda, although there is action in several states.

But the drama in opposition ranks grabbed the attention after Senator Bernardi, from the party's hard right, in Tuesday night's Senate debate said there were ''creepy people'' in the community who said it was OK to have consensual sexual relations between humans and animals. ''Will that be a future step?'' he asked.