The Liberal councillor for Sydney tweeted: "Cory Bernardi's comments in today's SMH are an affront to me, my partner and our relationship". Senator Bernardi was also criticised by fellow Liberal MP and frontbencher Malcolm Turnbull, who said the remarks created ‘‘a lot of offence with same sex couples’’. Senator Bernardi's latest comments come as a Greens bill to recognise internationally sanctioned same-sex marriages is set to be debated in the Senate on Thursday. The same sex-marriage bill was also debated last night in the Federation Chamber, with Labor MPs Greg Combet, Stephen Smith and Bernie Ripoll all saying they supported legalising gay marriage. As Kevin Rudd did recently, Mr Ripoll said he had changed his mind and would now support the bill. Amid these developments, Senator Bernardi told Fairfax Media that some sections of society were now moving in the "abhorrent and disgusting" direction he had predicted.

"There is actually now a petition been put together for the House of Representatives by Green activists to legally recognise multi-member unions," Senator Bernardi said. He was referring to a recent petition by the Polyamory Action Lobby in which the group said: "We demand nothing less than the full recognition of polyamorous families". "Now I said that would happen," Senator Bernardi said. "It's happening.'' "I think there should be alarm . . . If you're going to re-define a word to satisfy demands of a minority then you're going to face continuing demands in that space.'' Senator Bernardi also stood by his controversial comments last year that the "next step" after recognising same-sex marriage was to support "creepy people" who chose to have sex with animals.

"Bestiality, of course it was an extreme example, but once again it's linked to the radical agenda of the Greens Party," he said. Fairfax Media has contacted the office of the Opposition Leader seeking comment. In the Coalition's joint party meeting on Tuesday, Mr Abbott made no mention of Senator Bernardi's comments but he stressed the need for the Coalition to maintain discipline across every piece of communication between now and the election. Mr Turnbull told Sky News none of the countries around the world that had legalised same sex marriage had gone on to legalise polygamy. ‘‘And the remarks about bestiality are obviously very extreme and extremely offensive and I dissociate myself from them completely,’’ he added.

Mr Turnbull thought it ‘‘quite likely’’ that Mr Abbott would allow the Coalition a conscience vote on legalising same sex marriage in the next Parliament. Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said Senator Bernardi's comments demeaned all Australians with friends and family in gay relationships. "Linking the love that thousands of Australians have for each other to bestiality is disgraceful," she said. "Once again Cory Bernardi has attacked gay and lesbian Australians and has humiliated his party." The Greens want marriage to be between two people regardless of their gender, Senator Hanson-Young said. The party does not support any other changes to the Marriage Act.

Marriage equality advocates attacked the claims by Senator Bernardi and have called for him to be disciplined by Mr Abbott. Australian Marriage Equality national convener, Rodney Croome, said that Senator Bernardi's comments would contribute to the ''all-too-high rates of suicide among young same-sex-attracted Australians''. ''Not one country that has allowed same-sex marriage has moved to legitimise polygamy or bestiality for the simply reason they're not linked, legally, socially or culturally,'' Mr Croome said. Finance Minister Penny Wong added to the condemnation of Senator Bernardi, saying his ''offensive comments have no place in modern Australia''. ''The principle of equality is far greater than the pathetic attempts by Cory Bernardi to drum up fear and prejudice,'' she said.

Senator Bernardi said he was simply speaking his mind and he accused other politicians of changing their positions for political convenience. "[Kevin Rudd] used to hold the doorstops outside of church and now he's suddenly had this epiphany about same-sex marriage," Senator Bernardi said. Mr Rudd is among a number of Labor politicians who support the legalisation of same-sex marriage, though Prime Minister Julia Gillard maintains her personal opposition. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has refused to allow a conscience vote within the Coalition despite party members including Kelly O'Dwyer, Malcolm Turnbull, Wyatt Roy, Simon Birmingham and Sue Boyce all supporting same-sex marriage. Clarification: The original version of this story incorrectly reported that Cory Bernardi says he has been "proven correct" on his claims that legalising same-sex marriage would lead demand to endorse bestiality. He has however stood by his comments from last year on bestiality.