A FEDERAL MP has defended his right to ask job applicants if they are gay, confirming he had asked an applicant if he was married, homosexual or had ever voted for the Greens.

From July 1, Senator-elect David Leyonhjelm will emerge as a key balance of power figure in the Senate, where the fate of the Abbott government now lies with crossbenchers.

An applicant for a media adviser’s job in Mr Leyon-hjelm’s office has revealed he was asked a string of surprisingly personal questions during an interview on May 7, including whether he was married, gay and how he voted.

Mr Leyonhjelm, a Liberal Democrat, confirmed he had asked such questions, expressing disbelief there might be a problem in asking them of a job applicant.

“Bullshit. The reason I asked if he was gay was that I thought it might be good to have a gay media adviser as we have so many gay supporters,” Mr Leyonhjelm said. “I was just trying to relax him.”

Employers cannot discriminate against job applicants on the grounds of sexuality, ­gender or disability.

F... that. I will ask whoever I want if they are gay

But Mr Leyonhjelm said he only asked because he thought having a gay media adviser could be a winner.

He said it should be OK to ask someone in a job interview if they were gay.

“F... that. I will ask whoever I want if they are gay,’’ he said.

“But we don’t have a problem with gay people. No, what I said was I couldn’t understand why gay people were so in favour of getting married.

“They have a right to find out themselves.

“I don’t think much about marriage for heterosexual people, so I don’t know why gay people want to do it.

“I would privatise the whole marriage thing.

“It’s not something the state should get involved in.’’

The applicant confirmed he had been asked a string of surprising questions during the job interview. He asked not to be named because he was still looking for a job.

“(Mr Leyonhjelm) asked me if I was married and I said ‘no’. Then he asked me if I was gay. I told him I wasn’t gay, then said `I wouldn’t have expected that gayness would worry you given you’re a libertarian’.

“He told me: ‘I couldn’t care less about the gays as long as they don’t hit on me’.

“He told me he’d several gay people who had applied for the job — and he couldn’t understand why there’d been so many. I was stunned because I’d heard that they (Liberal Democrats) were in support of gay marriage.

“He also asked me who I’d voted for in the past, and specifically if I’d ever voted for the Greens.

“I told him honestly I’d voted for both sides and he seemed happy and said, ‘So you’re a swinging voter’.

“ I think he respected that.

“He asked me to give some thought to whether I could work for him given everything we covered in the interview.

“I reflected on it and got in touch the next day to say I didn’t think it’d work out.”