Almost two years to the day after Tony Abbott faced a leadership spill, after granting Prince Philip a knighthood, parliment has started with a flurry, most notably Cory Bernadi resigning from the Liberal Party to start his own Australian Conservative Party. Bernadi says:

he aims to provide the many disillusioned conservative voters with “a principled, credible and stable alternative in which they can vest their vote”.

Nick Economou has a good take on the affair, Bernardi exits stage right: mayhem now, obscurity later. Continue reading Bernadi strikes out on his own →