Australian senator to form new party

Australian Senator Cory Bernardi is set to resign from the government and form a breakaway far-right political party, a media report said on Monday.

Bernardi, who has long been critical of the centre-right policies pursued by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, was expected to resign by Tuesday ahead of Parliament's session, Xinhua news agency reported.

The conservative and often outspoken senator indicated his desire to breakaway from the coalition in July 2016 when he founded the Australian Conservatives website that was created to "unite the Liberal Party".

"Every comment I've ever seen Cory make,... has been about the importance of Liberals, Nationals, conservatives - all those in the right of centre - working together...," Education Minister Simon Birmingham told ABC.

"I'm confident that Cory will stand by his words."

Although, Bernardi refused to comment on the report, but it was revealed that he set up a second website called Australian Majority, with a political logo resembling US Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz's logo.

The move could be disastrous for the government, which holds just a one seat majority in the House of Representatives. An extra crossbench senator could take even more power away from the government.

Crisis for the Turnbull-led coalition government further compounded on Monday when a latest poll revealed support for it had fallen to its lowest point since predecessor Tony Abbott left office.

--IANS

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