Cory Bernardi's Australian Conservatives to amalgamate with Family First

The Australian Conservatives party, represented in the Senate by Cory Bernardi, will amalgamate with the Family First Party, the ABC understands. Senator Bernardi has refuted a suggestion from senior Turnbull government minister Christopher Pyne that the Australian Conservatives party was struggling to attract support. Cory Bernardi unwilling to wait for Lucy Gichuhi to 'get her head around' things

Conservative senator Cory Bernardi has been planning to merge his political party with Family First for months, but was unwilling to wait for newly elected senator Lucy Gichuhi to decide whether to join him. “I want the Liberal party to be worth voting for.”

His comments come after Mr Bernardi has been expanding his fledgling political party of one by merging with Family First. Launching the amalgamated party in Adelaide on Wednesday, Bernardi sought to explain away the apparent decision of the federal senator Lucy Gichuhi not to join the Australian Conservatives, suggesting she may need more time to understand because she is new to politics. Australian Conservatives’ absorption of Family First is expected to consolidate its base of power in South Australia with state upper house members Dennis Hood and Robert Brokenshire switching allegiances from Family First to Australian Conservatives. “Whilst there is an amalgamation between Family First and Australian Conservatives, I hope it’s not the last amalgamation,” he said. Gichuhi, the second South Australian Family First candidate at the 2016 election, won a special recount election after the high court ruled that Bob Day was ineligible owing to an indirect pecuniary interest in an agreement with the commonwealth.
Two political parties with federal representation in Australia merge as the Australian Conservatives absorbs the Family First Party.