Advertisement

Cory Bernardi: I thought I killed John Howard

Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi thought he had fatally infected John Howard in the months leading up to his election win in March 1996.

Shortly before the election, Mr Bernardi and his father Leon had lunch with Christopher Pyne and Mr Howard at Parliament House.

Mr Bernardi was not yet a senator, and he told ABC’s Kitchen Cabinet [set to air on Wednesday] that during the meal he was “coughing and spluttering” on Mr Howard’s lunch.

Terrorists could be among Syrian refugees: Bernardi
• Tony Abbott will pay for broken marble table
• Is this the Bernardi Party or a media circus?

Soon after the meeting, Mr Bernardi got tuberculosis and was placed in isolation, according to Fairfax Media.

As a condition of the isolation, he had to list people he’d recently had contact with.

“I didn’t have the nerve to tell them [about] John Howard,” Mr Bernardi said.

“I thought, let him go to the election and then we’ll deal with it.”

However, when it later emerged Mr Howard had been hospitalised with lung complications, Mr Bernardi was adamant that his actions had “done John Howard in”.

“I don’t think I have ever told him that story.”

Also in the episode, the conservative Senator claimed he was not preparing to break away from the Liberal Party to form one of his own.

“I don’t think so,” he told host Annabel Crabb, although he added “one never knows what’s going to happen in life”.

“I don’t think there’s an appetite for an alternative party. I think people want to make the Liberals work.”

Stay informed, daily
A FREE subscription to The New Daily arrives every morning and evening.
The New Daily is a trusted source of national news and information and is provided free for all Australians. Read our editorial charter
Copyright © 2024 The New Daily.
All rights reserved.