Australian Conservatives leader Cory Bernardi has said that legalising same-sex marriage has led to advocacy for bestiality and paedophilia.

In an interview on Sky News, Bernardi doubled down past comments which, in 2012, saw him forced to resign as parliamentary secretary to then-Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

Australian Conservatives today published Bernardi’s interview on the party’s website in a post titled ‘The dangers of redefining marriage’.

“As Conservative Party leader Cory Bernardi predicted in 2012, redefining marriage has seen a push for further redefinitions including lowering the age at which people can marry, multiple-partner marriages and even advocacy for the legalisation of bestiality,” the post reads.

“[I]t’s no surprise that calls for further redefinitions of marriage are being made, in the wake of the 2017 legalisation of same-sex marriages.”

Bernardi appeared on the Sky News program Outsiders on Sunday, where host Rowan Dean said Bernardi was “mocked” and “hounded out of his own party” for suggesting that legalising same-sex marriage was a ‘step’ towards legalising bestiality.

“The time has come to ask, when will it end? If we are prepared to redefine marriage, what is the next step?” said Bernardi at the time. Read more via Star Observer