18 March – 18 March – The “full force of the law” should be brought to bear on protesters who trashed Senator Cory Bernardi’s office and targeted his children’s school, he says.
The university students and high-school pupils, who were protesting against his opposition to the Safe Schools anti-bullying program and ongoing debate about same-sex marriage, engaged in abuse, vandalism and threats.
Both Flinders and Adelaide universities released statements condemning the action.
Branding the protesters “a bunch of cowards”, Senator Bernardi labelled the fracas a form of intolerance and intimidation that only “strengthened his resolve”.
He said: “They also headed down to my children’s school and sought to target it as well. They had to lock gates and take other preventive measures.
“If peaceful protests turn into violent and damaging protests the people responsible for that need to be held to account.
“I’m happy for the full force of the law to be brought upon those who’ve done property damage and threatened my staff.”