Cory Bernardi has defended an email he sent to a voter on Safe Schools, but claims activists are sending journalists fake emails in his name.
On Monday night, Melbourne mother of two, Pia Cerveri, received an email from the South Australian senator’s official email address. She had earlier sent him an email expressing her displeasure at his strong opposition to the Safe Schools anti-bullying program.
The email from the Liberal senator’s office – which Bernardi has since confirmed he wrote himself – accused Cerveri of being uninformed on the content of the program and linked it to “bondage clubs and adult sex toys”.
“You clearly haven’t got any idea what is in the program,” the email to Cerveri said. “If you did then you would be worried about your children being exposed to unhealthy ideas from such an early age.”
On Wednesday, Bernardi – who is currently travelling overseas – stood by his words.
“My response may have been abrupt but given the nature of her email to me was appropriate,” Bernardi tweeted.
Cerveri acknowledged that the original email she sent to Bernardi – a vocal opponent of the Safe Schools program – was “not friendly”, but she denied that it was in any way aggressive.
Guardian Australia has not seen the original email, as it was sent through an electronic online form rather than directly from Cerveri’s email address.
Since the content of the response to Cerveri’s email was revealed, people have been impersonating him in follow-up emails, Bernardi said.
He has denied that an email to Huffington Post journalist Josh Butler, reporting to be from his official bernardi.office@aph.gov.au email address was written by him, despite being signed off with his usual “CB” signature.
“Activists are now faking emails to fool journalists,” he tweeted. “Faking (or spoofing) an email is relatively easy but I suspect it might be an offence to do so. Will have to make some enquiries.”
@shalailah I am sure you'll include the fact that activists are now faking emails to fool journalists Shalailah.
— Cory Bernardi (@corybernardi) March 23, 2016
The Safe Schools program has polarised the Coalition. A backbench revolt last month, initiated by Bernardi, saw the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, call for it to be reviewed.
The government released its response to the review last Friday. It recommended sweeping changes to the program, including limiting it to secondary schools, reducing the scope of the material and giving parents the right to veto if it was introduced in their child’s school.
Bernardi’s Adelaide electorate office was trashed late last week by Socialist Alliance members angry at his opposition to the program.
Labor has committed to fund the $8m program until July 2017, when its funding is due to run out, but has not committed to it beyond that time.
