Row erupts at exclusive Adelaide Club over former senator Cory Bernardi’s membership bid
Wealthy Adelaide Club members have taken the extraordinary step of demanding a controversial former politician’s application be blocked over his political views.
South Australia’s most exclusive men’s club and some of the state’s richest businessmen are embroiled in an extraordinary row over a controversial former politician’s bid to join its elite.
Former Liberal senator Cory Bernardi, 55, has applied to join the secretive CBD-based Adelaide Club with help from six influential members, who are leaders in business, politics and the law.
But his bid, with key support of property developer Michael Hickinbotham, 62, and rich lister tycoon Darren Thomas, 52, has sparked a fierce backlash among the club’s wealthy membership.
Sources have revealed a growing number of “irate” members have criticised the company director’s candidacy to join one of Australia’s oldest gentlemen clubs, located on North Tce.
It is understood critics have taken the rare step of writing to the 162 year-old institution’s president Andrew Cudmore, to express their outrage and implore the application be withdrawn.
Criticism is understood to centre on the outspoken political identity’s high-profile views on same-sex marriage and abortion laws – both of which he was strident in expressing.
“Many members are irate at the thought of Bernardi joining the club,” one critic said.
“His values don’t align with those of the club’s.”
Internal club records reveal Mr Bernardi, who has taken over a much-loved Eyre Peninsula tourism drawcard in Coffin Bay with his Irish wife Sinead, 56, has given members an “advance notice of candidature” to join.
His proposed membership, to be formally circulated to members next month, is set for a secret ballot in early February to determine if he joins the more than 1500 members, who are a who’s who of business, legal, political, medical and judicial worlds.
Mr Hickinbotham, of College Park who is managing director of the family development business, has proposed Mr Bernardi’s three-stage application, records show.
Unley Park-based Mr Thomas, from the state’s wealthiest family behind their successful meat processing business, has seconded the bid.
Mr Bernardi’s “sponsors” – members who also help lobby for election votes – are Liberal Upper House president Terry Stephens, 66, property investor Jason Di Iulio, 52, lawyer Morry Bailes, 60, and financial risk broker Peter Carter, 66.
Club tradition is if members reject an application the key backers must resign from the men’s-only club, which was founded in 1863.
Mr Bernardi, who declined to comment on Tuesday, is viewed as a polarising right wing political figure, who was a Liberal state president and senator after a career in pubs and hospitality.
He later formed his own party, the Australian Conservatives, in 2017, before leaving politics three years later.
The last leaked vote row embroiled former Liberal premier Steven Marshall, who later withdrew his application.
The late former Labor premier John Bannon also withdrew after a backlash over the State Bank scandal.
None of the parties commented on Tuesday while the club, which has a sister Queen Adelaide Club located a few doors east, was contacted for comment.
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Originally published as Row erupts at exclusive Adelaide Club over former senator Cory Bernardi’s membership bid
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