A senior Liberal senator believes the major parties have themselves to blame for the rise of microparties such as Palmer United and should cut them some slack.
Maverick South Australian senator Cory Bernardi outlined his vision to address disenchantment with politics in a speech to the National Press Club in Canberra on Thursday.
However he pulled back from a rumoured exit from the Liberal Party saying the best way to be the voice of conservative politics was to stay within the coalition team, as the Tea Party movement was doing within the US Republican Party.
"The public think politics is sick and broken .. there's a bankruptcy of ideas," Senator Bernardi said.
Britain and France had also witnessed the rise of smaller competitors to the major parties. These were tapping into a populist sentiment and voter disenchantment, he said.
The Palmer United Party's three new senators should be "cut some slack", having been sworn in less than a fortnight ago.
However, he warned if the fledgling party did not start advocating policy in a consistent way the members would "cannibalise themselves" and voters would switch off.
Senator Bernardi laid out a number of changes to the political system including a ban on senators being ministers, allowing only individuals to make political donations and an end to perks for retired MPs.
The government should also consider setting US-style term limits for senators, so they were more likely to see it as a public service than a profession.
While he declined to spell out any ideas for tax reform, he said a database should be established using the existing AusTender website to publicly show where all taxpayers' money was being spent.
This would improve transparency, help end cronyism and make governments think twice about wasting money.
Senator Bernardi admitted he had been controversial in the past, comparing same-sex marriage to bestiality and calling for a ban on the burqa.
But he said he would not apologise for what he had said.
The media often equated people who stood by their values as being "extreme" and people who demonstrated mediocrity as being "moderates".
"People want consistency and they want principle," he said.
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