Australian Conservatives leader Cory Bernardi has declared women shouldn’t be allowed to serve on the front line in combat roles.

Women have been allowed in combat roles since 2013 but an exemption in the Sex Discrimination Act still allows discrimination against women being given those positions.

A proposal to remove that exemption has been flagged and Senator Bernardi tells Ben Fordham he strongly disagrees.

“I’ve spent time with the front line of our defence forces.

“To a man, they say it is not an appropriate unit or regiment for women to be in and it’s not the sort of circumstances that they think women should be placed in.

“In the Sex Discrimination Act they’re removing this discrimination against military but they’re not removing it in sporting codes… because they know given the rigours of say AFL or NRL, women aren’t going to be able to compete at that sort of level.

“It’s not just about being able to carry a heavy load or shoot a gun it’s about the interaction between men and women and it’s quite right, a group of men bond differently than when there’s a woman inserted into that.

“At the really pointy end of that spear, every person that I’ve spoken to… says that they think it would jeopardise the success of a mission to break up that male camaraderie.”

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