In September 2008, new Federal Liberal leader Malcolm Turnbull appointed Bernardi the Coalition Spokesman for Disabilities, Carers and the Voluntary Sector. In October, Bernardi caused a stir with a speech to the Senate against the "Same-Sex Relationships (Equal Treatment in Commonwealth Laws-Superannuation) Bill 2008" supported by the Liberal Party. The bill led to discontent within the Party's conservative faction—of which Bernardi was a key figure. Turnbull was "unhappy that Party authority was being challenged" by Bernardi. In Bernardi's speech, he complained that society should not "throw open the doors and welcome into the fold those whose relationships are uncharacteristic of the most basic elements of a marital union." The next morning Turnbull rang Bernardi to "chip him", having felt the speech was intemperate in tone and that it went against the party line and Turnbull's own leadership.