One of the loudest voices in the “no” campaign against marriage equality in Australia, Lyle Shelton, will run as an independent in the NSW upper house.
The conservative lobbyist was nominated last year as the successor of Reverend Fred Nile, the upper house’s longest-serving member and an ultra-conservative Christian, but was disendorsed by Nile within months.
Tuesday’s announcement means Shelton will effectively run against Nile’s wife, Silvana Nile, who will seek to replace her husband when he retires at the election next year.
Shelton told Crikey on Tuesday he wasn’t worried about splitting the conservative vote.
“I wish her well, but I’ll stay focused on the campaign I’m running,” he said. “Of course, there are some other players in this field, and that’s fine, it’s a democracy.”
He believed there was an appetite among voters for a candidate who would “stand up for their family against the threat of radical political correctness”.
“They want to be free to express their points of view … whether it’s on the gender ideology, whether it’s climate catastrophism that’s causing our coal-fired power stations to be closed down prematurely,” he said.
“There’s a huge number of people out there who are deeply uncomfortable with the anti-life agenda that we’re seeing with abortion … and now euthanasia, all facilitated by a Liberal government that has abandoned social conservatives and mainstream people.”
Shelton said NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet — despite being a conservative who opposed marriage equality and the decriminalisation of abortion — had failed the voters Shelton was seeking to court.
“Sadly, like Scott Morrison, he has caved into the woke elites. He’s caved into the Matt Keans of his party, who believe the same things as the Greens, Labor and the teals,” Shelton said. “People are looking for something different in politics.”
Despite the dismal result achieved by Liberal Warringah candidate Katherine Deves at the federal election, he believed her kind of politics could be a vote-winner in the state.
“I think there’s a huge number of people, particularly in the western suburbs, but also in the regional areas, and thinking people in the eastern parts of Sydney … who are really worried about what their children are being taught at school,” he said.
Asked why he cares so much about the lives of LGBTIQA+ Australians, he said: “That’s not my concern. It’s a free society. I think most mainstream parents are very concerned, not about what people do in their bedrooms, they’re concerned what the ideologues are teaching their children in their schools.”
A previous version of this article mistakenly said Fred Nile was a Catholic. In fact, Nile is an ordained evangelical Congregational minister. The story has been updated to reflect this.
Dear lord,
Please don’t let the electorate vote for this anti thought carpet bagger.
Amen
Even Fred Nile ditched him.
A thought for Lisle:
If you speak to God, you are praying….If God speaks to you, you have schizophrenia..!!
Hahahahahaha!!! “Despite the dismal result achieved by Liberal Warringah candidate Katherine Deves at the federal election, he believed her kind of politics could be a vote-winner in the state.”
” … he believed her kind of politics could be a vote-winner in the state.”
Maybe there will be enough such votes in an upper house election using proportional representation.
Let him waste his time.
Why does he and his kind think they can dictate how people live, based on their interpretation of a fairytale?
His imaginary friend told him to do it.
Perrottet simply doing what one should in a representative democracy… represent position of electors. Lyle doesn’t represent anyone , except those that gleefully ostracise kids that don’t fit conservative prejudices regarding gender expression
Not if those electors hVe a penchant for Trumpism thanks.
Sure . My point was that Perrottet can tell the difference between his own personal beliefs and what should be , or not be, in legislation. Lyle seems annoyed that Perrottet hasn’t abused his power for some unhinged holy war
I beg to differ. He is very pro life except for old people who get covid. He is another fake Christian who spouts but misses the humanity bit.
Not in the way Lyle wants him to.
OMG! The last thing Australian politics needs is another extreme right-wing religious zealot pushing their beliefs down our throats. No thank you very much.