Fred Nile trod the Australian evangelical circuit for many years before he decided to stand for a seat in the New South Wales Parliament in 1981. With a resume that includes work for the Australian Billy Graham Crusade, Christian Endeavour and the Australian Festival of Light there was never any doubt where Nile stood on the issue of sex and sexuality.

Having built his support base within these and other Right-wing organisations Nile’s public profile was given a further boost when syndicated radio station 2GB gave him his own Sunday night radio show in 1981. It was supposed to be ‘the religious slot’ but, as usual, Nile used it as a platform for his own bigoted views. This not only prompted many complaints about his homophobic comments but a declaration from the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal that Nile was failing to fill the religious slot brief.

Nile’s influence was boosted even further that year when he was given a regular column in Sydney’s Sunday Telegraph newspaper. It was little surprise then that by the end of the year he had been elected to the NSW Legislative Council with some 9% of the total vote under that State’s Proportional Representation system.

From that point on he wasted no time in using his parliamentary position as another platform for his homophobic views and, when HIV/AIDS emerged, his uninformed scare mongering.

Due to the unusual structure of NSW’s Legislative Council, Nile did not have to face another election until 1990. But when he did his vote was reduced to less than half, at around 4% of the total. His vote has been on the decline ever since.