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“I take this opportunity to give thanks to Almighty God, to the voters of the State of New South Wales and to members of this House for the opportunity to serve in the upper House of Parliament put 25 years. I was first elected on 19 September 1981 with a record vote of 9.2 per cent, approximately 225,000 primary votes, the equivalent of almost 1½ seats. It went to preferences as to who would get the second seat and the party almost won two seats. I stood then as a Call to Australia candidate but the party changed its name in 1997 to the Christian Democratic Party. Our policies were based on the biblical teachings of Romans 13, that the Government is the minister of God, which is why people holding Government portfolios are called Ministers. The moral code is laid down in Romans 13:8-14.
I was sitting at home that night in 1981, not following the election results because I did not expect to be elected. Therefore, it came as a shock when at about 8.15 o'clock I received a phone call from Malcolm Mackerras, who said, "I believe you have been elected to the New South Wales upper House. They have counted 300,000 votes and you are getting about 10 per cent of the vote. Normally percentages do not change." He was correct: after 3.5 million votes were counted I still had 9.2 per cent of the vote. In spite of the boast of then Premier Neville Wran that "Fred Nile will not last", I still thank Mr Wran for his reform of the upper House that made it possible for me to be elected and for electoral funding, which paid for my election campaign expenses, although on that occasion because of technicalities over the name of the party I only received 50 per cent of the amount I could have been eligible for. However, in 1988 at an Opera House celebration Mr Wran walked up to me and gave me a warm reconciliatory handshake as I sat in my seat, which I appreciated”, said Rev Fred Nile.
“The next Premier, Barrie Unsworth, was completely different. He was a breath of fresh air. On one occasion he invited me to his office and offered me his complete co-operation in my parliamentary role. Each re-election has been a challenge; it has not been an easy achievement to be re-elected. During one election our party had a breakaway group that ran an upper House team against me, yet I was still re-elected. On another occasion the number of political parties jumped from about 18 to 80, with over 276 candidates for the upper House. In spite of this I was still re-elected. Even some of my friends said that they could not find my name on the ballot paper. With the reforms of the upper House electoral system I hope that only about 18 registered parties, including the Christian Democratic Party, will contest the next election. I have been asked to stand again as the candidate and to lead our team on Saturday 24 March 2007.
It has been a privilege to serve Almighty God and the people of the State of New South Wales for 25 years. I have sought to be constructed not obstructive. I do not see myself as a member of the Opposition. I have always understood my role, because of that teaching in Romans 13, to respect the mandate of the elected Government, whether it is a Liberal-National Coalition or the Australian Labor Party. I have endeavoured also to remain in the Chamber at the start of the Christian prayers each day, based on Romans 13, where we ask for God's guidance and direction, following which we say aloud together The Lord's Prayer. The words "Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven" are a challenge to us as legislators as we try, with God's help, to have our earthly society as close to Heaven as possible, even with the constant war against sin and evil.
I thank Almighty God for the support I had for my Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Bill. The Clerk told me that it was the first time in 70 years that a non-government bill had been passed by both Houses of Parliament, although the bill put me offside with the media, which lost $200 million of advertising income each year. I thank God for the opportunity to serve the people of this State. I will endeavour to persevere with my bills on drugs, abortion, gambling, alcohol and hopefully be successful in due course, in the tradition of William Wilberforce, who campaigned to free the slaves in the British Empire and who succeeded after 20 years”, Rev Nile said.