Former Liberal leader Dr Brendan Nelson has recalled his late brother Philip, who passed away from an AIDS related illness, and called on Australians to respect gay people during the debate over marriage equality.

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Speaking at the National Press Club Dr Nelson said he would not endorse either side of the campaign because of his position as the Director of the Australian War Memorial, but he shared a personal story about his brother.

“I addressed the National Press Club as president of the Australian Medical Association, the last time on the 15th of March, 1995,” Dr Nelson said.

“It happened to be on my brother’s birthday and he was watching it from his hospital room in the Gold Coast; nine days later he was dead, and he died from ­Kaposi sarcoma, he had AIDS.

“He was a wonderful brother but from the time he was about 13 he appeared to be troubled, and it was only later in life that we ­realised why, what the source of his deep sorrows were.”

Dr Nelson said the Australia we have today could not be any more different than the one soldiers in World War I fought for, but said our nation has changed, and is still changing.

“Graeme Davis, from Monash University, in his book The Uses and Abuses of Australian History,  said that ethical  and responsibe citizenship requires a number of things. One of them is to be imbued with the imaginative capacity to see the world through the eyes of others.

“Almost all of life’s suffering and misery comes from people making themselves, their own country, the centre of their own lives.” Dr Nelson said.

The former Liberal leader said he was not homosexual, but he tries to imagine what it’s like.

““I try to imagine what it is like — I’m sure every person in this room, we have friends, we have family members that we love, some of whom are gay, and I try to imagine the world through their eyes.    

Dr Nelson joked that he was a big fan of marriage, having been married three times.

“It makes no difference to me, These are things I’ve never been forced to think about, but I am forced to think about it now, to imagine, what if I were a gay person? How would I feel about this debate? How would I feel about the preclusion from it?”

Dr Nelson said he had every confidence that if the YES campaign was successful the government and the parliament would ensure essential religious freedoms were protected. He also said that if the result of the postal survey was a No, the issue would only be off the agenda until the next general election.

Dr Nelson drew upon the words of philosopher Immanuel Kant.

“The Prussian philosopher Immanuel Kant, 17th century, said, every human being is an end unto himself, and not a means to be used by others. Respect for the humanity of others, in it you will find the respect for your own humanity, and morality is freedom.”

OIP Staff