The New South Wales Electoral Commission has issued a notice to Fred Nile’s Christian Democratic Party warning them it was considering deregistering them as a political party because they no longer had the required minimum membership of 500 people.
The warning comes as the party enters a new round of in fighting with their Treasurer launching legal action against Nile, his wife, and other party members alleging that they had invalidly claimed more than $100,000 of the party’s funds for their own benefit.
The Sydney Morning Herald has run a report from Lucy Cormack that outlines accusations from party Treasurer Charles Knox that suggest irregularities within the party’s finances. Mr Knox has applied to have the party liquidated via a writ lodged in the Supreme Court. It is claimed that several members of the party’s governing board are not even financial members of the party, and some payments made to board members may have breached the NSW Electoral Commission rules on associated entities.
Party leader Fred Nile has denied all the accusations and told the newspaper they are “just not true”. The long standing politician said he hoped to speak to Knox and “straighten him out” saying he had clearly gotten incorrect information.
Nile said the party had well over 500 members and an office paperwork bungle had lead to the concern being raised by the NSW Electoral Commission.
It’s not the first time the party has been embroiled in confusion in recent years. In 2019 an 18 year old party member Samrat Joshua Grewal announced he was now in charge of the party and Nile had been ousted as leader. Despite the claim, Nile remained in charge of the party he founded.
Fred Nile founded the political party in 1977 and first entered the NSW parliament in 1981. He has been a staunch opponent of LGBTIQ+ rights throughout his political career. At the last NSW state election the party lost one of it’s two seats in the NSW upper house, leaving Nile as it’s sole representative.
OIP Staff
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