Australia’s Largest Christian News Site

Editor’s Note: The Daily Declaration is running a series from candidates for the upcoming South Australian election who are committed to standing for Christian values. Here is the second of the series.

__

A young law student’s unexpected conversion abroad set him on a lifelong path of faith, law and public advocacy — culminating in his decision to stand for Family First.

Adolf Hitler is (partly) responsible for my standing for Family First in the South Australian State Election.

As a young law student travelling through Asia, aiming for freedom from restraints, I was caught by Christ the Hound of Heaven, while reading The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis on an island off Bangladesh.

As Lewis said, a person can never be too careful in what he reads if he is resisting God. God is unscrupulous in reaching a soul. Lewis was inspired to write Screwtape Letters while listening to a propaganda speech by Hitler. So, Hitler was partly responsible for my conversion. God is amazingly Sovereign.

A Call Confirmed in Calcutta

After reading Screwtape, I went on to Calcutta. One Sunday night, I went to church at St Paul’s Cathedral. There were three people in the church: the preacher, a lady, and me. The passage was John 14.

Philip says to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long and yet you do not know me, Philip? He that has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’”

I had grown up in a church and knew Bible stories, but did not know God. That night I said, “Yes, Lord,” and met God in Jesus. The encounter was real. I felt a peace that I had never felt before. It was real because on the bus to my hostel, there was a girl on the other side of the bus, and I thought to look at her as I would have before, but thought: “No, I do not want to lose this feeling.”

I stayed on in Calcutta and worked with Mother Teresa’s people. I was thinking of joining them, but on Christmas Eve, I met Mother Teresa and asked her advice on what I should do. She said, “Go home. If God wants you here, He will bring you back.”

Law, Revival and Public Witness

I returned and resumed law, becoming involved in a disciple-making ministry. The Adelaide Law School had a revival at that time, the effects of which are still felt today, with many churches’ existence able to be traced to that time in the law school.

My wife, Amanda, was also in the Navs. After graduation, we both worked in the country, came back to Adelaide, and married. We have four adult kids; the eldest boy is married to our best daughter-in-law, and we are waiting on the others.

Over years of legal practice, family and church life, I never lost my interest in politics, which was first gained around our family meal table as we argued the issues of the day.

In about 2011, I wrote an opinion in relation to a euthanasia bill before the SA Parliament. Soon after, I wrote a paper arguing that the Federal Parliament did not have the power to legislate for same-sex marriage (SSM). That idea came to me when Warwick Marsh and others had organised a National Day of Prayer for Marriage. I could not go to Canberra, so we prayed as a family at home, and the idea came.

Putting Families First

Through the SSM debate, I began to work with the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL). I ran some pro-life cases, and in 2017, Amanda and I ran the “No” campaign in SA. I then worked as the ACL SA Director and as the National Director of Policy.

After years of pleading with MPs for issues of life and truth, I decided to step into politics. I left ACL in August 2024 and ran as lead Senate candidate for Family First last year. We received about 25,000 first preference votes. I was then endorsed as the second Family First candidate for the Legislative Council. Deepa Mathew is our lead Candidate.

I run because of the injunction of Proverbs 31:7-8, “Open your mouth, judge righteously, plead the cause of the poor and needy.” We need to put families first and stand for righteousness. We need to reduce the cost of living by opposing the renewables deception.

We need to have truth in education and medicine by ending gender ideology in schools and in the treatment of confused kids, keeping girls’ sports and spaces for females, and making sure families have access to frontline medical services. We need to keep the door open for the Gospel.

Vote 1 Family First!

___

Image courtesy of Family First Party.