OPINION

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It’s time to go Fred.

Outspoken, religious, and uber-conservative politican Fred Nile made headlines this week when he went on breakfast television and said that Sydney seige gunman Man Haron Monis was the only “man” in the cafe.

The 80 year old politician was quick to retract his comments claiming he ‘mis-spoke’, but the latest offensive remark from the politician is a clear sign that its time for him to leave the political stage.

Nile spent the early part of the week building up to his today show appearance. First he claimed that the siege victims should not be nominated for bravery medals, because the men who escaped the cafe should have stayed and let the women leave first. Nile said the men who ran from the cafe were “trying to save their own skin” and by escaping put other hostages at risk.

Speaking to radio station 2UE Nile said,

“Obviously they [the hostages who fled] were wanting to escape and save their lives, but normally bravery awards are given for an act of bravery, that somebody actually does something, and they haven’t done anything.

Nile said he did agree that the hostages that were killed in the siege, Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson should receive posthumous bravery awards, but suggested other hostages could potentially be given some sort of ribbon.

Following on from his radio comments, Nile headed to SUNRISE where he repeated his argument, leading up to his claim that the only real man in the cafe was the man with the gun.

As social media exploded with vitriol towards the politician, he took to Twitter to retract his comment. Nile claimed that he “misspoke” and hadn’t really meant to make the comment. The next day he provided further clarification explaining that he’d meant to say that the man who tackled the gunman was the only real man in the cafe.

Nile’s retraction, which seems to completely ignore how offensive the comment was, isn’t really being bought by anyone. NSW independent MP Alex Greenwich called on Nile to resign, even after his misspoke defense was put forward.

“I do stand by my call for him to resign,” Mr Greenwich said. “He has acted beneath parliamentary standards and he should resign.

“He is judging people who have been through an extremely traumatic time. It shows a lack of respect and a total lack of compassion.

“The reaction is certainly warranted. Fred has offended the Christian values that he alleges to represent. I think that it would be appropriate for him to consider his position in the Parliament for making such a hurtful and outrageous comment.”

Writing in his regular column in the Sydney Morning Herald, John Birmingham joked that Nile was so out of touch that it was surprising that he hadn’t thrown out a few sound bites complaining about the news that Stephen Fry is to marry his younger partner.  “It’s the sort of thing you could rely on him for, once upon a time..” wrote Birmingham.

Nile’s staffers must be readers of the column because earlier today they returned to their usual homophobia complaining that the marriage of Fry and his partner yesterday was linked to the downfall of civilization.

“Every culture ends in a masquerade,” Team Nile tweeted. A phrase was previously used to by Nile’s staffers to highlight a LGBTI school opening in Britain, and attributed to conservative Columbian writer  Nicolás Gómez Dávila.

Australia has matured and moved on, we no longer need Fred Nile telling the world that he’s concerned for Penny Wong’s baby, or that the Mardi Gras is a parade of immorality and blasphemy. We don’t need Fred Nile harping on about how homosexuality is a choice, or arguing that Leelah Alcorn’s death has nothing to do with her parents strict religious beliefs.

While many are calling for Nile to resign, it’s unlikely that he’s going to let his long political career end in resignation. But there’s an election due in NSW this year, the perfect time to gracefully step down and enjoy retirement. Time to call it quits Fred, before the voters of NSW make the decision for you.

Graeme Watson

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