NSW Upper House MP David Clarke has been in the news a bit lately as part of the emerging picture of the new face of the NSW Liberal Party. And it's not pretty. Mr Clarke has twice been photographed at functions organised by Nazi-associated far-right Croatian groups. He is a member of the Roman Catholic sect Opus-dei, and while he publicly denies wanting homosexuality recriminalised and divorce practically outlawed, with such fanatical religious views it is pretty clear that his denials are for political purposes only; i.e. he realises that such extreme views are not popular enough to get him re-elected. The sign of a true politician... one whose most fervent beliefs take a back seat to personal advancement! Until, of course, they are in a secure position of power and the political winds have changed enough to implement such beliefs into policy (refer also to John Howard and GST for examples).
Quentin Dempster, on the ABC's Stateline program, introduced Mr Clarke as follows:
David Clarke entered the Upper House on the Liberal ticket at the 2003 State election. In his maiden speech he declared himself to be a strong Christian, a conservative, a constitutional monarchist, opposed to institutionalising homosexual concepts, such as same-sex marriage, and unchangeable opposition to the culture of abortion and human embryo stem cell research and compulsory student unionism
Even Mr Clarke's Liberal Party colleagues are afraid of what he represents. Liberal Party Upper House MP Patricia Forsythe had this to say on Stateline about David Clarke and the NSW Liberal Party:
Because he has around him a significant group of people who are absolutely fixated on their agenda, and a very narrow agenda. When I talk of extremism and I talk of zealots, I'm talking about a group of people who in my view seem to lack a focus on normal human decency of tolerance, and the sort of compassion that most of us see is at the heart of the liberalism. It's the basis upon which we operate, as individuals standing up for the rights of individuals - that's not what these people are about. They're trying to shift the agenda of the Liberal Party. I've been in the Liberal Party all my adult life. I believe my policies are grounded in good liberal principles. And I don't see that in many of these people.
As far as I can see, I'm against everything these people stand for. People like these give Christians a bad name. Somehow I can't imagine Jesus would attend the gathering of a bunch of pro-Nazi Croatian racists for any other reason than to berate the shit out of them, yet this guy calls himself a Christian. I guess Catholicism is mostly based on the writings of bona-fide nutbag and self-loathing closet homosexual 'the Apostle' Paul, not Jesus, but religious bigotry among Liberal Party Christians isn't confined to the Catholic members. What a scary movement. Another up-and-coming young creepy Liberal is the Federal President of the NSW Young Liberals, Alex Hawke, who works for David Clarke. With his willingness to put aside his 'Christian principles' to stab political oppents in the back, Alex Hawke will no doubt be very successful in the Liberal Party. Watch out for these guys.
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