Danny Nalliah
Encyclopedia
Danny Nalliah is an Australia
n Christian
evangelist pastor and young earth creationist. He is the leader of Rise Up Australia, a prayer organisation, and the President of Catch the Fire Ministries. Danny Nalliah successfully defended a law suit commenced by the Islamic Council of Victoria under Victoria's Racial and Religious Tolerance Act
and was awarded damages. In this landmark case, along with his colleague Daniel Scot, Nalliah was found not to have incited hatred under Victoria
's then-new religious vilification laws. He has also been a candidate for the Family First Party
. He was previously associated with the Australian Christian Churches
.
, Sri Lanka
. He was raised in a strongly religious family, and rose through the church ranks from youth leader through to becoming a pastor. He married in 1987, and his two children were born soon after. He continued to preach in the more remote regions of Sri Lanka until 1995, when he and his wife moved to Saudi Arabia
. He spent two years preaching Christianity and attempting to circumvent the official ban on the religion in the Muslim state. However, in 1997, he decided to move to Australia and founded his own evangelical organisation.
After moving to Australia and founding Catch the Fire, Nalliah traveled extensively, preaching to congregations in a number of countries. He asserts that he witnessed the healing of blind, deaf and crippled people at his prayer sessions, and claims that a dead girl was resurrected after he prayed for her.
, claiming that the intent of the speech had been to vilify Muslims, rather than to discuss Islam itself. After being considered by the Equal Opportunity Commission, the case was heard by the Victorian and Civil Administrative Tribunal, becoming the first real test case under the Act.
In a landmark ruling on 17 December 2004, the Tribunal ruled that Nalliah, Scot and Catch the Fire Ministries had breached the law. Judge Higgins heard further submissions regarding 'remedies' early in 2005. Nalliah publicly blasted the verdict, and declared his intention to continue fighting the case, potentially as far as the High Court of Australia
. The Age
newspaper quoted him as stating "We may have lost the battle, but the war is not over. The law has to be removed, there is no question."
On 22 June 2005, Judge Michael Higgins of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal
delivered his final verdict on the religious vilification issue regarding remedies. He found that financial compensation would be inappropriate, but ordered Nalliah and Scot to take out newspaper advertisements to the value of $68,690 which summarised the findings in the case. Nalliah once again slammed the ruling, comparing the legislation to "sharia law by stealth". He also vowed that he would rather go to jail than comply with the ruling. Lawyers for the defendants had previously appealed to the Supreme Court of Victoria
, in an Originating Motion alleging both that Higgins showed signs of bias, that there were errors in the decision and that the Act itself was unconstitutional. Following the decision, a formal appeal was lodged with the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court and the Originating Motion was dropped. The Appeal was heard in August 2006.
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
, an interfaith public interest
law firm
based in Washington DC, had intervened on Pastor Scot's behalf, engaging in discussion with the Attorney General of Australia
, providing legal representation with local counsel, and providing legal arguments employed for the legal appeal. On 14 December 2006, the Supreme Court of Victoria
, upheld the appeal and ordered that the matter be re-decided, without hearing new evidence, by a Judge (other than Judge Higgins) of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal
. The Islamic Council of Victoria was ordered to pay half of Scot's and Nalliah's legal costs of the appeal.
, as a candidate of the Family First Party
.
Nevertheless, his candidacy caused considerable controversy when conservative National Party
Senate candidate Barnaby Joyce
launched a heavily publicised attack on Family First and his own party's preference deal with them the day before the election. Joyce used some of Nalliah's statements to illustrate why, in his words, "these are not the sort of people you do preference deals with" - most notably a quote from one of Nalliah's brochures that asked parishioners to pray that God would pull down "Satan's strongholds", which included brothel
s, gambling
places, bottle shops
, mosque
s and temple
s (including Freemason
, Buddhist
and Hindu
temples).
In late October 2009, Family First Senator Steve Fielding noted that after the incident cited above, Nalliah was asked to leave the party and did so. In response, Nalliah has argued that Senator Fielding has "let down the Christian cause" and would not receive the "Christian vote" at the next federal election. At the same time, Nalliah argued that the discovery of an adolescent "satanist" black mass
site at Canberra
's Mount Ainslie indicated that the federal Parliament was "under attack" and referred to witchcraft
, liberal abortion
laws and legislation that supported LGBT rights in Australia as the "reason" behind an apparent spate of parliamentary marriage crises.
, Peter Costello
, that Nalliah's assertion was "beyond the bounds of decency".
Nalliah's statements linking the bushfires to abortion laws were awarded the 2009 Gold Ernie
, an annual award given to those whose comments are regarded as the most sexist.
, Nalliah declared on his website "...at once I was reminded of Kevin Rudd
speaking against Israel in Israel on 14th December 2010. It is very interesting that Kevin Rudd is from QLD. Is God trying to get our attention? Yes, I believe so."
Aims of the party include the protection of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and preserving Australia's "Judeo-Christian heritage".
In a recent interview with Perth's "Out in Perth", Nalliah stated that homosexuals can be turned back to heterosexual relationships through education and through Christ. "As a political party, while we love the homosexual community and want to get to know them better, we also have a stand where we say, children need to be protected. We would love to see every man and women come together, there's a time in life when you do things, and maybe you feel yes you are locked into an agenda.... [our position] is that homosexuality is not OK". And later on stated "Children should not be exposed to [public displays of homosexual affection] and other practices that go beyond morality."
"So we need to take a good look at the word ‘Multiculturalism’. Although this word seems to sound so good, in reality it is currently destroying the Judeo-Christian West and replacing it with an ‘Interfaith’ deceptive agenda led by the United Nations. It is Communism wearing a new uniform. It is also worth noting that the first few letters of this word is “Multicult”-uralism."
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
evangelist pastor and young earth creationist. He is the leader of Rise Up Australia, a prayer organisation, and the President of Catch the Fire Ministries. Danny Nalliah successfully defended a law suit commenced by the Islamic Council of Victoria under Victoria's Racial and Religious Tolerance Act
Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001
The Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001 was implemented by the Steve Bracks' Labor government in the state of Victoria, Australia. It was effective from 1 January 2002.-The Act:The explicit purposes of the Act are:...
and was awarded damages. In this landmark case, along with his colleague Daniel Scot, Nalliah was found not to have incited hatred under Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
's then-new religious vilification laws. He has also been a candidate for the Family First Party
Family First Party
The Family First Party is a socially conservative minor political party in Australia. It has two members in the South Australian Legislative Council...
. He was previously associated with the Australian Christian Churches
Australian Christian Churches
Australian Christian Churches , also known as Assemblies of God in Australia , is a Pentecostal Christian denomination and the Australian branch of the Assemblies of God, the largest Pentecostal denomination in the world...
.
Early years
Nalliah was born in ColomboColombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. He was raised in a strongly religious family, and rose through the church ranks from youth leader through to becoming a pastor. He married in 1987, and his two children were born soon after. He continued to preach in the more remote regions of Sri Lanka until 1995, when he and his wife moved to Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
. He spent two years preaching Christianity and attempting to circumvent the official ban on the religion in the Muslim state. However, in 1997, he decided to move to Australia and founded his own evangelical organisation.
After moving to Australia and founding Catch the Fire, Nalliah traveled extensively, preaching to congregations in a number of countries. He asserts that he witnessed the healing of blind, deaf and crippled people at his prayer sessions, and claims that a dead girl was resurrected after he prayed for her.
Alleged vilification of Muslims
On 9 March 2002, Daniel Scot spoke at a seminar regarding Islam, sponsored by Catch the Fire Ministries. The seminar was attended by three Australian Muslims; two of them were asked to attend by May Helou who was an executive member of the Islamic Council of Victoria (ICV) and an employee of the Equal Opportunity Commission, Victoria. The third person was asked to attend by ICV members whilst he was at the ICV office. The three Muslims, along with the Islamic Council of Victoria, later launched action under the controversial Racial and Religious Tolerance ActRacial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001
The Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001 was implemented by the Steve Bracks' Labor government in the state of Victoria, Australia. It was effective from 1 January 2002.-The Act:The explicit purposes of the Act are:...
, claiming that the intent of the speech had been to vilify Muslims, rather than to discuss Islam itself. After being considered by the Equal Opportunity Commission, the case was heard by the Victorian and Civil Administrative Tribunal, becoming the first real test case under the Act.
In a landmark ruling on 17 December 2004, the Tribunal ruled that Nalliah, Scot and Catch the Fire Ministries had breached the law. Judge Higgins heard further submissions regarding 'remedies' early in 2005. Nalliah publicly blasted the verdict, and declared his intention to continue fighting the case, potentially as far as the High Court of Australia
High Court of Australia
The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...
. The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
newspaper quoted him as stating "We may have lost the battle, but the war is not over. The law has to be removed, there is no question."
On 22 June 2005, Judge Michael Higgins of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal
Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal is a government agency in the state of Victoria, Australia. The name is pronounced 'vee-cat'...
delivered his final verdict on the religious vilification issue regarding remedies. He found that financial compensation would be inappropriate, but ordered Nalliah and Scot to take out newspaper advertisements to the value of $68,690 which summarised the findings in the case. Nalliah once again slammed the ruling, comparing the legislation to "sharia law by stealth". He also vowed that he would rather go to jail than comply with the ruling. Lawyers for the defendants had previously appealed to the Supreme Court of Victoria
Supreme Court of Victoria
The Supreme Court of Victoria is the superior court for the State of Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1852, and is a superior court of common law and equity, with unlimited jurisdiction within the state...
, in an Originating Motion alleging both that Higgins showed signs of bias, that there were errors in the decision and that the Act itself was unconstitutional. Following the decision, a formal appeal was lodged with the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court and the Originating Motion was dropped. The Appeal was heard in August 2006.
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC that describes itself as "a non-profit, public interest law firm defending the freedom of religion of people of all faiths." The Becket Fund operates in three arenas: in the courts of law , in the court of...
, an interfaith public interest
Public interest
The public interest refers to the "common well-being" or "general welfare." The public interest is central to policy debates, politics, democracy and the nature of government itself...
law firm
Law firm
A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other...
based in Washington DC, had intervened on Pastor Scot's behalf, engaging in discussion with the Attorney General of Australia
Attorney-General of Australia
The Attorney-General of Australia is the first law officer of the Crown, chief law officer of the Commonwealth of Australia and a minister of the Crown. The Attorney-General is usually a member of the Federal Cabinet, but there is no constitutional requirement that this be the case since the...
, providing legal representation with local counsel, and providing legal arguments employed for the legal appeal. On 14 December 2006, the Supreme Court of Victoria
Supreme Court of Victoria
The Supreme Court of Victoria is the superior court for the State of Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1852, and is a superior court of common law and equity, with unlimited jurisdiction within the state...
, upheld the appeal and ordered that the matter be re-decided, without hearing new evidence, by a Judge (other than Judge Higgins) of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal
Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal is a government agency in the state of Victoria, Australia. The name is pronounced 'vee-cat'...
. The Islamic Council of Victoria was ordered to pay half of Scot's and Nalliah's legal costs of the appeal.
Politics
In November 2004, Nalliah unsuccessfully campaigned for a seat in the Australian SenateAustralian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
, as a candidate of the Family First Party
Family First Party
The Family First Party is a socially conservative minor political party in Australia. It has two members in the South Australian Legislative Council...
.
Nevertheless, his candidacy caused considerable controversy when conservative National Party
National Party of Australia
The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...
Senate candidate Barnaby Joyce
Barnaby Joyce
Barnaby Thomas Gerald Joyce , Australian politician, has been a National Party member of the Australian Senate representing the state of Queensland since July 2005...
launched a heavily publicised attack on Family First and his own party's preference deal with them the day before the election. Joyce used some of Nalliah's statements to illustrate why, in his words, "these are not the sort of people you do preference deals with" - most notably a quote from one of Nalliah's brochures that asked parishioners to pray that God would pull down "Satan's strongholds", which included brothel
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
s, gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
places, bottle shops
Liquor store
In the United States, Australia and Canada, a liquor store is a type of store that specializes in the sale of alcoholic beverages. In South Africa and Namibia these stores are generally called bottle stores....
, mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
s and temple
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
s (including Freemason
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
, Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
and Hindu
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
temples).
In late October 2009, Family First Senator Steve Fielding noted that after the incident cited above, Nalliah was asked to leave the party and did so. In response, Nalliah has argued that Senator Fielding has "let down the Christian cause" and would not receive the "Christian vote" at the next federal election. At the same time, Nalliah argued that the discovery of an adolescent "satanist" black mass
Black Mass
A Black Mass is a ceremony supposedly celebrated during the Witches' Sabbath, which was a sacrilegious parody of the Catholic Mass. Its main objective was the profanation of the host, although there is no agreement among authors on how hosts were obtained or profaned; the most common idea is that...
site at Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
's Mount Ainslie indicated that the federal Parliament was "under attack" and referred to witchcraft
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
, liberal abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
laws and legislation that supported LGBT rights in Australia as the "reason" behind an apparent spate of parliamentary marriage crises.
Black Saturday bushfires
In the wake of the Black Saturday bushfires, in which 173 died, Nalliah claimed he had received "prophetic dreams" on 21 October 2008 that these bushfires were a "consequence" of Victoria's decriminalisation of abortion in 2008, prompting criticism from a former Australian TreasurerTreasurer of Australia
The Treasurer of Australia is the minister in the Government of Australia responsible for government expenditure and revenue raising. He is the head of the Department of the Treasury. The Treasurer plays a key role in the economic policy of the government...
, Peter Costello
Peter Costello
Peter Howard Costello AC is an Australian politician and lawyer who served as the Treasurer in the Australian government from 1996 to 2007. He is the longest-serving Treasurer in Australian history. Costello was a Member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1990 to 2009, representing...
, that Nalliah's assertion was "beyond the bounds of decency".
Nalliah's statements linking the bushfires to abortion laws were awarded the 2009 Gold Ernie
Ernie Awards
The Ernie Awards are an Australian award for comments deemed misogynist.It is named after former Australian Workers Union secretary Ernie Ecob, who was known for his misogynist remarks. One of his best-known remarks was "Women aren't welcome in the shearing sheds. They're only after the sex," which...
, an annual award given to those whose comments are regarded as the most sexist.
Queensland floods in 2011
After the catastrophic 2010–2011 Queensland floods2010–2011 Queensland floods
A series of floods hit Australia, beginning in December 2010, primarily in the state of Queensland including its capital city, Brisbane. The floods forced the evacuation of thousands of people from towns and cities. At least seventy towns and over 200,000 people were affected. Damage initially was...
, Nalliah declared on his website "...at once I was reminded of Kevin Rudd
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...
speaking against Israel in Israel on 14th December 2010. It is very interesting that Kevin Rudd is from QLD. Is God trying to get our attention? Yes, I believe so."
Rise Up Australia Party
After several previously unsuccessful campaigns in politics, on 22 June 2011 Nalliah launched and now leads a new political party, Rise Up Australia (Keep Australia Australian). The launch date was picked as it was the anniversary of Nalliah's successful case in the Supreme Court.Aims of the party include the protection of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and preserving Australia's "Judeo-Christian heritage".
In a recent interview with Perth's "Out in Perth", Nalliah stated that homosexuals can be turned back to heterosexual relationships through education and through Christ. "As a political party, while we love the homosexual community and want to get to know them better, we also have a stand where we say, children need to be protected. We would love to see every man and women come together, there's a time in life when you do things, and maybe you feel yes you are locked into an agenda.... [our position] is that homosexuality is not OK". And later on stated "Children should not be exposed to [public displays of homosexual affection] and other practices that go beyond morality."
Views on Multiculturalism
"We also know that Stalin and his communist ideologies were responsible for the murder of millions of people. Although communist ideologies seemed to be very good to many millions of people, the end result was much death and destruction. In other words, ‘One Word’ becomes a gate way to lead to great disaster if we don’t wake up in time. We have seen Nazism and Communism destroy many nations."So we need to take a good look at the word ‘Multiculturalism’. Although this word seems to sound so good, in reality it is currently destroying the Judeo-Christian West and replacing it with an ‘Interfaith’ deceptive agenda led by the United Nations. It is Communism wearing a new uniform. It is also worth noting that the first few letters of this word is “Multicult”-uralism."
Books
- Danny Nalliah: Worship Under the Sword: Melbourne: D&M Publications: 1998: ISBN 0646355775
External links
- Catch the Fire Ministries website
- Interview with Danny Nalliah on PRODOS Worldwide podcast
- The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty Homepage
- The Becket Fund Australia Case Page For updates and resources related to the Catch the Fire Ministries Litigation
- Islamic Council of Victoria v Catch the Fire Ministries Inc (Final) 2004 VCAT 2510 (22 December 2004)* Submission from Catch The Fire Ministries To the Equal Opportunity Commission of Victoria in response to complaints made by the Islamic Council of Victoria (Note: This is an archived copy at the website of Liberals For Free Speech. The original version, posted on the website of Catch The Fire Ministry, does not seem to be currently available.)