AUSTRALIA: Anti-Gay MP Fred Niles Caught In Pornography Scandal

Rev. Fred Niles, the longest-serving member of the New South Wales parliament and one of Australia's leading anti-gay activists, is front-page news in Sydney today after an audit revealed that he'd used his government computer to view pornography. A really LOT of pornography, it appears.

An audit of NSW parliamentary computers, which has already resulted in the resignation of a Labor minister, reportedly showed up to 200,000 suspect hits linked to Reverend Nile's parliamentary log-on. Today he admitted one of his staff members had viewed online porn "for just a few seconds" for research purposes. But he insisted neither he nor any member of his staff had been "sitting there perving". "My senior researcher has conducted a lot of research into the pornography industry at my request because we have bills dealing with increasing the ban on pornographic materials," he said. "I have not accessed or viewed any of those sites but my researcher has."

Niles claims that the porn hits came from links found on the site of the Australian Sex Party, a grassroots group formed to advocate for same-sex marriage. The Sex Party rejected Niles' claims as ridiculous and have called for his resignation. Niles has fought many LGBT rights laws in New South Wales and has called for abolishing the Sydney Mardi Gras as a "public parade of immorality and blasphemy."

(Tipped by JMG reader Dennis)