Christian Democratic MP and outspoken octogenarian Fred Nile has indicated that he will push for the legal drinking age to be upped to 21 in NSW if he is re-elected to the state’s upper house.
Following yesterday’s NSW state election, Nile is looking likely to hold on to his seat in the Legislative Council, while the incumbent Baird government are likely to up their number of seats to nine.
The government will require the support of two Christian Democratic MPs, Nile included, to pass legislation. In short, they’ll need to keep him happy and at least make a token effort to pander to his agenda in order to get shit done.
Nile, most recently heard from when he criticised Sydney siege victims for their lack of bravery, has a few issues he’d like to discuss. Firstly, per reports in Fairfax, he would like to seek a ban on all alcohol advertising in NSW, and lift the state’s drinking age to 21.
He would also like to revive Zoe’s Law, a bill that stalled in the upper house last year. Zoe’s Law would have granted legal personhood status to unborn children, and many believed it would lead to restrictions on abortions.
As a vocal opponent of ethics classes in schools, Nile is pushing for more scripture classes to be taught. He is also concerned about the privatisaiton of the state’s electricity network, and worries that foreign investors might take a controlling interest.
While Nile is fond of making noise, there’s no way in a million years that the government would ever seriously consider changes to the drinking age.
As for all those other things? “Nothing will change really,” a government source told Fairfax. “We will potentially have less people we have to negotiate with.”
“Nothing will change really” – words that ought to be inscribed on #AusPol’s tombstone.
