Founder … Daniel Nalliah, who started Rise Up Australia. Photo: Georgia Willis
The Sri Lankan-born pastor leading a new political party, Rise Up Australia, says the fact he is a ''black fellow'' should not hinder his party's anti-multiculturalism credentials in the federal election.
Daniel Nalliah, who once linked the Black Saturday bushfires to Victoria's permissive abortion laws and also faced a long-running court battle for allegedly vilifying Muslims, says the party has 1500 members.
The world of fringe politics is alive and kicking 15 years after Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party reached its peak, securing 9 per cent of the national vote.
While Katter's Australian Party, founded by Queenslander and federal MP Bob Katter, is considered the strongest chance to win seats, particularly in Queensland, it is not the only party to have its first federal election outing on September 14.
Parties registered since the last election include the Pirate Party Australia, Stable Population Party, the Australian Protectionist Party and the First Nations Political Party. The Australian Sex Party will return for its second federal election outing.
The Rise Up Australia Party, launched this month, says it will target 52 lower house seats and endorse 12 Senate candidates.
Clive Bean, a Queensland University of Technology professor in political science, rates the chances of Rise Up and similar fringe parties as slim: ''Without the backing of some high-profile figures it would be extremely hard for a party like that to make much traction at all.''
Mr Nalliah, a pastor with Catch the Fire Ministries, is often asked how he reconciles his call to ''abolish'' multiculturalism with his own migrant background.
But he says it is a strength that he and his party ''cannot be tarnished with the racist brush because I'm a black fellow''.
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