A Liberal party candidate in western Sydney shared online posts stating parents who sent their children to public schools were making “the most costly spiritual decision they’ve ever made” and calling homosexuality “one of the many sins that excludes us from the Kingdom of God”.
The party’s Blacktown candidate, Allan Green, also previously expressed support for repealing the right of gay couples to adopt, shared posts warning against Muslim immigration, and said same-sex marriage could cause the abolition of Mother’s and Father’s Day.
A former high school teacher and long-serving councillor in Blacktown, Green last year shared a post online that criticised people of Christian faith who send their children to public schools.
“Large numbers of Christian parents send their children to public school because it’s ‘free’ without realising that it may actually be the most costly spiritual decision they [have] ever made,” the post stated.
When sharing the post in a group called Life Group Study, Green wrote: “Thought the group would like this.”
In 2018 Green also shared a post stating former rugby star Israel Folau “deserves an apology” after he was criticised by union officials for a post stating gay people would be condemned to “hell” unless they “repent” for their sins. Folau was subsequently sacked by Rugby Australia.
The 2018 post stated “homosexuality is one of the many sins that excludes us from the Kingdom of God” and stated Folau’s views were “thoroughly orthodox Christian”.
“We must not join the chorus of those cowardly, clever Christians who avoid standing with him by wishing he had expressed himself differently,” it stated.
When contacted about the posts, Green said that it was “unfair to delve into people’s religious views”.
“It’s unfair to question me on my personal views,” he said.
Asked whether he agreed parents sending children to public schools were making a “costly spiritual decision”, Green said he believed “people have a choice of what school they send their children to”.
He also insisted he did not “necessarily agree” with Folau, but believed he had been “treated unfairly”.
“The way he was treated was unfair. I wouldn’t have said things like he said but the way he was treated was unfair,” he said.
“I don’t necessarily agree with what he said.”
Asked whether he believed homosexuality was “one of the many sins that excludes us from the Kingdom of God”, Green said: “Christians love everybody [and] salvation as a Christian comes from accepting Jesus Christ. The fact is that none of us are perfect. I’m sure you’re not perfect.”
It is not the first time Green’s candidacy has caused headaches for the Liberal party.
In 2019 he was running in the federal seat of Greenway when the Guardian revealed that he had previously shared posts in 2010, 2012 and 2015 that suggested the legalisation of same-sex marriage would lead to the abolition of Mother’s and Father’s Day, and a “Christian values checklist” that called for bans on same-sex adoption.
At the time Green said he did not “support those comments personally” and shared them as a candidate for the conservative Christian Democratic party.
“I don’t personally hold those viewpoints … in that situation you are tied to the policies of the party,” he said at the time.
The Coalition has faced a series of controversies over candidates in this election. The party’s candidate in Wyong, Matthew Squires, was disendorsed over homophobic and Islamophobic comments he had made. The Nationals dumped its candidate for the seat of Cessnock, Ash Barnham, over references he reportedly made about women being “bad voters” and offensive comments about the LGBTIQ+ and Jewish communities.
The Liberal candidate for Swansea, Megan Anderson, said she had made a “clumsy joke” when denying climate change during a community event last week.
Green is running in the seat of Blacktown, held by Labor’s Stephen Bali on a very safe 16.7% margin.
