Miranda Live: ‘Rainbow Left’ takes over Canberra says Lyle Shelton

THE “Rainbow Left” has taken over both of the major parties and regular Australians are crying out for a conservative, common sense middle ground, Australian Conservatives’s new recruit Lyle Shelton claims.

Lyle Shelton sat down to speak with Miranda Devine on her Miranda Live online radio show. Picture: AAP

THE “Rainbow Left” has taken over both of the major parties and regular Australians are crying out for a conservative, common sense middle ground, Australian Conservatives’s newest recruit Lyle Shelton claims.

The former head of the Australian Christian Lobby sat down with Daily Telegraph columnist Miranda Devine on her online radio show Miranda Live, only a day after his shock entry to politics.

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Mr Shelton yesterday announced he’d left his position with the ACL to join Cory Bernardi’s Australian Conservatives party because Canberra was “broken” and the major political parties had “abandoned their virtues”.

“I’ve very concerned about the future of our nation,” he told Devine, saying there was “too much of the water of what I call the Green Rainbow Left thinking” in the Liberal and Labor parties.

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Mr Lyle Shelton spearheaded the “No” campaign in the recent Same-Sex Marriage debate. Picture: AFP

Australian Conservatives Leader Senator Cory Bernardi. Picture: AAP

Mr Shelton was the face and voice of the “No” campaign during last year’s Same-Sex Debate and said the campaign had reinforced his belief regular voters were being forgotten by politicians.

“People were crying out for common sense representation as we travelled around the country for the No campaign,” he told Devine.

He said speaking with concerned voters — and the apparent lack of action on the behalf of politicians has prompted him to join Mr Bernardi’s Conservatives.

“A vote for us (Australian Conservatives) is not a wasted vote — it’s a vote that will keep the Liberals and Nationals honest and draw them back to the true north,” he said.

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“Australian Conservatives are not wreckers of conservative politics. We’ll preference voters who share conservative values, 9 times out of 10 is the LNP. It will keep the LNP honest —

we want to play a constructive role in Australian politics.”

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But Mr Shelton, who also spearheaded the fight against Safe Schools, said that “constructive role” probably did not include Mr Bernardi returning to the Liberal fold.

Mr Bernardi left the Liberal party and formed his own part in February last year, seven months into his six-year Senate term.

The Australian Conservatives are hoping to have 10 senators elected at the next election, which Mr Shelton said would hand the party the balance of power.

“It would be better for that to be coming from the Australian Conservatives than the far left or the Greens,” he said.

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