Elaine Blanche Nile (20 March 1936 – 17 October 2011) was an Australian politician who represented the

Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

in the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. Along with the New South Wales Legislative As ...

between 1988 and 2002. Nile was married to

Fred Nile Frederick John Nile (born 15 September 1934) is an Australian former politician and Ordination, ordained Minister (Christianity), Christian minister. Nile was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 1981-2023, except for a perio ...

from 1958 until her death.

Early life

Born on 20 March 1936 in Waterloo in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

the daughter of a glass blower and a factory worker, she was a comptometrist from 1951 to 1958 and a police matron at

Darlinghurst Darlinghurst is an inner-city suburb in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the Ci ...

Court from 1977 to 1981. From 1981 to 1986 she was manager of the Australian Christian Solidarity Paper. She was also an organiser and lecturer at Gardener's Road High School in

Mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...

Political career

In 1958, she married

, leader of the

Call to Australia The Christian Democratic Party (CDP) was a Christian democratic political party in Australia, founded in 1977, under the name Call to Australia Party, by a group of Christian ministers in New South Wales. One of the co-founders, Fred Nile, a C ...

group (later the Christian Democratic Party) in the New South Wales Legislative Council from 1981. Mrs Nile was elected to the Legislative Council for Call to Australia in 1988, and served until her retirement due to ill health in 2002. Her parliamentary career was marked by conservative Christian values. She was a supporter of the

constitutional monarchy Constitutional monarchy, also known as limited monarchy, parliamentary monarchy or democratic monarchy, is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in making decisions. ...

and the

Australians for Constitutional Monarchy Australians for Constitutional Monarchy (ACM) is a group that aims to preserve Australia's constitutional monarchy, with Charles III as King of Australia. The group states that it is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organisation whose role is "To ...

. Nile introduced

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred ...

to close abortion clinics and spoke on issues including the Gay Mardi Gras, adoptions by homosexuals, drug abuse among youth, sexual abuse by clergy, family planning, condom vending machines in schools, age of consent for homosexuals, pornography, land valuations, hormone treatment for blood disorders, the M5 motorway exhaust stack, level crossing signposting, Homebush Bay green and gold frogs and Narara Valley high school counselling. Nile introduced a Sexual Offence Damages Bill and a Nudity (Indecent Exposure) in Public Places Prohibition Bill. Despite opposition from the homosexual community, Nile's most controversial legislative proposal was the Medically Acquired AIDS Victims Compensation Bill, seeking compensation for people who had acquired

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

through blood transfusions. Nile and her husband successfully opposed amendments to the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act to create offences of homosexual vilification. Feminists criticised her traditional views on the role of women, and the ''Elaine'' award was created for the person who made public statements that were considered the most unhelpful to the sisterhood. Nile initially announced her decision to retire from the Legislative Council on the grounds of ill health in 2000 and

John Bradford John Bradford (1510–1555) was an English English Reformation, Reformer, prebendary of Old St Paul's Cathedral, St. Paul's, and martyr. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London for alleged crimes against Queen Mary I. He was burned at the stak ...

was endorsed by the Christian Democratic Party as her successor. However, as a result of an internal party dispute due to Bradford's residency, Nile delayed her retirement until 2002 and Gordon Moyes was ultimately appointed to the council, ahead of Bradford. At the 2007 Federal election, Nile was endorsed in second position of the Christian Democratic Party for the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

; but was not successful in winning a sufficient quota. Nile was listed as the fifth candidate on the Christian Democratic Party (Fred Nile Group) ticket at the 2011 state election, with only Paul Green as the first candidate, gaining a quota.

Death

Nile was diagnosed with

non-Hodgkin's lymphoma Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a group of blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include enlarged lymph nodes, fever, night sweats, weight loss, and tire ...

in the early 2000s and it initially appeared that her treatment had been successful. However the disease recurred and in 2008 she was given only six days to live. Her treatment included radical therapy involving radiation being injected into the bloodstream. She finally succumbed to the disease three years later, dying in Calvary Hospital, Sydney.

References

External links

former=Yes/%24FILE/E%20Nile.PDF First Speech by the Hon. Elaine Nile MLC
- New South Wales Legislative Council. 8 June 1988. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nile, Elaine 1936 births 2011 deaths Australian monarchists Christian Democratic Party (Australia) politicians Spouses of Australian politicians Politicians from Sydney Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Deaths from cancer in New South Wales Deaths from liver cancer in Australia 21st-century Australian politicians Women members of the New South Wales Legislative Council 21st-century Australian women politicians