Mr Shelton spent several days in the Coffs Harbour region to garner support for his fledgling political party, Family First.

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Supporters came from as far away as the Nambucca Valley and Grafton to hear his message.

“I am deeply concerned about the state of the nation,” said Mr Shelton.

“Our economic and social decline is extremely serious and it’s easy to feel hopeless and depressed facing down the wokeness and cultural Marxism of our society when we are led by politicians who can’t even define a ‘woman’ let alone a ‘family’,” he said.

Family First captured 3.1 percent of the vote at the most recent Mulgrave by-election in Melbourne which Mr Sheldon says is “very credible for a minor party” and keeps him hopeful of scoring senate seats in future elections.

The party was recently registered in Victoria and is in the process of registering in Queensland and NSW, Mr Shelton told NOTA.

Mr Shelton is well known to Christian audiences having spent five years as the boss of the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) before resigning to take up a position with the now-defunct Christian Democratic Party in 2021.

Family First represents a new and independent venture into the political landscape for Mr Shelton.

The party hopes to attract not only Christians but people of all faiths who support Judeo-Christian principles.

According to its website, Family First exists to “restore Australia by restoring the primacy of the family in public policy”.

“Marriage and family should be the basis for civil society,” Mr Shelton told his audience.

“Citizens should be free to discuss the ideal model of family and advocate for it without fear.”

Mr Shelton credited the success and longevity of the western world to the Judeo-Christian ethic.

“These values have been the basis of our legal and political systems, not to mention their influence on architecture, art and music.

“The west is currently at a position where it could decline or it can renew.”

Mr Shelton is also opposed to ‘Net Zero’ policies which he says unfairly deny electricity to the poor people of the world and are in part, he says, responsible for the high prices of electricity in Australia.

He advocated for a “peaceful revolution” to put Australia back on a more truthful path.

By Ned COWIE