Daniel "Danny" Nalliah (born 1964Biography Rev Dr Daniel Nalliah at ''Catch the Fire Ministries''
accessed 29 September 2010) is a Sri Lankan Australian evangelical Christian pastor and

young earth creationist Young Earth creationism (YEC) is a form of creationism which holds as a central tenet that the Earth and its lifeforms were created by supernatural acts of the Abrahamic God between approximately 6,000 and 10,000 years ago. In its most widesp ...

. He was the leader of the now-dissolved Rise Up Australia political party and is the president of Catch the Fire Ministries. Nalliah defended against a lawsuit brought by the Islamic Council of Victoria under Victoria's Racial and Religious Tolerance Act. In this case, Judge Michael Higgins found in favour of the Islamic Council of Victoria, which took the action against Catch the Fire, but his decision was overturned by the Victorian Court of Appeal. Nalliah used to be associated with the

Australian Christian Churches The Australian Christian Churches (ACC), formerly Assemblies of God in Australia, is a network of Pentecostal churches in Australia affiliated with the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, which is the largest Pentecostal denomination in the w ...

Early years

According to his biography published by the Catch the Fire Ministries, Daniel Nalliah was born in Sri Lanka to minority Sri Lankan Tamil parents who spoke English as their first language. However, he was schooled at the Nugegoda Tamil Mahavidyalaya in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo m ...

, where all teaching was in done in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

. He was introduced to the "ways of God" by an Australian missionary. In his youth, he played at a number of night clubs in Colombo as a drummer before turning to religion. He also worked as an underground missionary in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

before migrating to Australia in 1997.Who is Danny Nalliah and what is Rise Up Australia
SBS, 13 February 2013 After moving to Australia and founding Catch the Fire Ministries, Nalliah travelled extensively, preaching to congregations in a number of countries. He asserts that he witnessed the healing of blind, deaf and crippled people at his prayer sessions and also claims that a dead girl was resurrected after he prayed for her.

Vilification of Muslims lawsuit

On 9 March 2002,

Daniel Scot The ''Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001'' is an Act of the Parliament of Victoria, Australia, that makes behaviour that incites or encourages hatred, serious contempt, revulsion or severe ridicule against another person or group of peopl ...

spoke at a seminar regarding Islam, sponsored by Catch the Fire Ministries. The seminar was attended by three Australian Muslims; two of them were asked to attend by May Helou, an executive member of the

Islamic Council of Victoria The Islamic Council of Victoria (ICV) an Australian Muslim organisation acting as the central representative body for the Muslim community and local Islamic organisations in Victoria, Australia.Equal Opportunity Commission, Victoria. The third person was asked to attend by ICV members while he was at the ICV office. The three Muslims, along with the Islamic Council of Victoria, later launched action under the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act, claiming that the intent of the speech had been to vilify Muslims rather than to discuss Islam itself. After being considered by the Equal Opportunity Commission, the case was heard by the

Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) was formed by the ''Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act'' 1998 in the state of Victoria, Australia. As part of the Victorian Justice system the Tribunal sits 'below' the Magistrat ...

(VCAT), becoming the first real test case under the act. In a landmark ruling on 17 December 2004, the tribunal ruled that Nalliah, Scot and Catch the Fire Ministries had breached the law. Judge Higgins heard further submissions regarding "remedies" early in 2005. Nalliah publicly condemned the verdict and declared his intention to continue fighting the case, potentially as far as the High Court of Australia. ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...

'' newspaper quoted him as stating, "We may have lost the battle, but the war is not over. The law has to be removed, there is no question."Historic win in religious hatred case

, 18 December 2004 On 22 June 2005, Judge Michael Higgins of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal delivered his final verdict on the religious vilification issue regarding remedies. He found that financial compensation would be inappropriate but ordered Nalliah and Scot to take out newspaper advertisements to the value of $68,690 that summarised the findings in the case. Nalliah criticised the ruling, comparing the legislation to " sharia law by stealth". He also said that he would rather go to jail than comply with the ruling. Lawyers for the defendants had previously appealed to the Supreme Court of Victoria, in an originating motion alleging that Higgins showed signs of bias, that there were errors in the decision and that the act itself was unconstitutional. Following the decision, an appeal was lodged with the Court of Appeal, and the originating motion was dropped. The appeal was heard in August 2006.

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty Becket Law (formerly the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty) is a non-profit public interest law firm based in Washington, D.C., that describes its mission as "defending the freedom of religion of people of all faiths." Becket promotes accommoda ...

, an interfaith

public interest The public interest is "the welfare or well-being of the general public" and society. Overview Economist Lok Sang Ho in his ''Public Policy and the Public Interest'' argues that the public interest must be assessed impartially and, therefor ...

law firm based in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, had intervened on Scot's behalf, engaging in discussion with the

Attorney General of Australia The Attorney-GeneralThe title is officially "Attorney-General". For the purposes of distinguishing the office from other attorneys-general, and in accordance with usual practice in the United Kingdom and other common law jurisdictions, the Aust ...

, providing legal representation with local counsel and providing legal arguments employed for the legal appeal. On 14 December 2006, the Court of Appeal of Victoria upheld the appeal and ordered that the matter be redecided without hearing new evidence by a judge (other than Judge Higgins) of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. The Islamic Council of Victoria was ordered to pay half of Scot's and Nalliah's legal costs of the appeal. The matter was eventually resolved without a VCAT hearing after mediation between the two parties. On 22 June 2007 VCAT published a statement agreed to by both parties which affirmed everyone's rights to "robustly debate religion including the right to criticise the religious belief of another, in a free, open and democratic society".

Controversies

In November 2004, Nalliah campaigned for a seat in the Australian Senate as a candidate of the

Family First Party The Family First Party was a conservative political party in Australia which existed from 2002 to 2017. It was founded in South Australia where it enjoyed its greatest electoral support. Since the demise of the Australian Conservatives into wh ...

. He was slotted second on the party's Victorian Senate list but failed to be elected. Nevertheless, his candidacy caused considerable controversy when National Party Senate candidate

Barnaby Joyce Barnaby Thomas Gerard Joyce (born 17 April 1967) is an Australian politician who served as the 17th deputy prime minister of Australia under Malcolm Turnbull from 2016 to 2018 and under Scott Morrison from 2021 to 2022. He was the leader of the ...

launched a heavily publicised attack on Family First and his own party's preference deal with them the day before the election. Joyce highlighted a quote from one of Nalliah's brochures that asked parishioners to pray that God would pull down "Satan's strongholds", which included brothels,

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...

places, bottle shops,

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

s and

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

s (including Freemason,

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

and

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

temples). Joyce used Nalliah's derogatory statements about minority groups to describe Family First as "not the sort of people you do preference deals with." In late October 2009, the Family First parliamentary leader, Senator

Steve Fielding Steven Fielding (born 17 October 1960) is a former Australian senator for the state of Victoria and the former federal parliamentary leader of the Family First Party. He was elected to the upper house at the 2004 federal election on two per ...

, noted that after the incident cited above Nalliah was asked to leave the party and did so. At the same time, Nalliah argued that the discovery of an adolescent "satanist" Black Mass site in Canberra's

Mount Ainslie Mount Ainslie is a hill with an elevation of that is located in the northeastern suburbs of Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Mount Ainslie lies within part of the Canberra Nature Park. Location and features Mount Ain ...

indicated that the federal parliament was "under attack" and referred to

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...

, liberal

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

laws and legislation that supported

LGBT rights in Australia Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights in Australia have advanced over the latter half of the twentieth century and early twenty-first century to make Australia one of the most LGBT-accepting countries in the world, with opinion ...

as the "reason" behind an apparent spate of parliamentary marriage crises.

Black Saturday bushfires

In the wake of the

Black Saturday bushfires The Black Saturday bushfires were a series of bushfires that either ignited or were already burning across the Australian state of Victoria on and around Saturday, 7 February 2009, and were among Australia's all-time worst bushfire disasters. T ...

, in which 173 died, Nalliah claimed he had received "prophetic dreams" on 21 October 2008 that these bushfires were a "consequence" of Victoria's decriminalisation of abortion in 2008, prompting criticism from a former Australian Treasurer,

Peter Costello Peter Howard Costello (born 14 August 1957) is an Australian businessman, lawyer and former politician who served as the treasurer of Australia in government of John Howard from 1996 to 2007. He is the longest-serving treasurer in Australia' ...

, that Nalliah's assertion was "beyond the bounds of decency".

Holsworthy Barracks terror plot

Nalliah planned to use the

Holsworthy Barracks terror plot The Holsworthy Barracks terror plot was an Islamist terrorist plot uncovered in August 2009 targeting Holsworthy Barracks—an Australian Army training area located in the outer south-western Sydney suburb of Holsworthy—with automatic weapons. ...

as an argument to explain that Christianity should be protected "as the core value of the nation" in his speech titled "Is the West being de-Christianised?" delivered at the Australian Christian Nation Association Annual National Conference held on 21 November 2009 at the Assyrian Sport and Cultural Club, Fairfield Heights, Sydney.

Queensland floods in 2010-2011

After the catastrophic

2010–11 Queensland floods 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

, Nalliah declared on his website "at once I was reminded of

Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and again from June 2013 to September 2013, holding office as the leader of the ...

speaking against Israel in Israel on 14 December 2010. It is very interesting that Kevin Rudd is from QLD. Is God trying to get our attention? Yes, I believe so."

Rise Up Australia Party

On 22 June 2011, Nalliah launched a new political party, Rise Up Australia, which he leads. The launch date was picked as it was the anniversary of Nalliah's successful case in the Supreme Court. Stated aims of the party include the protection of freedom of speech, freedom of religion and preserving Australia's " Judeo-Christian heritage". In a 2011 interview with Perth's ''Out in Perth'', Nalliah stated that homosexuals can be turned back to heterosexual relationships through education and through Christ. "As a political party, while we love the homosexual community and want to get to know them better, we also have a stand where we say, children need to be protected. We would love to see every man and woman come together, there's a time in life when you do things, and maybe you feel yes you are locked into an agenda... ur positionis that homosexuality is not OK." He also said that "Children should not be exposed to ublic displays of homosexual affectionand other practices that go beyond morality."

Views on multiculturalism

"We also know that

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

and his communist ideologies were responsible for the murder of millions of people. Although communist ideologies seemed to be very good to many millions of people, the end result was much death and destruction. In other words, 'One Word' becomes a gate way to lead to great disaster if we don't wake up in time. We have seen Nazism and Communism destroy many nations. "So we need to take a good look at the word 'Multiculturalism'. Although this word seems to sound so good, in reality it is currently destroying the Judeo-Christian West and replacing it with an 'Interfaith' deceptive agenda led by the United Nations. It is Communism wearing a new uniform. It is also worth noting that the first few letters of this word is "Multicult"-uralism."

Books

*Danny Nalliah: ''Worship Under the Sword'': Melbourne: D&M Publications: 1998:

References

External links

Catch the Fire Ministries website

Interview with Danny Nalliah on PRODOS Worldwide podcast

Becket Fund for Religious Liberty website

related to the Catch the Fire Ministries litigation

* [http://www.liberalsforfreespeech.org/CatchTheFireMinistriesSubmissionToEOC.pdf Submission from Catch The Fire Ministries To the Equal Opportunity Commission of Victoria] {{DEFAULTSORT:Nalliah, Danny 1964 births Living people Australian anti-communists Australian Christian Churches people Australian Christian religious leaders Australian anti-abortion activists Australian Pentecostals Australian people of Sri Lankan Tamil descent Christian Young Earth creationists Christian critics of Islam Christian fundamentalists Australian critics of Islam Sri Lankan anti-communists Sri Lankan emigrants to Australia Sri Lankan Pentecostals Sri Lankan Tamil priests