FRED Nile's Christian Democratic Party plans to run an emotive anti-Muslim, anti-carbon trading campaign in the by-election for the northern Sydney seat of Bradfield.
And in a case of "onward Christian soldiers", the CDP has decided to stand no fewer than 11 candidates in the federal seat.
In what is a blue-ribbon conservative stronghold, the CDP is hoping to capitalise on unease among some Liberals with federal party leader Malcolm Turnbull's willingness to negotiate an emissions trading scheme with the Rudd Labor government.
The party's propaganda for the December 5 by-election, which has been provided in advance to The Australian, declares "Enough!" and urges Australians to "Stand your ground in defence of Christian values".
It uses a selection of alternating slogans, including, "Ten-year moratorium on Muslim immigration", "No nukes for Iran -- we must defend Israel" and "No carbon tax -- stop the ETS".
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Mr Nile -- who sits alone in the NSW upper house since expelling fellow MP Gordon Moyes from the CDP six months ago -- yesterday denied the CDP was dragging the politics of race into the battle for Bradfield.
"The CDP is opposed to racism and we have people of all races on our team," he said.
"But Muslim is not a race. It's a religious and political ideology."
While Mr Nile agreed the anti-Muslim, anti-ETS campaign would alienate the majority of voters in a "trendy" electorate such as Bradfield, he claimed: "There are at least 10 per cent who would agree with those policies, maybe more."
But the Greens candidate for Bradfield, Susie Gemmell, condemned the CDP strategy and said: "Directing hatred towards people of any religious faith is totally unacceptable."
Liberal candidate Paul Fletcher, who is expected to win Bradfield easily, declined to comment on the anti-Muslim campaign, but said: "Local residents don't want a rushed and poorly planned ETS which just turns out to be another tax."
Mr Nile has been a leading campaigner against a proposed 1200-student Muslim school at Camden, in outer southwest Sydney.
He said the unprecedented strategy of standing 11 candidates against each other in Bradfield was designed to increase the CDP's overall vote -- by allowing the candidates to focus their efforts on different areas within the electorate -- and to raise the party's profile by having its name appear so many times on the ballot paper.
Mr Nile said the federal Opposition Leader's position on climate change would help the CDP's cause.
"He's not a very strong leader and he's taken this approach as the path of least resistance," he said.
At the 2007 election, the CDP scored 1.74 per cent of the vote in Bradfield, the Greens 11.26 per cent.
Labor is not contesting the by-election, which was triggered by the resignation last month of former federal Liberal leader Brendan Nelson.
Meanwhile, senior Liberal sources yesterday confirmed a preselection challenge from the Right to Philip Ruddock in his outer northern Sydney seat of Berowra had been withdrawn, and the former federal attorney-general would be re-endorsed.
Nile raises crusade in by-election | The Australian