In further proof the Liberal Party fails to put families first, an anti-religious freedom candidate was last weekend parachuted into the Senate.

Dave Sharma was the former member for Wentworth before losing the blue-ribbon Liberal seat to the Teals at the 2022 election.

Last weekend, the party selected him to fill the New South Wales Senate vacancy caused by the resignation of Marise Payne.

In doing so, the Liberals rejected the candidacy of former ACT Senator Zed Seselja, who is a supporter of freedom of religion and a supporter of family, faith, and life.

Before he lost Wentworth, Sharma was one of five Liberals who took the extraordinary step of crossing the floor and voting with Labor and the Greens on amendments that effectively torpedoed his own government’s attempts at shoring up freedom for religious schools.

Schools which believe the biological truth about gender effectively must continue to accommodate males seeking to encroach into girls’ private facilities and they must allow “transitioning” males to compete with girls in sport, thanks to Sharma and his fellow rebel Liberals.

This is something Sharma fails to grasp or if it does, he seems fine with it.

When asked about his rebellion against his own party’s religious freedom bill, Sharma told Sky News last year that rainbow rights and religious freedom could both be accommodated, as if oil and water could mix.

"My position on this has not changed, I believe that religious people and people of faith should deserve protection against discrimination on the grounds of their faith.”

Sharma then went on to parrot the false talking points of LGBTIQA+ political activists.

"But I also believe ... students and teachers should not be discriminated against in religious schools on account of their sexual orientation or their gender identity.

"I think both those propositions can be true at the same time and any legislation needs to reflect both of those viewpoints."

Now it is important to understand that Christian schools do not expel students because they take on LGBTIQA+ identities.

Sharma should have known this because the Christian school movement has very effective advocates in Canberra who provided this information to MPs and who also speak publicly.

If religious freedom is to mean anything in Australia, religious schools must be free to choose staff which reflect their parent community’s values and they must be allowed to uphold behaviours which protect girls from the encroachment of biological males in their private spaces and their sports.

Religious schools should be free to teach their values on gender and marriage without fear of being taken to court by LGBTIQA+ activists, something Sharma siding with the radical rainbow lobby has denied them.

It speaks volumes of the sickness in the Liberal party that Sharma was chosen over Zed Seselja, who during his time in Parliament stood for the family and freedom and against the radical left of politics which continually seeks to undermine both.

Ironically, the media label Seselja “hard right” and Sharma “moderate”. It is not “moderate”, but “extremist” to put rainbow rights above mainstream families’ concerns.

While a flawed bill, last year’s failed Morrison Government Religious Discrimination Bill was designed to restore and shore-up some of the freedoms which have become vulnerable since marriage was redefined in law.

Religious freedom laws have been promised by both sides of politics ever since same-sex marriage laws challenged long-standing societal norms on gender.

Sadly, Sharma and the rebel Liberals gave voice to the radical LGBTIQA+ lobby’s fake claims that Christian schools expel kids because they are same sex attracted or identify as transgender.

Their actions mean schools cannot uphold religious teaching on marriage or gender.

One of Sharma’s fellow Liberal rebels, Trent Zimmerman (who also lost his seat), waved a rainbow flag on the floor of Parliament as he crossed the floor.

At last weekend’s Senate pre-selection, Sharma had the endorsement of Liberal leader Peter Dutton, who also endorsed Seselja. But this two-timing by Dutton meant that any  signal for freedom and family he might have wanted to convey was meaningless.

Last weekend’s Senate pre-selection choice by the Liberals reveals a party that has no principles when it comes to protecting girls and women from the radical LGBTIQA+ agenda and no vision for freedom of religion in Australia.

The Albanese Government is poised to put forward its own religious freedom bill early next year.

The Morrison Government’s bill last year which Sharma helped torpedo was a weak bill but many religious leaders felt it was better than nothing.

It is highly likely the Albanese Government’s bill will be even weaker.

In putting Dave Sharma back into the Parliament, the Liberals have helped ensure that radical LGBTIQA+ demands will continue to trump families’ concerns for freedom and for protecting their daughters from biological males “transitioning” at school.