An anti-discrimination campaigner is facing crippling legal bills after a failed court bid against a former Wannon political candidate.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Tess Corbett, a Lake Bolac grandmother and the then Katter's Australia Party candidate for the seat of Wannon, publicly said in 2013 that she did not want "gays, lesbians or pedophiles working in my kindergarten".
"Pedophiles will be next in line to be recognised in the same way as gays and lesbians, and get rights," she said.
Ms Corbett's comments to the Hamilton Spectator during the 2013 election campaign triggered outrage across the country, sparking legal action from Sydney anti-discrimination campaigner Garry Burns.
Mr Burns filed a complaint with the President of the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act Board (ADB ) alleging the comments comparing gays to pedophiles breached the anti-vilification provisions of the state's Anti-Discrimination Act.
Ms Corbett was found guilty of vilifying homosexuals at a hearing at the former NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal in October 2013 and she was ordered to apologise in writing to Mr Burns and publish an apology to the gay community in the Sydney Morning Herald.
But she didn't comply and Mr Burns unsuccessfully started proceedings in the NSW Supreme Courts, to get Ms Corbett to comply with the orders.
Another unsuccessful appeal heard in the High Court left Mr Burns in $81,644.70 debt after he was ordered to pay the respondents' costs.
On October this year, he received a notice to pay the debt within seven days.
He has since sought ex-gratia payment from the NSW Department of Communities and Justice but that was refused.
A bankruptcy notice was served on Thursday in relation to the costs.
Mr Burns said he "initiated the legal proceedings against Ms Corbett in the public interest and not for any personal monetary gain, to protect homosexuals from public acts of unlawful homosexuality vilification under the ADA 1977 and now I find myself in this dire position".
He has set up a GoFundMe page and is asking for people to donate what they can.
"If 82,000 people donated $1 could easily raise the funds required to pay those costs," he said.
"I don't want to be left destitute because I stood up in defence of homosexuals and fought the good fight all the way to the High Court of Australia.
"I am not only asking LGBTI Australians to help but all those Australians who support a fair and decent Australian in 2019 to donate what they can.
"Thank you for any help you can give."
At the time of the writing, the campaign had raised $350.
You can donate here.
Have you signed up to The Standard's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in the south-west.