Chris Miles (politician)

Miles was elected to parliament at the 1984 federal election, retaining the seat of Braddon for the Liberal Party following the retirement of Ray Groom. He was re-elected on four occasions before being defeated by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) candidate Sid Sidebottom at the 1998 election.[1]

In October 1987, after an unsuccessful leadership spill against John Howard, Miles was elevated to the shadow ministry as Shadow Minister for Aboriginal Affairs. He subsequently joined the council of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. He lost his place in shadow ministry following a successful spill against Howard by Andrew Peacock.[1]

In May 1994, Miles returned to the shadow ministry under the new opposition leader Alexander Downer, holding the portfolio of Shadow Minister for Schools, Vocational Education and Training.[1] He resigned his position in October 1994 in protest at the opposition's decision to support the government's Human Rights (Sexual Conduct) Bill 1994, which repealed Tasmania's sodomy laws.[3] After the Coalition won the 1996 election, Miles was appointed parliamentary secretary to John Howard as prime minister. He held the position until losing his seat in 1998.[1]

Miles was a leading social conservative within the Liberal Party. In 1992 he was one of a group of Coalition members of parliament who founded the Lyons Forum, a conservative ginger group.[4] He was subsequently elected as the forum's chairman.[2]

In the early 1990s Miles was a leader of the campaign against repealing Tasmania's anti-sodomy laws, organising "Say No To Sodomy" rallies in the state's North West.[5] The Canberra Times wrote in 1994 that he was "avowedly against the practice of anal sex (male or female)". He was also quoted as supporting the teaching of creationism alongside evolution.[2]