Antigay MP Says Porn Was "Research"

The Reverend Fred Nile, a Christian Democrat MP in New South Wales, Australia, said that porn accessed on a parliamentary computer under his log-on likely resulted from official research and not someone "sitting there perving."

According to The Herald Sun, the parliamentary audit turned up close to 200,000 hits, which Nile blamed on research for his efforts to tame the porn industry.

"He said the porn site research was used for questions, speeches, and bills, including the federal Labor government's internet filter plan," reported the Sun.

Nile, a leading antigay politician in Australia, stressed that his researcher viewed the website only "for a few seconds" to see what it was but not to view the material.

"But they can be quite confident in my own integrity that I have not viewed this material, nor have I had my staff sitting there perving over a pornographic film but investigating this very important social issue area," he said.

Nile said he asked for an investigation into whether the computer system had been hacked and added that he welcomed the forthcoming investigation into his office's other computers.