The newest recruit to Cory Bernardi's Australian Conservatives party has channelled US President Donald Trump to declare "Canberra is broken" ahead of his tilt to join the ranks of federal parliamentarians.
Lyle Shelton on Saturday stepped down as managing director of the Australian Christian Lobby.
He joined Senator Bernardi on Sunday to announce his new role as the Australian Conservatives' federal communications director - a party spokesman outside the parliamentary ranks.
"After more than a decade living in Canberra, fighting for truth and freedom, I can tell you that Canberra is broken," Mr Shelton told the audience at an event in his hometown of Toowoomba.
The major parties had abandoned the virtues that made Australia what it is and handed responsibility for social policy over to the "Green rainbow left", he said.
"This is not the Australia I grew up in. But I believe that there are things in life worth fighting for."
Mr Shelton aims to win a seat on the parliamentary benches in Canberra at the next federal election.
Senator Bernardi said Australian Conservatives had a real opportunity to win enough Senate spots to shape the country's future.
"We need people that are going to get at the coalface of politics, they're going to get themselves into parliament to make a difference, to fight without fear or favour for the things that matter," he told the Toowoomba event.
"Here is a man who lives his principles every single day, not only in the public sphere but in his private life as well."
Mr Shelton is the highest profile recruit for the Australian Conservatives, after he rose to national prominence during the same-sex marriage postal vote in 2017.
Running the 'no' campaign convinced him to switch to partisan politics, he said.
