[8] Nile was born in Kings Cross, New South Wales[9] and was educated at Mascot Public and Cleveland Street High School (1940–1949).
In 1952, during the Korean War, at age 17, Nile volunteered to join the National Service in 1952 and then transferred to the CMF/reserves which allowed him to avoid deployment to Korea and qualified for the rank of major, before retiring in 1972.
[11] Following the election to the Legislative Council of Jim Cameron (in 1984) and Nile's wife, Elaine (1988), the Call to Australia Group was officially recognised as a political party.
[15] Nile resigned from the NSW Parliament on 30 August 2004 in order to contest the 2004 Federal election, seeking a position in the Australian Senate[16] on a platform of opposition of the recognition of gay marriages.
[6] At the 2007 New South Wales state election, Nile was re-elected for a further eight-year term and was appointed to the newly created position of Assistant President of the NSW Legislative Council.
[38] In January 2015, Nile argued that male hostages who fled the Lindt Cafe siege should not receive bravery awards, as giving them one would "cheapen" it.
"[39][40] In a media release dated 14 January 2015, Nile stated, "I fully support Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s recommendation to the Governor General, Sir Peter Cosgrove, that Mrs Dawson and Mr Johnson should be honoured with posthumous bravery awards."
Nile claimed that the Homosexual Vilification Act was being abused to gag free speech and prevent open non-malicious public discussion.
[42] Nile is a frequent critic of the Australian Greens, claiming that they have exploited genuine concern for the environment to garner political influence to "push their agenda of social engineering".
[58] Nile has also labelled the Greens as being "anti-family", "anti-Christian", and "pagan", citing what he believes to be pro-pornography and pro-sex industry policies and their opposition to the current practice of opening parliament with daily prayers.
"[59] Following the Moscow theatre hostage crisis in 2002, Nile asked whether the then state minister of police would consider banning full body coverings, like those worn by the Chechen terrorists, from parliament and places of public gathering to prevent the carriage of weapons or explosive devices.
Nile has attempted to pass bills in the NSW Legislative Council that would prohibit the wearing of full-face coverings, such as the hijab or niqāb, six times – 2006, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2017, and 2019.
[60][61][62][63][64][65] On 10 March 2007, Nile raised concern that Australian embassy officials posted in Islamic nations were favouring the immigration of Muslim over Christian refugees.
Nile called for a moratorium on Muslim immigration to Australia: "Australians deserve a breathing space so the situation can be carefully assessed", he told an audience in North Ryde.
Debate on the bill was adjourned until 16 September;[70][71] and eventually Nile was successful in pushing the government to establish a parliamentary inquiry to examine whether ethics classes in NSW schools should be abolished.
[72] Meanwhile, in introducing his bill into the Legislative Council, Nile gained headlines by arguing that the ethics course is based on a philosophy linked to Nazism and Communism.
[75] Until his recent defeat as a Legislative Council candidate, Fred Nile served as a member of the Standing Committee on Social Issues.