I awoke this morning to the news Charlie Kirk had been shot.

Minutes later his death was confirmed.

The 31-year-old founder of Turning Point USA and father of two, was killed by a single rifle shot to the neck while speaking at a university campus in Utah.

A friend shared close-up footage to a What’s App group I’m in. The crack can be heard, he reels back grasping his neck. Blood spurts all over his white t-shirt. I can’t unsee it.

Kirk rose to prominence by venturing onto university campuses and engaging in honest discussion.

He challenged Woke orthodoxy and the left hated him for it.

He would argue pro-life and pro-marriage and family positions with hostile students and academics.

Debate and free speech were his mantra. He wanted to change young minds. Anyone could come to the microphone. While he could be robust, he was never rude, always gracious. He debated; he didn’t demonise.

He stood for monogamous heterosexual marriage and he was pro-life.

The left don’t debate, they use horrible slurs like ‘bigot’ and call us ‘phobes’. They dehumanise their opponents.

This needs to stop.

Kirk reluctantly supported Donald Trump’s successful 2016 White House bid, became a true believer, and then played a crucial role in getting out the vote amongst young people at the 2024 election.

He became and advisor and then confidant of Trump.

On July 28, Kirk posted on social media:

‘Get married, have kids, and stop partying into oblivion. Leave a legacy, be courageous. Happy Sunday. God bless all the parents out there.’

Many of us in the pro-family movement have felt his murder as a deep gut punch and sobering wake-up call.

My mind immediately went back to the bombing of the office inhabited by me and a courageous team in 2016. At that time, the Australian Christian Lobby was one of the few voices in our nation arguing for the things Charlie was killed for. At about 9 pm, four days before Christmas, a car bomb detonated at our office causing $100,000 in damages.

Australia is not immune from politically motivated violence against those who advocate for the truth about marriage and family.

Our Jewish community have been frequent victims in the last two years at the hands of Hamas sympathisers.

There is no place for violence in the political discourse.

All Kirk sought was debate and discussion. That’s how free people in democracies sort out their differences.

But while proclaiming love and tolerance, too many on the left exhibit hate, something Charlie never did.

He paid the ultimate price for the beliefs millions of mainstream Australians hold in the face of a radical left determined to reshape our society, one child’s gender identity at a time.

Whilst Kirk’s assassination is chilling and sobering, Family First will not back down.

We extend our condolences to his wife Erika, his children and wider family.

May he rest in peace.