Locals in Sydney were appalled because the area is ground zero for the city's large gay community and the seat hosts the gay and lesbian Mardi Gras, a parade that has been protested against by Mr Nile and his supporters every year since it began in 1978. Liberal candidate for Sydney, gay Indigenous lawyer Geoffrey Winters. Credit:Louise Kennerley Mr Nile has also claimed that same-sex marriage will lead to "child brides, bigamous and polygamous partners" and greeted news that Labor's Penny Wong was having a baby with her partner Sophie Allouache as a "very poor example for the rest of the Australian population". Greens candidate for Sydney, Sylvie Ellsmore, said the decision was taken out of "respect" for the strong and personal negative feelings against Mr Nile and the CDP. "People's reactions to politicians like Fred Nile, George Christensen and Cory Bernardi are very personal, and the Greens respect that," she said.

"We have listened to the community and our members. We respect their feelings and their views, and our local groups this morning changed the decision we made five days ago. Senator Sarah Hanson-Young says she suspects Nauru's decision is payback for her role in exposing abuse inside the Nauru detention centre more than two years ago. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen "While most people generally understand why we put the Liberals last, there are many people in the community who have particularly strong negative feelings about Fred Nile and the Christian Democratic party. The views of Fred Nile's CDP on gender diversity, sexual equality, human rights and many other issues have infected NSW politics for decades." Pressure had built over the matter after Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young broke ranks with Greens leader Richard Di Natale, who had insisted the decision remained one for local Greens in the electorate of Sydney and said he would not intervene. Fred Nile's Christian Democratic Party is now bottom of the pile on the NSW Greens' how-to-vote cards for the seat of Sydney. Credit:Daniel Munoz

"I wouldn't have done it," Senator Hanson-Young said. Senator Hanson-Young said the CDP had been put last in her home state of South Australia and, in her view, it was a mistake for the NSW Greens to differ from that stance. "I think those parties should be at the bottom of the ticket. Here in South Australia, the Christian Democrats will be at the bottom of our ticket," she said. The SA Greens have also put Family First below the Liberals on their Senate how-to-vote card in response to the social media post of Family First candidate Steve Madden who used the Orlando shooting atrocity to warn that gay marriage still posed a "real and present danger" to Australian children. Senator Di Natale defended Greens members in Sydney who voted to place Mr Winters last behind Ms Falanga representing the CDP.

"It's a matter for the NSW Greens," Senator Di Natale said. He said the decision was about sending a message to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull that the Coalition's proposed same-sex marriage plebiscite was a "very divisive and hateful" idea. In Sydney, the Liberal Party is preferencing Ms Falanga second and Mr Winters ninth, ahead of the Socialist Alliance. Labor's deputy leader, Tanya Plibersek, who has held Sydney since 1998, is expected to retain the seat after a rumoured preference deal between the Liberals and the Greens did not materialise. Ms Plibersek this week labelled the Greens a danger to progressive politics in Australia.

"The political reality is that, far from making more progressive change possible, the Greens are more likely to prevent real change from happening because their electoral strategy now relies on preventing the election of a Labor government," she said. "Losing a few seats to the Greens could be the difference between Labor or the Coalition forming government, and while Green Party leaders might like a Liberal government because it drives protest movements, real progressives should care more about the genuine economic and social reforms that make the lives of ordinary Australians better." Follow us on Twitter