Loading "He made a phone call which was picked up by our message service, he then made a phone call to our admin staff but I haven't called him back and won't be calling him back because we won't be taking on his campaign," Burstin told the Herald and The Age. With little other choice, Folau has now launched his own platform via the Australian Christian Lobby. By Tuesday morning, almost $300,000 had already been raised in just over eight hours. The ACL kick-started the fund with a $100,000 donation of their own.

'Fight for religious freedom': Donations pour in for Israel Folau on the ACL site. Credit:Australian Christian Lobby "Recently, the online fundraising platform GoFundMe shut down Israel Folau’s legal defence fund and turned away hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations," ACL managing director Martyn Iles said on the website. "On behalf of the Australian Christian Lobby, I have spoken to Israel Folau to let him know that ACL will be donating $100,000 to his legal defence, because it’s right and it sets an important legal precedent. "I have also offered to host his online appeal for funds here on our website and he has accepted our offer. "All gifts you give on this web page will be deposited into a trust account to pay for Israel Folau’s legal case.

"So, please give generously today to help Israel Folau stand for your religious freedom." Loading The new campaign comes just 24 hours after GoFundMe closed down Folau's page and issued more than $700,000 in refunds to those who had donated. "As a company, we are absolutely committed to the fight for equality for LGBTIQ+ people and fostering an environment of inclusivity," GoFundMe Australia regional manager Nicola Britton said. "While we welcome GoFundMes engaging in diverse civil debate, we do not tolerate the promotion of discrimination or exclusion."