The nanny who lost her job after saying she would vote 'no' in the same-sex marriage survey spoke on The Bolt Report on Tuesday night saying, "I'm not afraid to stand up for my beliefs."
The 18-year-old woman who identified herself only as Madeline, told Sky News that she doesn't believe she should have been fired.
"This is a democracy and we were given the options and asked as Australians to vote yes or no, and it is my opinion to vote no. I don't think that my job should be taken away from me just because I have an opinion that someone disagrees with," Madeline said.
On Sunday, Madeline's former boss, business owner Madlin Sims, announced on Facebook that she had fired the nanny. The decision came after Madeline used an 'It's OK to vote no' filter on her Facebook profile picture.
Sims declared Madeline's beliefs homophobic and said she fired the 18-year-old as she posed a risk to the people with whom her business works.
Sims followed up on Tuesday with a second post to Facebook, justifying her reasons for firing the contractor. According to Sims, the second post has since been removed by Facebook for containing hate speech.
"She was let go because her actions showed she is extremely out & proud about her views on homosexuals and as someone who, as I said before, has an responsibility to the vulnerable people we work with, could not risk her voicing those opinions to any children of ours," Sims wrote on Tuesday.
"We have gay staff members. We entertain at parties where the children of gay parents attend. We entertain at parties where gay children attend.
"This. Woman. Was. A. Risk."
Madeline disagreed with the idea that she was risky by referring to her family-centric, Christian upbringing.
"I am the oldest of eight kids, I have helped in Sunday schools and church camps and kids camps and I am a nanny at the moment. I have always worked around children, children are just what I know," Madeline told Sky News.
"To be called a homophobe, to say that I am a risk for the children that I work with and the families of the children I work with, I highly disagree."
Both Sims and Madeline also spoke to Triple J's 'Hack' program.
"As I have said in a few of my Facebook posts, everyone is entitled to their opinion, we are a democracy, all good, that is not the problem," Sims told Triple J.
"The problem for me is that we work with children. We work with children who might be gay and they don't know it yet, we work with children who have gay parents, gay uncles, a lot of our staff members are gay. So, Madeline, for her to post that on Facebook and connecting herself with the business, that was a big no-no. That's why I decided to no longer use her services."
Following Sims' comments, Madeline explained to Triple J that she is in "complete shock".
"I was very hurt," she said. "I didn't understand why, you know, I kind of did understand, because most people see my view as bigoted. I did understand where she was coming from but, when I wasn't able to explain myself to her because she has blocked me, I felt even more hurt."