Family First Party

The Family First Party is a political party in Australia. Although officially a secular party, it does have close links to the Pentecostal movement, and its social policies generally mirror conservative Christian values (which are not to be confused with politically conservative values). The party was founded in South Australia in time to contest the 2002 state elections, when Andrew Evans became its first MP, winning a seat in the South Australian Legislative Council. In the October 2004 federal election it contested seats all over Australia, and its preferences assisted the re-election of a number of Liberal candidates. The party's leader is Steve Fielding, a Victorian elected to the Australian Senate in 2004.

Conservative status

The main base of support for the Family First Party comes from churches that are often described by commentators as "conservative". This label, which is a theological one, generally describes churches that adhere to a more literal interpretation of the Bible, as opposed to "liberals" who interpret the Bible in more metaphorical ways. This term is not automatically synonymous with the political term "conservative", which currently refers to the Liberal Party and the US Republican Party. Although there are many moral issues in which theological conservatives tend to agree with political conservatives (abortion, euthanasia, pornography and, to a lesser extent, homosexuality), there are many issues which many theological conservatives disagree with political conservatives (immigration, social welfare, Aboriginal affairs and the Iraq war, among others). In these issues, the Family First Party tends to disagree with the traditional political conservative position. This contrast makes the Family First Party difficult to categorise, particularly in the commonly polarised "right" and "left" of popular politics.

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