Does Australia’s most conservative state need an extra conservative party? After all, it has One Nation and Katter’s Australian Party (KAP), both with a history of scoring seats in the state’s unicameral party. That’s the test facing Family First (FFP), the re-born party largely supported by politically conservaytiveChristians.
The KAP hung onto their three northern seats and await a nail-biting result in Mirani, where a disendorsed One Nation MP, Stephen Andrew, has joined KAP. This means One Nation is now out of the Qld parliament, as Andrew was their last MP.
And in a strange example of personal resilience a former Family First candidate Kerri-Anne Dooley, has entered the Qld Parliament on her sixth try – the first attempt was for Family First and the five other including her 2024 success have been for the LNP. The new member for Redcliffe certainly deserves an award for persistence.
Family First ran in 59 of Queensland’s 93 electorates. In ten of them FFP achieved a 4 per cent vote, according to Family First’s national Director, Lyle Shelton. “In most seats Family First polled a very credible 2-3pc, including in traditional Labor areas like Logan and Woodridge which confirms family policy concerns transcend left and right,” Shelton reports.
By comparison, Fred Nile achieved 9 per cent at his first election to the NSW Upper House – by far his best result and the high water mark for minor party Christian Conservatives in Australia.
Former Senator Amanda Stoker won the set of Oodgeroo, joining other high-profile Christians in the LNP benches, including former SU executive Tim Mander. An issue for Family First is that the coalition is the political home for some 40 per cent of Christians overall, according to the NCLS.