View Family First Party Responses

Most legislation affects the family in some way.  Family First is the only party that has as its top priority the well-being of Australian families and the success of small businesses.

Family First will promote family values and campaign on the issues that really matter to families and small businesses, like improving job security and workplace conditions, reducing skyrocketing petrol and grocery prices, choosing the childcare that is best for them, including in-home care by a grandparent, and helping Australians buy their first home.

Family First wants to reduce Australia's alcohol toll, have high-level Internet filtering to protect children from Internet pornography, have decent standards on television, offer a pro-life voice in Parliament and value those parents who choose to stay at home to look after their children.

Family First believes family life flourishes when couples strive for a stable and loving marriage and are faithful to each other. The best environment to raise children is for them to have both a mother and a father.

Healthy and stable family life is the key to the prosperity of our communities and society.  Family First is passionate about families and will support legislation that supports family life and supports parents, who have the toughest job of all – raising children.

Family First is Australia's only family party: the only party that has as its number one objective to make sure every piece of legislation helps every Australian family reach its potential.  

Family First wants Australia to be the best country in the world in which to live and raise a family. Family First believes that Australian families should have the opportunity not only to survive but to thrive.

Family First recognises the Judeo-Christian heritage of this country and seeks to support and strengthen these values in our society.

Family First is the only political party that operates with a values statement, emphasising the importance of 'values' within our party and the Australian community.
 

Family First is passionate about caring for Australia's environment to preserve it for our children and future generations to enjoy.  Family First believes we must adopt common sense policies that strike the right balance between maintaining our prosperity and providing more jobs for more Australians, while ensuring that we protect our natural environment and wisely use our precious resources.

Family First believes the impact on families has been ignored in the debate over the environment and climate change and fears families will be worse off. Too often the debate involves highbrow discussions of matters which are removed from the everyday realities of families, such as carbon trading and renewable energy targets.

Family First supports ratifying the Kyoto Protocol and its aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Family First also supports the negotiation of a post 2012 agreement to extend the Kyoto Protocol.

Family First believes an emissions trading scheme should be implemented by 2010, but does not believe markets serve families well.

Family First is concerned that the cost to business of complying with an emissions trading scheme will be transferred to families through increased costs of goods and services. Family First wants an emissions trading scheme to include compensation for families.

Family First supports greater investment in the cleaner uses of fossil fuel. Family First believes we need to consider how we employ other technologies to combat global warming including renewable fuels and our land and transport use. Family First wants to expand the system of energy efficiency star ratings.

Family First opposed the Pregnancy Counselling Bill and an earlier bill from day one.  Family First leader Steve Fielding took an active role in the Senate committee hearings, defending pregnancy counselling agencies. Senator Fielding has also spoken in the Senate twice to oppose the bill.

Family First opposes the bill because it seeks to overturn the current system of pregnancy counselling and replace it with one which pushes agencies to become involved in abortion referrals. The bill corrupts the notion of non-directive counselling. It says that to be non-directive you have to be willing to direct your client to an abortion clinic. 

Family First will not only oppose similar bills but opposes abortion and shares the community's view that the number of about 90,000 abortions in Australia each year is too high and should be reduced.

Family First is concerned about research that reveals how abortion harms women. Many women have abortions because they lack financial or emotional support. There is also evidence of psychological harm associated with abortion.

Family First will try to reduce the number of abortions by ensuring women have real and genuine choices about whether or not to have an abortion, including details of agencies that offer practical support – such as financial assistance, legal advice and parenting classes – to those who continue with their pregnancy. Family First supports the Government's funding of independent counselling for women through Medicare.

Family First voted against bringing the abortion drug RU486 into Australia.

Family First opposes cloning human embryos for research. Family First believes it is important to find cures, but that we should stick to research that has produced cures, which is research using adult stem cells. There have been no cures using embryonic stem cells.

Family First believes cloning human embryos for research is controversial and wrong. It is deliberately creating new human beings with the intention of destroying the embryos for research, for the promise of cures that may never come.  

Family First voted against the human cloning of embryos and continues to campaign for the Government to focus solely on the research which is producing results: research using adult stem cells.

Family First opposes euthanasia and believes people with suicidal thoughts do not need lethal help, but life-saving assistance.

There are many ways we can help people struggling with personal crises or major life transitions such as losing a loved one or job; a psychological disorder or alcohol and substance abuse. Family First supports palliative care as a successful way to alleviate pain and care for people in a dignified and respectful manner.

Family First took a strong stand against the publication of a suicide manual by euthanasia doctor Philip Nitschke and lobbied for the dangerous book to be banned.

Family First calls for more government funding to fund suicide prevention and support desperate and vulnerable Australians who contemplate suicide.

Family First opposes the diverting of scarce foreign aid funds to abortions because the demands on Australia's foreign aid money are already so great.

It is also important that, as a nation, we question our priorities. Surely we should be doing everything possible to ensure that pregnancy is made safer for women in the Third World. That should be our priority. We should not be focusing on how we can pay for more abortions.

More that half a million women in the Third World die every single year because of complications in pregnancy and childbirth. That is one death every minute. For every woman who dies, a further 20 are seriously injured or disabled due to complications.

Family First fully supports Millennium Development Goal No. 5 on maternal health: to reduce by three-quarters the rate of death during pregnancy or during childbirth in the Third World.

Why should we divert scare dollars in Australia's foreign aid money to abortions when we cannot even offer women in developing countries the opportunity to safely give birth?  

Family First also believes it is important to remember what happened to Australian aid money before these sensible restrictions were imposed on how the money could be spent.

Australian aid dollars went to the United Nations Population Fund, which was involved with China's brutal and abhorrent one-child policy, under which there were forced abortions and forced sterilisations.

The Australian Government should not provide money to such organisations and should not provide aid funds for abortion related activities.

Family First opposes the diverting of scarce foreign aid funds to abortions because the demands on Australia's foreign aid money are already so great.

It is also important that, as a nation, we question our priorities. Surely we should be doing everything possible to ensure that pregnancy is made safer for women in the Third World. That should be our priority. We should not be focusing on how we can pay for more abortions.

More that half a million women in the Third World die every single year because of complications in pregnancy and childbirth. That is one death every minute. For every woman who dies, a further 20 are seriously injured or disabled due to complications.

Family First fully supports Millennium Development Goal No. 5 on maternal health: to reduce by three-quarters the rate of death during pregnancy or during childbirth in the Third World.

Why should we divert scare dollars in Australia's foreign aid money to abortions when we cannot even offer women in developing countries the opportunity to safely give birth?  

Family First also believes it is important to remember what happened to Australian aid money before these sensible restrictions were imposed on how the money could be spent.

Australian aid dollars went to the United Nations Population Fund, which was involved with China's brutal and abhorrent one-child policy, under which there were forced abortions and forced sterilisations.

The Australian Government should not provide money to such organisations and should not provide aid funds for abortion related activities.

Family First supports a strong system of border protection, to determine who comes to Australia and who does not. But it has to be a fair system.  Family First believes migrants and refugees have made a positive and enriching contribution to Australia's development and will continue to have a positive impact on our society's growth and prosperity.

Family First recognises and supports Australia's international and humanitarian commitments in regard to asylum seekers but is also concerned about the need to protect Australia's borders from illegal immigration.

Family First recognises that many asylum seekers wait for many years in refugee camps and believes in strengthening international and Australian agencies and institutions which are responsible for managing and processing the flow of displaced peoples so refugees may be resettled more quickly.

Family First also recognises the importance of ensuring well managed immigration programs that, while supporting Australia's interests, are also compassionate and support families.

Family First believes all unauthorised arrivals and asylum seekers should be detained in secure centres to assess health, identity and security issues. Family First supports providing additional resources to ensure detention time is kept to an absolute minimum. Asylum seekers should then be transferred to low security hostels until their claims can be fully processed.

Family First supports the position that applicants not eligible to remain in Australia should be deported as soon as is practicable. But Family First believes deportation rules should be relaxed for those who have suffered long periods of detention and uncertainty.

Family First is conscious that 825 million people suffer from chronic hunger, more than 10 million children died before their fifth birthday in 2004 and more than a billion people do not have access to safe water.  The World Health Organisation estimates that two of the biggest killers, malaria and tuberculosis, account for three million deaths each year. Both diseases are preventable and treatable.

Family First is concerned that more than half a million women in the Third World die every single year because of complications in pregnancy and childbirth. That is one death each minute. For every woman who dies, a further 20 are seriously injured or disabled due to complications. Family First believes it is important that governments make significant commitments to international aid to tackle these basic development issues.

Family First believes it is even more important that we all think carefully about what part we can play to help people in developing countries, for example by sponsoring a child.

Family First believes that law and order and governance programs are important parts of the aid budget. Aid funds cannot be usefully spent in communities where law and order is not established.  But this needs to be balanced with the need for people on the ground to see demonstrable improvements in health, education, water supply and sanitation.

Family First wants the Government to increase its foreign aid spending to 0.7 per cent of gross national income by 2015.

Family First wants the Government to commit funds to a special initiative to give families in developing countries access to clean water, especially in Australia's region.

Family First wants the Government to place a special emphasis on maternal health, to reduce the rate of women dying during pregnancy or childbirth. Family First strongly opposes diverting scarce foreign aid funds to abortion-related activities, which would take money from poverty alleviation and development.

Family First will work with social housing organisations to provide appropriate housing, using federal funds directed into these organisations instead of through state government agencies. This would help first home buyers, low rental and emergency housing.

Family First believes Australians with an intellectual or physical disability should be respected as full and equal members of society. This respect should be reflected in their full participation in our community, rather than their current marginalisation.

Family First is concerned about the Productivity Commission's findings that people with a disability were less likely to finish school, to have a TAFE or university qualification or be employed. They earn less than half the average income and are more likely to be in public housing.

Family First believes that work is important for self esteem and well being and that one way to improve employment prospects is to improve skills and education.

Family First supports initiatives to make it easier for people with a disability to access education and learning, such as by finishing school or attending TAFE or university.

Family First urges the Government and private sector employers to promote the benefits of employing people with disabilities. Working with people who have disabilities promotes understanding and respect for people who are different and have special needs.

Family First supports initiatives to ensure people with a disability can participate more fully in the paid workforce.

Family First supports improvements to health services to improve health care for people with a disability.

Family First supports fair and adequate income support and care for people with severe disabilities to ensure a fulfilling life with opportunity for social, recreational and creative activities.

Family First recognises that many people around the world are persecuted. Family First supports people being given asylum in Australia on the grounds of genuine persecution.

Family First believes immigration assessment processes should be reformed to ensure fast and fair processing of asylum seekers to promptly determine the substance of their claims for refugee status. 

Family First voted in the Senate to oppose the ACT's Civil Unions Act 2006 which stated that a civil union "is to be treated for all purposes … in the same way as a marriage".

Family First represents ordinary Australian families and mainstream common sense values. For this reason, we believe it is vital to defend marriage, and promote marriage.

Family First believes we should as a community be putting the case FOR marriage – promoting marriage, strengthening marriage and improving marriage.  Marriage is one of our most important cultural institutions - created and maintained over thousands of years - which has stood the test of time. Marriage is the foundation of family life and offers the best environment in which to bring up children.

Family First believes that, too often in these debates, children get ignored. The interests of children must always come first, and it is in the child's best interest to be raised, where possible, by a mother and a father, who have made a lifelong commitment to each other through marriage.

Marriage is the ideal – it is the best form of relationship society can aspire to – and Family First is passionate about protecting marriage, strengthening marriage and promoting marriage.

Family First believes marriage and relationship breakdown in Australia is a national crisis and the social, emotional and economic costs are huge. A failure rate of 40 per cent is enormous, disturbing and unacceptable. Children suffer the most, and that is why urgent action is needed. Almost half of all divorces in 2004 involved children under 18. Of those, about one quarter involved children under five. Family First's top priority is the welfare of children.

Family First believes this is a huge community issue because it is not just the individuals involved who are affected, but our whole society is damaged.

Family First believes the Government is spending a miniscule amount to tackle marriage and relationship breakdown compared to the enormous toll it wreaks on society.

Family First acknowledges the Government has established Family Relationship Centres with the stated aim of helping separating couples avoid the court process, but Family First believes this measure fails to address the real issue, which is the underlying cause of marriage and relationship breakdown.

Family First has taken an active role in senate committees to examine the causes of marriage breakdown.

Family First believes the focus must be on preventing marriage and relationship breakdown, not on the 'after-effects' such as ensuring the process of separating or divorcing is as smooth as possible.

Family First believes the best environment for a child is to be raised by a mother and a father.  Family First recognises that through family breakdown or a death in the family this is not always possible.

Family First understands the considerable strain on couples who are unable to conceive a child and apply to adopt, but often have to wait years to complete administrative procedures and for a child to become available.

Family First recognises that due to the small number of children available for adoption, many couples spend huge amounts of money to adopt a child from overseas.  Family First wants an investigation into uniform, adoption-friendly laws across the country. The current system of different states having different adoption laws is confusing and difficult for families.

Same as summary answer.

Family First supports the practice of saying the Lord's Prayer at the beginning of each Parliamentary day. Family First leader Steve Fielding makes a special effort to attend the prayer at the beginning of each Senate sitting day. Family First recognises Australia's Judeo-Christian heritage and seeks to support and strengthen these values in our society.

Family First opposes prostitution. Family First wants the Parliament to investigate the existing Swedish laws which have reduced prostitution in Sweden. The Swedish model focuses on demand by penalising men who purchase women for sex. Women in prostitution are helped to leave the industry by government-funded exit programs. Family First will work on behalf of the women who are trapped in this industry, to protect them and their welfare.

Family First wants to reform television standards so that sexualised music video clips cannot be shown during children's viewing time and offensive advertisements like the Nandos pole dancer commercial cannot be shown.

Every day we see images in print and on television that tell girls and young women they should wear less and be sexually available. Children are not being allowed the innocent childhood that is their right.

Earlier this year Family First was quizzing government officials in a senate committee on television standards and was shocked to find no one in the Howard Government is responsible for regulating advertising. With some minor exceptions, the job of regulating advertising is left to the industry body, the Advertising Standards Bureau. So no-one is publicly accountable.

Family First is appalled that the television advertising industry regulates itself. The Advertising Standards Bureau is an industry body comprising actors, academics, artists, writers and ex-politicians. Family First does not believe this is appropriate.

Family First calls on the Government to take responsibility for television advertising to ensure ads reflect community standards. Family First believes this should be the responsibility of the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

Family First noted that pornography is a problem in the wider community, but not to the extent of the accounts of pornography in indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, where some children are brought up to regard this material as normal.

Family First notes that all government-funded computers in the Northern Territory will have special pornography restrictions. That is important, but it is also an irony given that federal parliament does not place the same restrictions on the computers of its members and senators. Family First has campaigned for members and senators to show leadership on this issue.

Family First believes we should be doing everything possible to ban Internet pornography and protect our children from this vile material.

Family First believes Internet pornography is a huge community concern. Parents want a safe Internet environment for their kids yet feel powerless because we cannot be watching over their shoulders all the time to monitor what they are seeing.

Family First supports the Government's National Filter Scheme but is disappointed the Government has failed to deliver mandatory filtering at the Internet Service Provided (ISP) level.

Family First supports providing free filter software for public libraries but is concerned because libraries do not have to install it.

Family First has long been calling for mandatory filtering at the ISP level. It is only by mandatory filtering at the ISP level that we can help protect all children from exposure to pornography.

Family First blocked religious vilification legislation in South Australia. Family First will oppose any such legislation. 

Family First will support specific legislation where real human rights infringements are found but has strong concerns about a Bill of Rights.

Family First is appalled that the Office of Film and Literature Classification can interpret guidelines broadly to effectively change what the guidelines say. For example, the general rule is that no real sex can be shown in an R-rated film, but the Classification Review Board of the OFLC has overturned that rule on a number of occasions.

Family First has used senate estimates committees to pursue concerns about the OFLC's interpretation of guidelines.

Family First is just as concerned about standards on television.

Family First wants to reform television standards so that sexualised music video clips cannot be shown during children's viewing time and offensive advertisements like the Nandos pole dancer commercial cannot be shown.

Everyday we see images in print and on television that tell girls and young women they should wear less and be sexually available. Children are not being allowed the innocent childhood that is their right.

Earlier this year Family First was quizzing government officials in a senate committee on television standards and was shocked to find no one in the Howard Government is responsible for regulating advertising. With some minor exceptions, the job of regulating advertising is left to the industry body, the Advertising Standards Bureau. So no-one is publicly accountable.

Family First calls on the Government to take responsibility for television advertising to ensure ads reflect community standards. Family First believes this should be the responsibility of the Australian Communications and Media Authority
(ACMA).

Family First believes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, like all Australians, have rights and responsibilities. Indigenous Australians have the right to good education, housing and health care, but they also have a responsibility to make sure their children go to school, their homes are well maintained and they look after their family's health.

Many indigenous Australians live happily with their neighbours in well-functioning communities, but many do not.

Family First believes there is a need to rebuild the role of families in indigenous communities to help combat drug and alcohol abuse, disrespect for neighbours, lack of personal responsibility and the loss of basic social standards. Alcohol and drugs have led to a breakdown in values in the community. Indigenous Australians can only improve their lives by establishing and maintaining supportive and functional communities.

Family First supports the Government's action to take charge of remote indigenous communities. Family First wants a substantial investment to ensure that all indigenous Australians have access to good health care.  

Family First has a 10 point plan to counter binge drinking, which is a scourge across the Australian community. Binge drinking is a huge issue in many indigenous communities, leading to the neglect of children, sexual abuse and other violence and the early deaths of many people.

Family First wants to ensure that all indigenous children are literate to a standard equal to non-indigenous children, so they will be able to fully participate in the community. This requires a substantial investment by governments.

Family First believes Australians work to live, not live to work. Parents in the paid workforce are parents first and workers second. Achieving a work/family balance is a real challenge and too often family time is sacrificed for work demands.

Family First voted against WorkChoices (the Government's workplace changes) because it removed guarantees for basic workplace conditions and made families worse off. It is important that workers are treated fairly and feel secure in their jobs and that they are guaranteed conditions such as overtime and meal breaks.

Family First believes we need to strike the right balance between the needs of employers and employees. Most employers and employees do the right thing but we need strong protections for those who seek to abuse the system.

Family First introduced legislation to ensure all workers who have to work on public holidays would be guaranteed a minimum of another day off paid at time and a half; that all workers would get an unpaid meal break of at least 30 minutes after five hours; that all workers would receive overtime at a minimum rate of time and a half and that all workers would be guaranteed penalty rates at a minimum of time and a half for working anti-family hours as well as their full redundancy entitlements.

Family First successfully amended WorkChoices to double the protection period for workers' redundancy pay to two years.