Christian right Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Australia === The Christian right draws from both Catholics and Protestants in Australia. Historically, the first Christian right party was the [[Democratic Labor Party (Australia, 1955)|Democratic Labor Party]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Robinson |first=Geoffrey |title=Why the Australian Christian right has weak political appeal |url=http://theconversation.com/why-the-australian-christian-right-has-weak-political-appeal-93735 |access-date=September 14, 2022 |website=The Conversation |date=April 12, 2018 |language=en}}</ref> The Democratic Labor Party was formed in 1955 as a split from the [[Australian Labor Party]] (ALP). In [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], and [[New South Wales]], state executive members, parliamentarians and branch members associated with the Industrial Groups or [[B. A. Santamaria]] and "The Movement" (and therefore strongly identified with [[Roman Catholicism]]) were expelled from the party, and formed the [[Democratic Labor Party (Australia, 1955)|Democratic Labor Party]] (DLP). Later in 1957, a similar split occurred in [[Queensland]], with the resulting group subsequently joining the DLP. The party also had sitting members from [[Tasmania]] and [[New South Wales]] at various times, though it was much stronger in the former mentioned states. The goals of the party were [[Anti-communism|anti communism]], the decentralization of industry, population, administration and ownership.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mackerras |first=N. R. M. |date=1958 |title=Why the DLP Exists |journal=Australian Institute of Policy and Science |volume=30 |issue=4 |pages=30β34 |via=JSTOR}}</ref> The party decided, in its view that the ALP was filled with communists, that it would [[Ranked voting|preference]] the ruling conservative [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal]] and [[National Party of Australia|Country]] parties over the ALP.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Parliament of Australia |date=2022 |title=The Democratic Labor Party an overview |url=https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BN/2011-2012/DPLOverview |access-date=September 14, 2022 |website=www.aph.gov.au |language=en-AU}}</ref> However, it was more morally conservative, militantly anti-communist and socially compassionate than the Liberals. The DLP heavily lost ground in the federal election of 1974 that saw its primary vote cut by nearly two-thirds, and the election of an ALP government. The DLP never regained its previous support in subsequent elections and formally disbanded in 1978, but a small group within the party refused to accept this decision and created a small, reformed successor party (now the [[Democratic Labor Party (Australia, 1955)|Democratic Labour Party]]). Though his party was effectively gone, Santamaria and his [[National Civic Council]] (NCC) took a strong diametrically opposed stance to dominant [[Third Way]]/[[neoliberal]]/[[New Right]] tendencies within both the ALP and Liberal parties throughout the eighties and early nineties. The B. A Santamaria and the Democratic Labor party produced many alumni who became the base of the Christian right in Australia. In [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal party]], these were [[Tony Abbott]] and [[Kevin Andrews (politician)|Kevin Andrews]].<ref name=":0" /> Outside the Liberal party, conservative commentator's such as [[Greg Sheridan]] and [[Gerard Henderson|Gerrard Henderson]] also had links to Santamaria. Within the [[Australian Labor Party|Australian Labor Party (ALP)]], this alumni can be found in the [[Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association|Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA)]], which de-affiliated from the ALP with the industrial Groups in the 1950s, and then re-affiliated in the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schneiders |first=Royce Millar, Ben |date=May 1, 2015 |title=Why is the union that represents supermarket workers stopping gay marriage? |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/why-is-the-union-that-represents-supermarket-workers-stopping-gay-marriage-20150430-1mwl32.html |access-date=September 14, 2022 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}</ref> The SDA opposed gay marriage and abortion, which were some reasons for workers to form another [[RaFFWU|competing union]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Retail and Fast Food Workers Union |title=SDA Facts β Retail and Fast Food Workers Union |url=https://raffwu.org.au/campaigns/industry/campaigns-industry-sda-facts/ |url-status=dead |access-date=September 14, 2022 |archive-date=September 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220914125627/https://raffwu.org.au/campaigns/industry/campaigns-industry-sda-facts/ }}</ref> Tony Burke, who opposed euthanasia, came from the SDA.<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 10, 2016 |title=Denton lashes out at 'Catholic force' blocking euthanasia laws |language=en-AU |work=ABC News |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-10/denton-blames-catholic-force-blocking-voluntary-euthanasia/7718152 |access-date=September 14, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Parliament of Australia |title=Hon Tony Burke MP |url=https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Parliamentarian?MPID=DYW |access-date=September 14, 2022 |website=www.aph.gov.au |language=en-AU}}</ref> Currently, the NCC functions as a minority organization within the Christian Right. The more Protestant strands of the Christian Right have been far more diverse. Fundamentalist Christianity directly inspired [[Fred Nile]] and his parties. Nile in 1967β68 was assistant director of the Billy Graham Crusade in Sydney. The [[Christian Democratic Party (Australia)|Christian Democratic Party]] (initially known as the "Call to Australia" party) is on the strongly religious conservative end of the Australian political spectrum, promoting social conservatism, opposing gay rights and abortion.<ref>Fred Nile, ''Fred Nile: Autobiography'' (Sydney: Strand Publishing: 2001) {{ISBN|1-876825-79-0}}</ref> It gained 9.1% of the vote in the [[New South Wales]] (NSW) state election of 1981, Its support base has generally been restricted to NSW and [[Western Australia]], where it usually gains between 2β4% of votes, with its support being minuscule in other states. The party started to fall apart in 2019 when the moderate faction member, Paul Green, lost his seat, and when a faction of younger people attempted to dismiss the governing board.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sandeman |first=John |date=August 9, 2019 |title=CDP crisis meeting for Fred Nile's party β Eternity News |url=https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/cdp-crisis-meeting-for-fred-niles-party/,%20https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/cdp-crisis-meeting-for-fred-niles-party/ |access-date=September 14, 2022 |website=www.eternitynews.com.au |language=en-AU}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Lim |first=Anne |date=July 16, 2019 |title=Christian Democrats β regrets, they have a few β Eternity News |url=https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/christian-democrats-regrets-they-have-a-few/,%20https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/christian-democrats-regrets-they-have-a-few/ |access-date=September 14, 2022 |website=www.eternitynews.com.au |language=en-AU}}</ref> Whilst this failed, it opened up a rift between the traditional party factions that led to prolonged legal disputes and the party winding up in 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sandeman |first=John |date=March 1, 2022 |title=Winding up order issued for Christian Democratic party β Eternity News |url=https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/winding-up-order-issued-for-christian-democratic-party/,%20https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/winding-up-order-issued-for-christian-democratic-party/ |access-date=September 14, 2022 |website=www.eternitynews.com.au |language=en-AU}}</ref> Fred Nile would quickly join a new party.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sandeman |first=John |date=May 19, 2022 |title=Fred Nile joins a new party, and introduces an Aboriginal rights bill β Eternity News |url=https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/fred-nile-joins-a-new-party-and-introduces-an-aboriginal-rights-bill/,%20https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/fred-nile-joins-a-new-party-and-introduces-an-aboriginal-rights-bill/ |access-date=September 14, 2022 |website=www.eternitynews.com.au |language=en-AU}}</ref> The [[Family First Party]] is a former political party which was linked with [[Pentecostal Church]] and other smaller Christian denominations, and was also identified with the strongly religious conservative end of the Australian political spectrum. It has had one or two members in the SA parliament since 2002, and in 2004 also managed to elect a Victorian senator. Its electoral support is small, with the largest constituencies being [[South Australia]] (4β6%), and [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] (around 4%). Family First generally receives lower support in national elections than in state elections. [[Family First Party|Family First]] was merged with the [[Australian Conservatives]] Party in 2017.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 25, 2017 |title=Bernardi's Australian Conservatives to merge with Family First |language=en-AU |work=ABC News |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-25/cory-bernardi-australian-conservatives-family-first-to-merge/8471244 |access-date=September 14, 2022}}</ref> Outside of the Catholic links to B.A. Santamaria and the minor Protestant parties, some party members of the [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal]] and [[National Party of Australia|National Party]] [[Coalition (Australia)|Coalition]] and the [[Australian Labor Party]] also support some of the values of the Christian right on abortion and gay rights. The [[Australian Christian Lobby]] argues for opposition to same-sex marriage in state and federal politics.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/state-election-2012/christianity-and-the-lnp-20120207-1r60g.html|title=Christianity and the LNP|work=[[Brisbane Times]]|date=February 8, 2012}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page