Family First Party | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founded | 2002 |
| Dissolved | 26 April 2017 |
| Merged into | Conservatives |
| Succeeded by | Family First (2021) |
| Headquarters | 77 Fullarton Road, Kent Town, South Australia |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Right-wing[1] |
| Religion | Christianity (Assemblies of God)[1] |
| Colours | Blue and orange |
| This article is part of a series on |
| Conservatism in Australia |
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The Family First Party was a conservative political party in Australia which existed from 2002 to 2017. It was founded in South Australia where it enjoyed its greatest electoral support. Since the demise of the Australian Conservatives into which it merged, it has been refounded in that state as the Family First Party (2021), where it contested the state election in 2022, but failed to win a seat.[2]
Family First had three candidates elected to the Senate during its existence—Steve Fielding (2005–2011), Bob Day (2014–2016), and Lucy Gichuhi (2017; elected on a countback following Day being declared ineligible). At state level, the party won a seat in the South Australian Legislative Council across four consecutive state elections (2002, 2006, 2010, and 2014). It also briefly had representatives in the New South Wales Legislative Council and Western Australian Legislative Council, as a result of defections from other parties.
The party was generally considered to be part of the Christian right. Though it had no formal affiliation with any particular religious organisation, Family First was strongly linked to the Pentecostal church in South Australia, and nationally from smaller Christian denominations. Family First in South Australia was viewed as an infusion of ex-Liberals via Robert Brokenshire and Day. Originally advocating a moral and family values agenda, Day, who would become Family First's major donor, later reoriented Family First to begin to emphasise issues such as industrial relations reform, free speech and smaller government, which brought Family First closer to Cory Bernardi's Australian Conservatives. Family First and its two state parliamentarians Dennis Hood and Brokenshire joined and merged with Bernardi's Australian Conservatives on 25 April 2017.[3]
Newly appointed Family First senator Lucy Gichuhi did not join the Conservatives, and became an independent senator when Family First was disbanded.[4] Gichuhi was invited to join the Australian Conservatives' voting bloc in the Senate,[5] but ultimately chose to join the Liberal Party.[6] Brokenshire was not re-elected at the 2018 state election, and Hood left the Conservatives to join the Liberal Party on 26 March 2018.[7]
- ^ a b c Ghazarian, Zareh. "Small Parties, Big Changes: The Evolution of Minor Parties Elected to the Australian Senate". aph.gov.au. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019.
- ^ "South Australia Election 2022 - Legislative Council Results". ABC.
- ^ Green, Antony (26 April 2017). "The Urge to merge - Family First and the Australian Conservatives". ABC. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
- ^ "Bernardi's Australian Conservatives to merge with Family First". ABC News. 25 April 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
- ^ "Bernardi's alliance intends to bloc Xenophon". The Australian. 27 April 2017.
- ^ "'Australian success story': PM welcomes Gichuhi to Liberals". SBS.
- ^ Harmsen, Nick (26 March 2018). "Dennis Hood dumps Cory Bernardi's Australian Conservatives to join SA Liberals". ABC News. Retrieved 26 March 2018.