How will Family First Affect Australia’s Political Landscape?
Concern is mounting that if the Coalition wins control of the Senate, this will erode its important role as a house of review and turn it into a rubber stamp for the Government. Of particular concern is the emergence of the Family First party from relative obscurity to a potentially powerful player in the Australian political landscape. Victorian candidate, Steve Fielding, looks set to win a seat with just over 45,000 votes because almost every other party including Labor, preferenced Family First over The Greens. Tasmanian Gay rights Activist, Rodney Croome, fears that the christian fundamentalist policies that were kept hidden behind a soft family oriented view prior to the election, will soon come to the fore. Croome believes this will severely impact not only gay and lesbian communities, but all forms of diversity in Australian society.