QLD: New party for more than evangelical Christians

AAP General News (Australia)
08-09-2004
QLD: New party for more than evangelical Christians

By Chris Herde

BRISBANE, Aug 9 AAP - The pastor who will head Family First's Queensland Senate ticket
in the coming federal election denies it is a party exclusively for evangelical Christians.

"We are value orientated rather than Christian orientated," Pastor John Lewis said today.

Anyone who supported family values was welcome, regardless of their religious background.

Family First, launched nationally yesterday, is expected to make a strong showing in
Queensland due to the void left by One Nation.

Pastor Lewis is the party's number one Senate candidate for Queensland.

In order to run his election campaign, Pastor Lewis has taken leave from Brisbane's
Assemblies of God Northside Christian Church and Christian College, which he founded 27
years ago.

Pastor Lewis said the new party was a "conservative-type party" but not solely for
evangelical Christians.

"We are clearly stating that this is not a religious party, this is a family based
party," he said.

"Though I am a minister there will be lots of people in our party and our candidates
that will not be of the same persuasion as myself.

The party, which has a number of evangelical Christians in its hierarchy, has already
tasted success at state level.

The national party grew out of Family First's success in the 2002 South Australian
state election when leader Andrew Evans won an upper-house seat.

Mr Evans was the general superintendent of the Assemblies of God in Australia until 1997.

Yesterday, the party chose Andrea Mason, the daughter of a pastor of the Aboriginal
Evangelical Fellowship, as its national leader.

She is the first indigenous Australian woman to lead a party in the 103-year history
of federal politics.

The party expects to fight it out for the sixth Senate seat in Queensland with the
Australian Democrats, child abuse campaigner Hetty Johnston, the Greens and possibly the
Nationals.

AAP ch/sc/bes/it/sd

KEYWORD: FAMILY QLD

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