Christian Democratic Party (Australia)
Encyclopedia
The Christian Democratic Party (CDP) is a right-wing political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. Its leader is Fred Nile
Fred Nile
Frederick John "Fred" Nile is an Australian politician and clergyman. Nile has been a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council since 1981, except for a period in 2004 when he resigned to contest the Australian Senate at the 2004 federal election...

, a Congregational Church
Fellowship of Congregational Churches
The Fellowship of Congregational Churches is a conservative Congregational denomination in Australia. It was formed by the forty congregations of the Congregational Union of Australia who chose not to join the Uniting Church in Australia in 1977....

 minister and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council
New South Wales Legislative Council
The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...

.

Formation

Originally established as the “Call to Australia Party” in 1977, the party grew out of earlier organisations such as the Festival of Light, with which Nile has been associated for more than 30 years. These groups had sought to mobilise conservative and evangelical Protestants as an electoral force. Nile was elected to the Legislative Council
New South Wales Legislative Council
The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...

 in 1981, and the party has managed to see a candidate elected at every subsequent New South Wales state election to date.

Policies

The party exists to support Christian representation in every level of government – Federal, State and Local.

The party claims to support policies that promote Christian values, are supportive of family values, protective of children and their rights including those of unborn children, and policies that are protective of established Australian values and systems, inclusive of a requirement that immigrants to Australia demonstrate a desire to learn English.

The party opposes abortion, euthanasia, pornography, homosexuality, adultery, incest, and Islam, most notably sharia law.

Controversies

The party and a candidate, Peter Madden, came under intense opposition from their policies and political campaign actions by the Returned and Services League of Australia
Returned and Services League of Australia
The Returned and Services League of Australia is a support organisation for men and women who have served or are serving in the Australian Defence Force ....

 (RSL). Their campaign to have the Sydney Mardi Gras banned because of, as he puts it, "the lifestyle and perversion that it promotes" saw opposition from the RSL as one of their campaign Youtube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

 videos, which featured Madden, labelled a "battle cry", calls upon "10,000 warriors" to rally against the event and shows Madden in front of the Anzac War Memorial
ANZAC War Memorial
The ANZAC War Memorial, completed in 1934, is the main commemorative military monument of Sydney, Australia. It was designed by C. Bruce Dellit, with the exterior adorned with monumental figural reliefs and sculptures by Rayner Hoff....

 in Hyde Park
Hyde Park, Sydney
Hyde Park is a large park in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Hyde Park is on the eastern side of the Sydney central business district. It is the southernmost of a chain of parkland that extends north to the shore of Port Jackson . It is approximately rectangular in shape, being squared at the...

 inviting viewers to become "lions" and join him. The NSW RSL president, Don Rowe, said that returned servicemen and women and the public as a whole find it "totally offensive" that anyone would use the image of the War Memorial to make a political statement. Don Rowe said to The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...

, "I am neither a supporter nor a detractor of the Mardi Gras and the RSL has no official position on it, but we totally disapprove of the use of the War Memorial in a politicised way. It is a sacred site and symbolises those Australians who made the ultimate sacrifice for this country and for our freedoms … not for someone trying to make a political stand."

Peter Madden was also criticized by the gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....

 and lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...

 community when he called for the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
The Sydney Mardi Gras is an annual LGBTQI pride parade and festival in Sydney, Australia, and draws in thousands of visitors from around Australia and overseas...

 to be “moved off the streets”.’
and stated in an interview with Glen Wheeler and Anthony Venn-Brown
Anthony Venn-Brown
Anthony Venn-Brown is a former Australian evangelist in the Assemblies of God and an author whose book describes his experience in Australia’s first ex-gay program....

 on the Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

 radio station 2GB
2GB
2GB is a commercial radio station in Sydney, Australia broadcasting on 873 kHz, AM. It is one of Australia's most popular talk-back radio stations, and is the number one station in Sydney.-History:The station commenced broadcasting in August 1926...

=cite web|url=http://www.2gb.com/index2.php?option=com_newsmanager&task=view&id=8133}} that one of the main objectives of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
The Sydney Mardi Gras is an annual LGBTQI pride parade and festival in Sydney, Australia, and draws in thousands of visitors from around Australia and overseas...

 was “recruitment”.

Electoral outcomes

The CDP has built a small but stable electoral base among conservative Catholics and Protestants in New South Wales, particularly in the "Bible Belt" suburbs of north-western Sydney and in some country areas, but the CDP has only achieved modest results in its attempts to expand its electoral base further. The party has comparable support in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

, but has lacked similar representation in its state parliament because its seats have higher election quotas.

The Christian Democratic Party sees the policies of the major parties as an attack on their traditional views. Gordon Moyes
Gordon Moyes
Gordon Keith Mackenzie Moyes AC is an Australian Christian evangelist, broadcaster and former politician.-Early life and career:...

 (no longer a member of the party) explained, "Our Christian heritage is under attack from pagan and secularist forces, militant Islamic groups, a neo communism under a Green guise and a strident homosexual lobby that has successfully gained the support of the Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

, Australian Democrats
Australian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is an Australian political party espousing a socially liberal ideology. It was formed in 1977, by a merger of the Australia Party and the New LM, after principals of those minor parties secured the commitment of former Liberal minister Don Chipp, as a high profile leader...

 and the Greens
Australian Greens
The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, is an Australian green political party.The party was formed in 1992; however, its origins can be traced to the early environmental movement in Australia and the formation of the United Tasmania Group , the first Green party in the world, which...

, and many from the left of the Liberal Party
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...

."

For the 1983 federal election, the CDP formed an alliance with the Victoria-based Democratic Labor Party
Democratic Labor Party
The Democratic Labor Party is a political party in Australia that espouses social conservatism and opposes neo-liberalism. The first "DLP" Senator in decades, party vice-president John Madigan was elected to the Australian Senate with 2.3 percent of the primary vote in Victoria at the 2010 federal...

. They did not win any seats and contested subsequent elections separately.

The Christian Democratic Party has generally had two (sometimes three) sitting Members in the Legislative Council (MLCs) at any one time. Usually, these two individuals have been Fred Nile
Fred Nile
Frederick John "Fred" Nile is an Australian politician and clergyman. Nile has been a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council since 1981, except for a period in 2004 when he resigned to contest the Australian Senate at the 2004 federal election...

 and one other member. The 1984 NSW election saw Nile joined by former Liberal politician Jim Cameron. Cameron retired shortly after being elected, due to serious health problems, and was replaced by Marie Bignold
Marie Bignold
Marie May Bignold is a former Australian politician. Born in Kiama, the daughter of solicitor Owen James Thomas and Sylvia May Reid, she studied law at the University of Sydney before being admitted as a solicitor in 1950...

. Nile’s wife, Elaine Nile
Elaine Nile
Elaine Blanche Nile was an Australian politician who represented the Christian Democratic Party in the New South Wales Legislative Council between 1998 and 2002...

, joined her husband and Bignold after achieving election to the Legislative Council at the 1988 NSW election. Bignold subsequently had a falling out with Fred and Elaine Nile over Bignold's opposition to the Liberal Party stance on industrial relations; a policy position supported by the Niles. The restructuring of the Legislative Council in 1991 meant that Bignold’s seat was abolished and she was forced to an early election; but she failed in her bid to seek re-election.

Retirement of Elaine Nile and election of Gordon Moyes

In August 2000, it was announced that Elaine Nile would retire due to ill health and be replaced with John Bradford
John Bradford (Australian politician)
John Walter Bradford is a former Australian politician.Born in Sydney, he was educated at the University of Sydney and then Sydney College of Advanced Education, becoming a teacher. He served in the military 1968-1970, returning to become a retail industry executive...

, a former Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....

 from Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

 who had defected to the CDP before being defeated at the 1998 Federal election. However, this fell through due to disagreements between the Fred and Elaine Nile and Bradford. Elaine Nile served until 2002, at which time she was replaced by Gordon Moyes of Sydney’s Wesley Central Mission. Moyes was elected in his own right at the 2003 NSW election.

In 2004, Moyes suggested Nile make a bid for a Senate seat at the 2004 federal election. In that election, Nile achieved 2.6% of the primary vote, but narrowly missed attaining a seat. Another rival conservative party, Family First
Family First Party
The Family First Party is a socially conservative minor political party in Australia. It has two members in the South Australian Legislative Council...

, won a seat in Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

 with 1.9% and a better preference deal. With Nile's return to the NSW Legislative Council, Moyes began to question the leadership of his former party leader.

During the New South Wales legislative election, 2007
New South Wales legislative election, 2007
Elections for the 54th Parliament of New South Wales were held on Saturday, 24 March 2007. The entire Legislative Assembly and half of the Legislative Council was up for election. The Australian Labor Party led by Morris Iemma won a fourth four-year term against the Liberal-National coalition led...

 the CDP called for a moratorium on Muslim immigration to Australia, seeking to replace them with "persecuted Christians from the Middle East." Nile said the moratorium should be in place to allow a study of the effects of Muslim migration. "There has been no serious study of the potential effects upon Australia of more than 300,000 Muslims who are already here," he said. "Australians deserve a breathing space so the situation can be carefully assessed before Islamic immigration can be allowed to resume. In the meantime, Australia should extend a welcoming hand to many thousands of persecuted Christians who are presently displaced or at risk in the Middle East." Nile and another CDP candidate Allan Lotfizadeh reported receiving death threats on account of this announcement.

Fred Nile was re-elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council on 24 March 2007, achieving a vote of 4.4%. This was the highest vote for the CDP since 1988.

Battle between Nile and Moyes

In 2007, the President of the Legislative Council, Meredith Anne Burgmann retired from public service and the Council sought a replacement. Tensions flared when both Moyes and Nile applied for the position. Nile subsequently withdrew his application and nominated Moyes at Moyes' behest. Peter Primrose
Peter Primrose
Peter Thomas Primrose is an Australian politician.He has been an Australian Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Council since 1996 and was also the President of the Legislative Council....

 was confirmed President on 8 March 2007, Moyes having received only two votes, Nile's and his own. After Nile was made Assistant Deputy President on 28 June 2007 and then Assistant President 28 November 2007, Moyes began to publicly attack Nile.

Moyes argued that Nile's anti-homosexual, anti-abortion and anti-Muslim focus should be altered and that greater emphasis be placed on environmental issues. In contrast to Nile, Moyes inferred that the burden of responsibility for Islamic terrorism lay at the feet of western civilisation, the "Crusades" and the "excesses of the 'war on terrors'.

Moyes (then aged 70 years) claimed Nile (then aged 75 years) was too old and was too "committed to gaining money and status, and [...attacked...] any who disagree[d] with himself". According to Moyes, Nile was a pathetic figure who has never laughed, has no friends, is a workaholic, has no interests or hobbies, eats fast-food meals and when in Sydney attending Parliament, spends every night alone in a cheap motel in western Sydney.

In February 2009, Nile wrote in his monthly newsletter that he regretted allowing Moyes to take his wife's place upon her retirement "because of his disloyalty and divisive actions and his frequent support of the Greens". Moyes stated that the "Greens" were "far more Christian".

Moyes also attacked the Christian Democratic Party itself, stating that the party was a cult, a hypocritical, anti-Christian, anti-democratic dictatorship that adhered to the values of extremist fundamentalism. Moyes claimed that the "end was nigh" for the party as there was a conspiracy to disband the party and form a new conservative Christian political party. Moyes attempted to draw Nile's Parliamentary staff into the conflict by making claims that they had intimidated and bullied his own.

Moyes ignored repeated warnings from the CDP management committee, claiming that they were dysfunctional. a committee of the "sad, mad, senile and aggressively ambitious." As a result, Moyes was expelled from the Christian Democratic Party in March 2009 by secret ballot of its members. Moyes became an independent for several months before joining the Family First Party in 2009.

Moyes failed in his attempt to be re-elected at the 2011 state election
New South Wales state election, 2011
Elections to the 55th Parliament of New South Wales were held on Saturday, 26 March 2011. The 16-year incumbent Australian Labor Party government led by Premier Kristina Keneally was defeated in a landslide by the Liberal-National coalition opposition led by Barry O'Farrell.New South Wales has...

.

Election of Paul Green

Paul Green
Paul Green (Australian politician)
Paul Green , an Australian politician, is a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council representing the Christian Democratic Party since the 2011 election.-Political career:...

 was elected to the NSW Legislative Council at the 2011 state election. Aged 45 years at the time of his election, it is assumed that Green will success Nile as leader of the CDP on Nile's retirement, that he has announced will take effect from 2015.

Federal

  • John Bradford
    John Bradford (Australian politician)
    John Walter Bradford is a former Australian politician.Born in Sydney, he was educated at the University of Sydney and then Sydney College of Advanced Education, becoming a teacher. He served in the military 1968-1970, returning to become a retail industry executive...

     MP (1998)representing (McPherson
    Division of McPherson
    The Division of McPherson is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. The division was created in 1948 and is named for the McPherson Range, which forms one of the divisional boundaries...

    , Qld). Bradford was elected to the House of Representatives
    Australian House of Representatives
    The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....

     in 1990 as a member of the Liberal Party
    Liberal Party of Australia
    The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...

    . On 7 April 1998 Bradford resigned his membership of the Liberal Party, and sat in the House as a member of the Christian Democratic Party until the 1998 federal election; in which he unsuccessfully contested the Senate
    Australian Senate
    The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...

     for the CDP.

New South Wales

  • Fred Nile
    Fred Nile
    Frederick John "Fred" Nile is an Australian politician and clergyman. Nile has been a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council since 1981, except for a period in 2004 when he resigned to contest the Australian Senate at the 2004 federal election...

     MLC (19812004; 2004present)
  • Jim Cameron MLC (1984)
  • Marie Bignold
    Marie Bignold
    Marie May Bignold is a former Australian politician. Born in Kiama, the daughter of solicitor Owen James Thomas and Sylvia May Reid, she studied law at the University of Sydney before being admitted as a solicitor in 1950...

     MLC (19841988)
  • Elaine Nile
    Elaine Nile
    Elaine Blanche Nile was an Australian politician who represented the Christian Democratic Party in the New South Wales Legislative Council between 1998 and 2002...

     MLC (19882002)
  • Gordon Moyes
    Gordon Moyes
    Gordon Keith Mackenzie Moyes AC is an Australian Christian evangelist, broadcaster and former politician.-Early life and career:...

     MLC (20022009)
  • Paul Green
    Paul Green (Australian politician)
    Paul Green , an Australian politician, is a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council representing the Christian Democratic Party since the 2011 election.-Political career:...

    MLC (2011present)

Bignold remained in Parliament without CDP endorsement until 1991
Moyes remained in Parliament without CDP endorsement as an independent

External links

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