13th March, 2005

Steve Fielding and his wife, Sue. PICTURE: Gordon Alderson   "That’s my passion, I suppose that’s the reason why I’m in Family First - that I really want to see Australia continue to be a great place to raise Australia...Businesses are represented in Canberra and the environment is and unions are but most people think that families could have a stronger voice and that seemed to make a lot of sense to me and I just felt that I wanted to get involved in some way..." - Steve Fielding

Steve Fielding, a 44-year-old Victorian, is the first Senator-elect for political party, Family First. He spoke with DAVID ADAMS...

Who is Steve Fielding?
“Steve Fielding is one of 16 children and also an executive for the last 20 years in business - I’ve got an engineering degree and an MBA. I've also I’ve got my own family with three children. So I’m a businessman, I’m a husband, I’m a father, I’m a community man, and now a federal politician.”

What was the spur which took you into politics?
“Look I think at the heart of every politician is wanting to put back into the community. You obviously feel as if you’ve got something to contribute and just want to see this country of Australia continue to be prosperous and somewhere where it’s great to raise a family. That’s my passion, I suppose that’s the reason why I’m in Family First - that I really want to see Australia continue to be a great place to raise Australia...Businesses are represented in Canberra and the environment is and unions are but most people think that families could have a stronger voice and that seemed to make a lot of sense to me and I just felt that I wanted to get involved in some way...”

And what about your faith - did that play a role?
“I’m certainly a Christian and I suppose there’s plenty of Christians in the major parties. To me, it was more that Family First was more in line with my wanting to pursue family issues in parliament and that’s the reason why I got involved with them.”

Because one of the features of the campaign was that Family First was at pains to point out that, despite the tagging of the media, it wasn’t a Christian party but was a party with Christians in it.
“Look at from the point of view of say, an engineer who happens to be a Christian who then builds a bridge. Is that a Christian bridge? I suppose it’s the same for me being a Christian and a politician - it doesn’t necessarily make us a Christian party. I suppose that the CDP (Christian Democratic Party) have picked up that ground and that’s the ground they want to position (on) whereas I really want to pursue the angle of social family issues that seemed to make more sense to me.”

When you’re talking about these family issues - formulating policy within Family First - where do you draw your thoughts from?
“Let’s look at an issue like industrial relations. How do you work out where you should go on minimum wages, for example, or unfair dismissal? They’re not clear cut issues...Our premise is that we’re probably better off to make sure that the vulnerable worker or the low-paid worker is looked after...I love the idea of maybe just looking after that particular person so when we’re looking at industrial relations, that’s the issue. When we’re looking at telecommunications, my major issue is how do we make sure that there’s affordable and accessible telecommunications to general Australians...I grew up in the northern suburbs of Melbourne and went to school around the Thomastown area so I know what it’s like in struggling families...I’m keen to help those people. I’ve got a passion for those social issues from there so it’s not just the moral issues that I’m focusing on - I’m certainly very keen to look after those that are struggling. Not only that, it’s to look at the issues of why they’re struggling...”

It’s quite a broad social policy you’re obviously talking about. Is it difficult to get across that message when it’s all to easy for, I guess the media in particular, to pigeon-hole whole you as the morals man basically?
“Yes and no. We have got relationship links (to the church) because that’s where we started...What happens is as you grow, you use relationships to actually grow but with time you actually broaden those relationships. To give you a tag - they’ve created this tag that we’re the AOG (Assemblies of God) party. Well, I’m not with the AOG. So automatically we’re broadened outside of that and we’ll broaden even further from there. It will just take time...”

You met with the Prime Minister (John Howard), last Thursday - what was the meeting about?
“Obviously the first point was the family impact statement..."

Can you explain what you mean by that?

"If I mention the environment impact statement, you think ‘That’s changed our whole thinking’ so when someone comes up with an idea today, they immediately think of how much is that going to cost, how much am I going to make, can I afford it...and then pretty soon behind that, you start thinking ‘Well, how’s that going to affect the environment?’ That’s the same thinking I want behind this family impact statement - what’s the social impact on people, on families, and how does it affect us. So that’s where we’re going with this thing - to make it have as much bite and as much teeth as the environmental impact statements have; to make people think not just about the economy and how it’s going but how are we going socially. Where are we with this particular issue?”

When you're talking about families, who are you talking about?
“When we are talking about families, everybody is in a family. You and I aren’t here because you didn’t have a mum and a dad. Now whether you’ve still got the same mum and dad or whether they’re still around or whether you’ve got siblings - it’s those relationships that we want to strengthen...I’ll say it right up front, that in our definition of family, we won’t be advocates for the gay movement because we don’t see how that sustains children being born and we really believe ourselves that it’s good for a child where possible to be brought up with a mum and a dad...We think that we need to be a voice for families that we see being brought up with a mum and a dad. Single parents are included in our model - we’d like to see them strengthened and make sure that they’re supported as well. Singles - they’re (also) included (as well as) children, mums and dads and grandparents...We need to strengthen those relationships because, I know myself, when you’re really in trouble, it’s family that are going to help you get out of it a lot of the time. Not all the time but a lot of the time it's family and if it’s not family then at least it’s someone who has got a heart for you.”

You mentioned before that you’re not with the AOG. So which church do you go to?
"It’s an evangelical church called City Life. I’ve been there for 10 years. It’s not perfect because I’m there but it’s a good church; it’s a good community church - it does a lot for the local area and that’s what churches should be for.”

How did you come to be a Christian - were you brought up in a Christian family?
"I think like a lot of people my age - I mean in the mid-40s - my parents sent me down to Sunday school and when I was old enough not to go, I didn’t go...It was only back in 1993 that I became a Christian and I suppose it was at that stage that for some reason I started to have a look at what was written in the Bible and it seemed to make sense to me. The conclusion I came to was that I wasn’t an accident and there was a God and that was my decision. Now, I don’t want to put that on other people, that’s for them - we believe in freedom of religion and freedom of speech...”

You were quoted as saying that “Australia works best when there’s a constructive third political force”. Are you saying there that there hasn’t been a constructive third political force?
"I think in the political system Australian’s love this idea that there’s some check and balance in the Senate so they do like this idea of a third party just sort of keeping an eye on it. On the other hand, they don’t like the tail wagging the dog either - ‘How come you’re holding us ransom on this issue?’ So there is dilemma in the Australian mindset about we do want someone there keeping a check on it but we don’t want you frustrating the system. So what I’m saying is what people want is a constructive third party that does actually review the system and doesn’t hold us to ransom on things...To me that’s very easy, it doesn’t need me in the Senate to say that’s a good idea or that’s a bad idea. It needs me there being constructive and looking at it and saying ‘hang on a second, here’s a better way of doing it’ or ‘that is good but let’s change it that one degree to make it work even harder for our families’."

To be a bit of a lateral thinker?
"Absolutely and that’s probably my strength to a certain extent...I’m not a politician but coming from a family of 16, I know what factions are all about...The other issue is that being one of 16, I’ve seen 16 families grow. I’ve seen 16 families form and I’ve seen the struggles that they face first-hand...and I suppose that helps me really see things from a broader perspective. I’ve got a sister that’s mentally handicapped, for example, and I’ve got my parents that are ageing and struggling with that issue. I’ve seen a niece of mine that’s had a heart transplant at two...You’re talking really about a lot of lives..."

The last federal election was hailed as something of a victory for the Christian constituency in particular. Was there a message for the major parties coming out of the election as a result of that?
"I think there was definitely a shift to getting back to more of a value-driven (approach), I suppose - you’d have to say that. I would think that there’s a lot of people that feel as if the Coalition had probably a better sense of what was important to Australians and that’s the reason why the shift really occurred and Labour had just maybe misread it...We’re starting to wake-up that there’s more to work, our relationships with people and our families and I suppose that we need to get that balance right. I would say that had more of an influence than just the Christian factor. It’s more about values, I suppose..."

Any other burning issues in Australia at the moment?
"Asylum seekers is an important issue to us. There’s two issues with that - one is that we need to make sure that we’ve got the security right, that our national borders are secure...but surely keeping people in detention for two and three and four and five years, to me, is just wrong. It’s not a compassionate response and it’s not a response that I’d like to see us carry forward for too much longer. We’re lobbying the Prime Minister on this issue and I’m hoping to see some change..."

And obviously the abortion issue has come back on the agenda?
"It wasn’t raised really during the election and then it seemed to be pretty soon after that the Coalition actually raised the issue and then as soon as they raised it, they wanted to actually shut it down. I suppose my thinking is that by shutting it down too early, there’s a whole number of people in the community who haven’t been heard on the issue and...I think we shouldn’t be too frightened to talk about these issues. I really think we should be at least allowing people to have their say on it. There’s a bunch of politicians talking about it, a bunch of blokes maybe. Let’s hear from some of the women on the issue as well. I’m hearing stories from women who felt they’ve forced into having an abortion, that they didn’t know there was any alternative to a certain extent. Now that’s just wrong. The other thing I’d say is that if you asked most people here’s a 100,000 or it’s 70,000 - whatever the number is - do you think that’s too many and I think they’d say that is probably too many...What we need to have is for the informed part to be informed and that’s where we need to have independent information being provided to these women who are facing this particular decision which I think is a very difficult decision...and secondly what are the alternatives?"

Lastly, where do you see yourself and where do you see Family First in 10 years?
"I really believe that Family First has a real opportunity to become the major third party in Australia. I think as more people that hear about us and hear what our heart is and what the issues are that we are wanting to progress they’ll respond extremely positively. Knowing that I think Australia works with a constructive third party that really wants to add value and is values-based and really wants to see this nation continue to be a strong place to raise families. That will see Australia continue to grow."