Family First get party status

Family First will be an official party at the next NSW state election after signing up 853 members in under three months and paying a $2000 registration fee to the Australian Electoral Commission.

The party gained its first representative in NSW Parliament last November when former Christian Democrat-turned-independent Dr Gordon Moyes MLC agreed to be its NSW leader.

It already has a Victorian-based Senator, Steve Fielding, who has long opposed gay and lesbian law reform.

In an exclusive interview with Southern Star this week, Moyes allayed fears that his party would seek to roll back gay and lesbian rights in NSW.

“We have no intention to seek repeals of any sort,” he said.

Moyes said his party would consider future reforms benefiting gay and lesbian people where he believed them just. “We … would consider supporting changes to unjust laws as I have done to support rights to superannuation, travel benefits for partners, etc.”

However, he said he was unaware of any remaining areas where gay and lesbian people were treated unjustly under state laws and would oppose a Victorian-style relationship registration scheme in NSW.

“It should be noted that such registrations are not compulsory and they do not confer legal rights as does a marriage. Same-sex partners may make a written declaration that they are sharing their lives together,” he said.

“Because so many same-sex couples break up with so many being left without adequate compensation for what they put into the relationship, I feel registration achieves little unless it has a legal right to recompense.”

Family First, through Senator Fielding, has opposed both same-sex marriage and civil unions.

Earlier this month Moyes issued a press release declaring the NSW Government’s inaction on same-sex adoption reform to be a “victory for families”.

“No matter how he dresses and how competent in the kitchen he may be or what he calls himself, Mrs Doubtfire can never be the same as the children’s own mother,” he wrote.

Moyes said he had “no regrets” about making this statement.

Moyes does not oppose gays and lesbians being foster carers.