Having last looked in on them on February 28, I decided to sneak a peek at the Australian Christian Right once again. What I found was interesting, to say the least. All but two of the ‘usual suspects’ seem to be inert and unresponsive.

Endeavour Forum (Australian national anti-feminist group), the National Civic Council (riven by schisms) and the Festival of Light (their SPCS equivalent) all remain quiescent. The Howard administration may have provided substantial benefits to the Christian Right while in office (except on the issue of abortion, where liberalised access now prevails across most Australian states and territories), but its downfall last November has apparently vitiated most of those pressure groups.

That is, apart from two exceptions. One of them, the Christian Democratic Party, will be no stranger to most LGBT New Zealanders, as Reverend Fred Nile has vented his ire against LGBT inhabitants of New South Wales since he was elected to the NSW Legislative Council in 1984. He’s still there, spluttering his antipathies, but even  he won’t live forever- and he’s already in his seventies.

In Adelaide, the Saltshakers organisation seems to have become one of the two core conservative Christian lobby groups, trying desperately to prevent the state of Victoria from decriminalising abortion, which is odd, considering Australia already has an anti-abortion movement to do that- albeit a highly fragmented one, with rivalries between Right to Life Australia and the Federation of Right to Life Associations almost identical to those between Right to Life New Zealand and Voice for Life (SPUC) here.

What does this signify? Australians have minds of their own, it seems, and certainly know wowsers and bible-bashers when they see them. Moreover, Kevin Rudd’s social conservatism may get him into deep trouble electorally, as it now seems apparent that the voters may well have wanted some relief from the retro divisiveness and censorious nostalgia of the Howard era. One hopes that it proves malleable, given that apart from his refusal to repeal same sex marriage legislation or contemplate civil unions, he is a breath of fresh air on issues of indigenous rights, industrial relations and environmental care.

Not Recommended:

http://www.cdp.org.au

Christian Democratic Party (Fred Nile, New South Wales)

http://www.endeavourforum.org.au

Endeavour Forum- Australian antifeminist group

http://www.saltshakers.org.au

Salt Shakers- Adelaide based fundamentalist pressure group

http://www.fol.org.au

Festival of Light- anti-sexworker, anti-gay and general ChristianRight pressure group, roughly equivalent to the SPCS here. Recently renamed “Family Voice”

http://www.newsweekly.com.au

News Weekly/National Civic Council- Australian conservative Catholic pressure group.