JOHN HOWARD has personally brokered a deal with the Family First party that would see the Coalition consult over policy with the Assemblies of God-backed party in exchange for preferences for most lower house candidates across Australia. With the Coalition keen to counter the Labor Party's dominance of the preference flows in a tight election, the Liberals signed off on the deal after a series of conversations between the Prime Minister and Family First chairman Peter Harris.

While the preference flows of the socially conservative minor party may have limited effect in most states, they will be crucial in the three marginal South Australian seats held by the Liberals. It is almost a political mirror image to the sweeping preference deal between Labor and the left-leaning Greens for Senate and 26 lower house seats reached last week. Under the deal with the Coalition, Family First will lead a direct advertising attack against the Greens and its liberal policies in four states from this weekend.

Announcing the deal, Family First representatives said Mr Howard would make some joint family policy announcements with Family First within a week. "I think that it's a watershed moment for Australian history that a new party can have influence even prior to the federal election going ahead," Family First SA Senate candidate Andrea Mason said.

Family First are in a strong position to pick up a Senate seat in South Australia reaching preference deals with every party except the Greens. Formed in South Australia just three years ago, Family First has one elected state MP and six of its seven board executive members are affiliated with the Assemblies of God church. At the 2002 South Australian elections the party polled 2.6per cent of the vote in the lower house - enough to secure two of the three South Australian Liberal marginals - and 4 per cent in the upper house.

Mr Harris said agreement between the Greens and Labor to swap preferences in the Senate and 26 lower house seat had ruled the Opposition out of any deal with Family First because of "the inability of candidates to exercise a conscience vote on a reasonable range of moral and ethical issues". Family First preferences exclude all but "three or four" Coalition candidates in the 109 seats where Family First is standing.

These candidates, who Mr Harris declined to name, "don't necessarily reflect the family agenda we have". He earlier called on these candidates to sign a three year voting agreement to support "certain Family First policy platforms and those issues remain to be resolved". But Mr Harris later retracted his statement, asking only for a commitment after moderate Liberals expressed concern over the move.

The party's policies oppose abortion, euthanasia, same-sex marriages and stem-cell research and promote sexual abstinence before marriage. Others support income tax splitting, faster immigration processing for detained asylum-seekers, and federal control of the Murray River. In exchange for Family First preferences, Mr Harris said the Prime Minister was "incredibly receptive" to introducing family impact statements for all cabinet submissions - a proposition Mr Howard has canvassed before. Internal Family First party polling has shown the primary vote has reached 4 per cent in Queensland and South Australia, a party spokesman said.

The party continues to downplay its Assemblies of God links, with Family First yesterday advising its 26 NSW candidates not to disclose religious affiliations.
(Howard now has God on his side;By Michelle Wiese Bockmann;September 25, 2004;The Australian)