Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
THE Christian Democratic Party advocates on behalf of the three forgotten pillars of society – family, community and the church.
The party’s New England candidate, Stan Colefax, is a Newcastle-based reverend who has known Christian Democratic Party leader Fred Nile for more than 35 years.
He said the Christian Democratic Party was “all about the people”.
“We want to help people see they need to have a relationship with God,” Mr Colefax said.
“The difference between humans and animals is we worship. Religion is the number one thing for all people throughout the world – every group of people worship something.
“There is a spiritual dimension no one is thinking about.”
The Christian Democratic Party rejects any redefinition of what a family is, and believes in protecting religious freedoms and the ability to preach openly.
The party sees itself as a defender of local communities, which are under pressure from big government and big business. Mr Colefax served as a warden of a bush hotel at Mungindi on the Queensland border and as a senator of an Anglican church in Armidale.
“I got to know something about country life,” he said.
Education
THE Christian Democratic Party recognises the future of the nation lies in the hands of the children of today and sees education as a key area that must be addressed.
It believes higher education plays a vital role in society and is a big supporter of TAFE, promising to protect the organisation.
It proposes to work with education and trade skills providers to reduce the burden of red tape, regulation and reporting, which would allow the sector to concentrate on delivering results and services.
The party also wants to invest further in advanced job skills training, increase funding for Christian schools, improve the education skills of teachers, and put parents, principals and school communities in charge of how their school is run – not bureaucrats.
Stan Colefax said while it was important children were highly educated, they must also be morally educated.
“We must teach them right from wrong,” Mr Colefax said.
“I know a lot of well-educated people in jail.
“There are strange things taught in schools these days – how many know about God the creator? What are we going to do if we don’t know how to worship God?”
The Christian Democrats want to work with state governments to aim to have 40 per cent of Year 12 students studying a foreign language, preferably an Asian language, within a decade, to equip them with the skills necessary for the jobs of the future.
Coal mines and education
“GOD gave us our land and we must remember we have to look after the land.”
Mr Colefax said there had to be a balance between the agricultural and mining industries.
“We must find some way to do two things: produce coal to export and to make money for country, but never lose the best parts of our country,” he said.
“We have these great depositories of coal, so we might as well use them.” He said farming was mentioned all throughout the Bible.
“If the land is to be productive, we’ve got to do it God’s way,” Mr Colefax said.
“Our farming community has done marvelously well with a lot of new innovations.”
While the Christian Democratic Party remains agnostic about climate change, it does encourage the development of economic alternatives to fossil fuels and cleaner coal mining technologies.
Mr Colefax said renewable energy “seems to be the logical thing to do”.
“I’ve seen in Western Australia renewable energy is going quite well. These things have got to be looked at and not brushed off.”
Infrastructure and jobs
THE party rejects the idea of cutting workers’ penalty rates.
It says attacking penalty rates will impact the most vulnerable in the workforce, as any reduction or removal will disproportionately affect low-paid workers and their families, who would then need to work extra hours to receive the same income.
Furthermore, cutting penalty rates will have a detrimental impact on family time, especially on Sunday, which is a day of rest and worship for many. Those compelled to work on weekends should be compensated accordingly.
Stan Colefax said employment was “always important”.
“It’s not good to be giving out money all the time – I’ve done social work with many people who have hardly ever worked and always been on the dole,” he said.
The Christian Democrats acknowledge regional Australia is vital for the prosperity of the nation.
The need for good rural and regional infrastructure “can never be understated” – not just for the local community, but for the nation as a whole, he said.