Month: August 2010

While those of us who live here in Australia wait anxiously to see who is going to become our next Prime Minister after such a close federal election, let's be sure to lift our eyes and realise that we are only one small part of what is now a global village. We live in a networked world and through technology we can be instantly aware of what is taking place anywhere on the planet. This can become overwhelming at times but we can also become numb and immune to the issues and suffering that others are experiencing right now.

God is clearly at work. He is building his church and expanding his kingdom, more often than not in in hidden and subversive ways. At the same time, we live in a fallen world where tragedy and calamity occurs every day, affecting someones life forever. Every now and then it pays to turn on a world news program such as SBS to avoid becoming overly Australia-centric. Right now we can think of 33 workers stuck in a mine in Chile, 17 million people affected by recent floods in Pakistan, landslides in Turkey and fires in the Philippines. That's in addition to wars taking place and our global economy still trying to recover.

What can we do? We can pray – for Christians, church leaders and workers in these places, and for those who do not know Christ to become aware of God's love for them … even during difficult times. Intercessory prayer (praying for the needs of others) enables us to partner with God and what he is doing … anywhere in our world. It also gets our eyes of off ourselves for a moment and on to the needs of others.

The voting is over and the 2010 Australian federal election has turned out to be the closest election result in our short history as a nation. No out-right leader has emerged yet and we may end up with a hung parliament. 

A few observations are clear: 

1. The Labor Party has had a large swing against them right across the nation, with many seats falling to the Liberals. Maybe the de-throning of Kevin Rudd has come back to haunt them after all. Julia Gillard looks a little shaken, to say the least. 

2. The Liberal Party has made a remarkable comeback, after losing the nation's leadership a few years ago. Who would have thought that this would have occurred so quickly after Kevin Rudd's historic win over John Howard and his resultant high popularity rating even up to just twelve months ago. Tony Abbott has pulled off quite an achievement. 

3. Like it or not, the Greens Party have emerged as a legitimate third party in our nation. They will hold the balance of power in the Senate and will be a force to be reckoned with in the years to come. Their appeal to the younger generation and to swinging voters disillusioned with the major parties is only growing. 

4. If a government can be formed, there will only be a slight majority. Maybe this isn't such a bad result after all, as governing will require a greater degree of partnership and collaboration OR maybe it will just be difficult to get much done at all. Only time will tell. 

5. The Christian vote continues to emerge as having a significant influence around election time. See a report about this here.

6. Finally, at times like these, it is good to remind ourselves that God rules in the daily aspects of our human lives, including politics. He puts one leader up and takes another one down. Everything and every one is under his ultimate authority and power. His will will be done. I can sleep on that.

The Liberal Party of Australia has been the opposition party since losing the 2007 federal election. Prior to that, it had held power since the 1996 election. At the state and territory level, the Liberals hold government only in Western Australia. The Liberal Party was founded after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party. When in government, the Liberals usually govern in a coalition with the National Party. 

Tony Abbott is the current leader of the Liberal Party with Julie Bishop as his deputy. For more background on Tony Abbott, click here. For more details about the history, structure and policy of the Liberal Party of Australia click here. For more information about the current Liberal Party, visit their web site here.

The Australian Labor Party has been the governing party in Australia since the last federal election in 2007. Labor currently governs all states and territories other than Western Australia. Labor is the country's oldest political party, having been founded in 1891. 

Julia Gillard is the current leader of the Labor Party and the Prime Minister of Australia. The former Deputy Prime Minister became Prime Minister on June 10th, 2010 when former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd stepped down, after losing the support of his party. She is the first female Prime Minister and the first not to be married. For more background on Julia, click here.

For a full overview of the history, structure and policy of the Australian Labor Party, click here. To learn more about the current Labor Party, visit their web site here.

 The Family First political party was founded in South Australia in 2002 and spread nationally in 2004. The Family First party has not sought to promote itself as a Christian or church-based party but rather as a party with a primary focus on looking out for families.

Family First currently has four members in parliament, two in SA, one in NSW and one in Federal Parliament – Steve Fielding, who was elected in 2004.

Steve and his family attend CityLife Church. However, I do not act as Steve's policy adviser. We have casual conversations from time to time about various issues but as a politician he is there to represent the views of his party and he is accountable to the Family First Board of Directors.

To find out more about Family First and their policies, visit their web site. You can also ask questions or give feedback directly to Steve or any other Family First members using the contact details on their web. Like every political party, they are always looking for volunteers around election time.

The Australian Green's Party is gaining more and more interest here in Australia, especially amongst the younger generation who seem to be looking for an alternative to the Labor and Liberal political parties. It is estimated that the Greens could win anywhere between 10-16% of the Australian vote. There is also a high probability that they will hold the balance of power in the Senate after this election, which will place them in a very influential role, much like Family First member Steve Fielding has had over the last term (Family First does still have a chance to be re-elected if enough people vote #1 for them with their Senate vote). 

Overall, people tend to love the Greens or hate them. Herald Sun journalist Andrew Bolt is not too keen on them, nor is Salt Shakers or Bill Muhlenberg. In contrast, Jim Reiher, a follower of Christ, joined them a few years back and is running for a seat in Latrobe at this next election. You can visit Jim's BLOG here and click here for a personal profile.

Personally, I would be concerned at the refusal of the Green's Party to honestly answer 18 of the 24 questions put to them by the Australian Christian Lobby on a wide range of very important policies.

To check out the Green's Party policies for yourself, visit their web site here. As Christians we are called to discern and vote accordingly. 

The Australia federal election is just under two weeks away (Saturday, August 21st). Every election is a very important time in any nation and as followers of Christ we should take our responsibilities as citizens seriously. Voting is a privilege and we should be diligent in our research of each candidate and the various political parties vying for our support.

The Australian Christian Lobby has done us an excellent service by compiling the various viewpoints of each party on a wide variety of issues. See their web site here, which includes a recent interview of Julia Gillard who was not the Prime Minister at the June 21st Make it Count event in Canberra, when the Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and the then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd addressed church leaders from across the nation.

In addition, be aware that each voter gets two votes … one for the House of Representatives and one for the Senate. The Senate vote does not determine whether Labor or Liberal win government but rather who holds the balance of power in the Senate (for instance, that is how Steve Fielding from Family First became a Senator at a recent federal election with only a small percentage of the overall vote). 

Please make an informed vote and let's continue to pray for our nation of Australia, a country filled with opportunity for the church to be the hands and feet of Jesus.  

P.S. For an interesting pre-voting exercise, visit news.com.au Voteamatic 2.0.

Last week I received a phone call from Barney Zwartz, a journalist from the Melbourne AGE newspaper. He wanted to get my pulse on the upcoming federal election. We had a 5-10 minute conversation together and talked about a range of issues. In his actual article, I ended up with one quote …

"Mr Conner, senior pastor at Melbourne's biggest church, CityLife, said he was not concerned by Ms Gillard's atheism: 'Primarily you are looking at them to have what it takes to run the nation' – but felt Mr Rudd's dumping would cost Labor more than the party realised."

In fairness to Barney, he didn't have space to quote everything I said or give the full context of the statement he did quote. Of course, any time you are quoted by the media … there is always the possibility of misunderstanding. I have had emails from a few people about my quote asking me whether I was suggesting that people should vote for Julia Gillard and whether I didn't think faith for a political leader was important. Neither of those are true. I was thankful for the opportunity to clarify myself and will do so in this blog post.

First of all, my personal approach and our approach as a church at CityLife is to be politically neutral, in that we don't tell people who or what party to vote for. We encourage prayerful and diligent research, so that followers of Christ make intelligent use of their privilege as an Australian citizen to vote for those who will govern us. So, never have I said and never will say, "Vote for Julia Gillard" … or anyone else for that matter.

Discussion has come up about Julia's atheism and whether any potential Prime Minister who does not have a Christian faith should be considered as a possible candidate to vote for. It is an issue worth thinking about. Let me paint a scenario for you …

Continue reading “Does the Prime Minister need to be a Christian?” →