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Revision as of 07:39, 7 February 2009

Steve Fielding
Senator for Victoria
Assumed office
1 July 2004
Personal details
Born (1960-10-17) 17 October 1960 (age 64)
Victoria, Australia
NationalityAustralian Australia
Political partyFamily First Party
WebsiteOfficial website

Steven Fielding (born 17 October 1960), is a Victorian Senator and the Federal parliamentary leader of the Family First Party in Australia.

Earlier life

Fielding was born in Melbourne and educated at RMIT University, where he graduated in engineering[1], and at Monash University, where he gained an MBA. He worked as an engineer and a senior superannuation executive before entering politics. He was a member of the Knox City Council in 2003-04. Fielding is a member of CityLife Church, a large Pentecostal church in Melbourne. Fielding and his wife Susan have three children, James, Campbell and Gabrielle.

State politics

Fielding was elected to represent Victoria in the Senate at the 2004 federal election. He is the first representative of Family First to be elected to the Federal Parliament.

Since he polled less than 2% of the popular vote, Fielding's election was not expected. Like many Senators he gained a quota under the Senate's proportional representation system by receiving preferences from other parties (see Australian electoral system). The Australian Democrats and the Australian Labor Party agreed to swap preferences with Family First. But Fielding benefited from the larger-than-expected surplus of Liberal preferences, and stayed in the count long enough to receive Democrat and Labor preferences, defeating the Australian Greens' candidate David Risstrom for the last Senate place in Victoria. (For more detail see this explanation of the count by Antony Green).

Federal politics

While Family First is generally regarded as a conservative party, Fielding has said that he will not be an automatic supporter of the federal opposition in the Senate. On some issues which he sees as affecting the well-being of families, such as the WorkChoices industrial relations policies, he has indicated disagreement with government policies.

Balance of Power

With some backbenchers being willing to cross the floor, Fielding's vote has been important on some of the Howard government's more controversial legislation. His vote ensured the passage of Voluntary student unionism,[2] the overturning of civil unions legislation in the Australian Capital Territory,[3] and changes to media ownership laws.[4] Conversely, his intention to vote "no" ensured the defeat of the Howard government's proposed tightening of asylum seeker laws.[5]

Voluntary Student Unionism

Fielding's decision to support the Howard government's Voluntary Student Unionism legislation resulted in his office being targeted by anti-VSU activists, who vandalised the walls with pro-union graffiti.[2]

Luxury car tax

An increase to the luxury car tax was defeated in the Senate on 4 September, 2008, with Fielding joining the coalition in blocking the budget legislation. It was passed after Fielding negotiated exemptions for farmers and tourism operators.[6]

Considered changing parties

Wanting to "relaunch himself as a mainstream political player, beyond Family First's ultra-conservative evangelical Christian support base" as some commentators put it, Fielding considered breaking away from Family First to create another party. He tried to recruit Tim Costello and other big names around the beginning of 2008, but failed to convince them.[7] The revelations came after Fielding changed his position on abortion, after being rebuffed by his party for taking a softer approach.[8]

ISP Level Content Filtering

Steve Fielding has given conditional support to the mandatory ISP level filtering scheme. A spokesperson for Family First indicated that the party would want X18+ rated and refused classification (RC) content banned for everyone, including adults. [9]. Senator Fielding's support for Internet censorship in Australia is not currently reported on his official website.

Stunts

Steve Fielding is renowned for his publicity stunts.[10][11] Fielding joined protesting pensioners in May 2008, who brought traffic to a standstill in the Melbourne CBD, when he and others took their tops off in the style of the successful cab drivers who successfully stripped for increased cab security, to demand an increase in the Pension from the government, of an extra $70 to $100 a week.[12][13]

References


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