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What can we learn from this year’s federal election results? What may we expect in the years to come? Cody Mitchell and Warwick Marsh provide an overview of the issues to consider.

Well, the election is over. While voting continues and the results in several seats remain uncertain (at the time of writing), the overall result has become quite clear. Labor leader Anthony Albanese is expected to gain a majority in the House of Representatives and has become Australia’s 31st Prime Minister. Former PM Scott Morrison has stepped down from his position as leader of the Liberal Party and former Defence Minister Peter Dutton is expected to take the reins in his stead.

While Albanese has marketed himself as a moderate “Bob Hawke”-style Labor leader, his affiliations within the Labor Party are cause for concern for Christians. Albanese is currently a member of the ALP’s Socialist Left faction, but during his time as a student, he was aligned with Young Labor’s Hard Left, a faction that had links with the extreme Communist Party of Australia.

Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that the ALP will be sympathetic to either Australia’s Christian heritage or to contemporary religious concerns. That said, during the election campaign, there were positive concessions made to the community concerning religious freedom, although we will have to work to hold them accountable.

Overall, the ALP ranked very poorly on the Christian Values Institute’s Christian Values Checklist. Thankfully, there have been some positive developments. Here are the main points:

BOTH MAJOR PARTIES WERE PUNISHED

Both major parties received notable swings against them: at the time of writing, the Coalition lost 5.5% of their primary vote and, despite its win, the ALP lost 0.6%. The major parties’ combined primary vote is the lowest on record.

Labor’s victory came despite its lowest first preference vote in modern times and the Coalition’s support has also plunged to extreme lows.

Minor parties are on the rise, now making up over 30 per cent of the vote around the country (almost as much as either of the major parties).

Minor parties and independents played a huge role in the election. However, despite so-called “freedom friendly minor parties” winning nearly 12 per cent of the vote, they were unable to pick up any seats in the House of Representatives (partly due to a fractured strategy and divided campaign resources).

THE PRO-LIFE VOTE IS GAINING MOMENTUM!

Nonetheless, One Nation, a party that ranked highly on the Christian Values Checklist for its pro-life stance, received a positive swing to it. Pauline Hanson has won her Queensland Senate seat and the party is still in the running for a seat in South Australia (although it is unlikely).

The pro-life vote is strengthening! Although it did not translate into a significant number of seats, this result sets us up positively for future state and federal elections.

The Greens sadly won an additional two seats in the House (and are a chance for a third). This would take the number of Greens to four in the House of Representatives and potentially twelve in the Senate. Even more significantly, a group of seven independent candidates (all funded by billionaire Simon Holmes à Court) have succeeded in their bid to overturn safe Liberal seats.

STRONG CHRISTIAN SENATORS LOST THEIR SEATS

Sadly, the position of Liberal Zed Seselja, a Christian senator for the Australian Capital Territory, looks like it has been lost following a strong challenge from independent David Pocock. Senator Amanda Stoker, who was demoted to the third-placed position on the Liberal National Party ticket in Queensland, has lost her seat, and Senator Eric Abetz, who received similar treatment from his party in Tasmania, looks almost certain to lose his seat to the anti-Christian Jacqui Lambie Network.

If the worst happens, the loss of senators Zed Seselja, Amanda Stoker and Eric Abetz will be a sore blow to faithful Christian representation in parliament.

THE LIBERAL PARTY WAS PURGED OF ANTI-RELIGIOUS-FREEDOM MPs

A large number of anti-Christian Coalition MPs and candidates have been unseated. The powerful so-called “moderate” faction has been proactively undermining Christian policies within the Coalition for years now, with some even blatantly opposing religious freedom and Christian schooling by crossing the floor to vote against religious freedom.

Those MPs were severely punished by the Australian voters.

None of them was safe, with numerous very safe Liberal seats falling to either the ALP, the Greens or Independents. In fact, Trent Zimmerman, Dave Sharma, Fiona Martin and Katie Allen, four of the five MPs who voted against religious freedom, lost their seats on Sunday — all of them were on the receiving end of a powerful campaign by the Australian Christian Lobby.

The ABC recognised this new situation in the Liberal Party, stating that there “will be few moderate voices left in the party room” after the election.

This means that voters have kicked out a number of aggressive anti-Christian members from within the Liberal Party, giving it the opportunity to reform positively. This is hugely encouraging for the long-term state of the Liberal Party as a party that defends Christian values.

DON’T GIVE UP – KEEP UP THE FIGHT!

Christians should not be dismayed by the result.

We can benefit in several ways from this election:

1. We can learn from the mistakes of complacency, disunity and apathy among Christians. Christians need to unite (Ephesians 3:4-6). Only then will we truly be a force for God’s glory and the Gospel.
2. We can pray that Australia will wake up to the reality of dark forces within this nation that seek to tear down our Christian witness and heritage. This election may provide the catalyst for this. As ACL boss Martyn Iles has often said about this election, we may need to experience “short-term pain, for long-term gain”.
3. We can be encouraged that anti-Christian and anti-Religious Freedom Liberal MPs were soundly defeated at the election. Christians and Christian organisations are contributing positively as salt and light in our nation. We are partnering with God to expose wickedness, demolishing strongholds, arguments and “every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God” (2 Corinthians 10:3-6 NIV).
4. We can be inspired to persevere in evangelisation, in prayer and in activism as we are able and as we are led.

We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your faithful support during this campaign. You have helped us to facilitate and empower prayer and to support voters in making wise decisions. We do encourage you to persevere in your support for Kingdom work here in Australia, whether that be through prayer, activism or financial support.

If you led, please consider supporting the ongoing and expanding work of the Canberra Declaration. Help us to stand up for Aussie Values Down Under.

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We are in this for the long haul by God’s grace. Keep up the good fight and let your light shine in our society!

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.”
(Matthew 5:14, NKJV)

— Cody Mitchell and Warwick Marsh

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Photo: Nick Haggarty/ABC News