Tax chooses dead language

Tax chooses dead language
Australian IT - Australia
... Family First Senator Steve Fielding said the tax project "made a lot of sense, and it's obviously needed", but he was putting the Tax Office on notice: "I ...

Beattie's Labor courts Family First preferences

Beattie's Labor courts Family First preferences
Australian - Australia
QUEENSLAND Labor has begun courting a preference deal with the church-backed Family First party in a bid to contain a resurgent Coalition ahead of next year's ...

Family First want cannabis recriminalised

Family First want cannabis recriminalised
Sydney Morning Herald - Sydney,New South Wales,Australia
Family First SA leader Andrew Evans said statistics on cannabis use showed serious health consequences, including higher rates of schizophrenia, depression and ...

Christian God 'seen as fair game'

Christian God 'seen as fair game'
NEWS.com.au - Australia
... as fair game when it comes to poking fun at religious icons, while Jews and Muslims are seemingly off-limits, Family First senator Steve Fielding said yesterday ...

Family First confident of election success

Family First confident of election success
ABC Online - Australia
Family First is hopeful the South Australian election will help the party gain momentum and exposure as a middle-of-the-road, socially-conservative force in ...

Australia Lawmakers at Odds Over RU 486 Abortion Drug Drinking ...

Australia Lawmakers at Odds Over RU 486 Abortion Drug Drinking ...
LifeNews.com - Helena,MT,USA
... Family First senator Steve Fielding took video footage of a sign posted by four senators who sponsored the measure to strip Health Minister Tony Abbott of his ...
See all stories on this topic

Tabloid goes feral over stadium
Sydney Morning Herald - Sydney,New South Wales,Australia
... of this site. Returning to our favourite senator masquerading as a journalist, Steve Fielding of Family First. After ticking him ...

Democrats in Greens deal

Democrats in Greens deal
Advertiser Adelaide - Adelaide,South Australia,Australia
... Family First Upper House candidate Dennis Hood said the party's preference arrangement would most likely be announced next week. ...

Abortion debate blogged

Abortion debate blogged
NEWS.com.au - Australia
... Family First senator Steve Fielding has been told to remove online video footage of a sign inside Parliament House directing people to celebratory drinks ...

How we feel about abortion

How we feel about abortion
Brisbane Courier Mail - Queensland, Australia
... Recently, Family First Senator Steve Fielding called for the introduction of a cooling-off period of several days between making an appointment and having an ...

Model of a friend in need

Model of a friend in need
Sydney Morning Herald - Sydney,New South Wales,Australia
... noteworthy. He will be a very welcome guest.". The Family First senator, Steve Fielding, is joining Bob Carr in playing journo. In ...

Family First calls for tax cuts for ALL taxpayers

FAMILY FIRST CALLS FOR TAX CUTS FOR ALL TAXPAYERS

Family First wants to reduce the tax burden on all Australians and give special help to families by increasing the tax-free threshold according to the number of children they have.

A report in today's Australian says that, in response to Reserve Bank Governor Ian Macfarlane's comments that tax cuts are affordable, the Prime Minister said that was "… identical with what Peter Costello and I have been saying for weeks … It's a question of what the balance and the mix is."

The Government should increase the tax-free threshold as an alternative to reducing the top tax rate, because it benefits all taxpayers.

The Government should:

• Increase the tax-free threshold for all taxpayers from $6000 to $8000 this year – rising to $13,000, the equivalent of a subsistence income, in future years. The increase to $8000 would cost $2.9 billion.
• Give families a further $1000 increase in the tax-free threshold for each dependent child. This would cost approximately $1.7 billion.
• Cut the petrol excise tax by 10 cents per litre, which would cost $3.8 billion.
  

Family First believes Australians should be able to earn a subsistence income before they pay tax. The amount of $13,000 is common sense as it is roughly the level of welfare income for a single adult with no children.

If the market is an indicator, petrol is a significant issue in the community. Large retailers are offering petrol discounts to attract customers. Petrol taxes have a disproportionate effect on families in outer suburbs and regions where public transport is inadequate, people travel further and the two-car household is virtually a necessity.

For media enquiries phone Chief of Staff Felicity Dargan on 0409 550 446

VSU threatens jobs, services: Labor

VSU threatens jobs, services: Labor
Australian - Australia
... rammed legislation banning compulsory student unionism through the Senate in December after winning a crucial vote from Family First senator Steve Fielding. ...

Fed Gov under pressure to provide more tax cuts

Fed Gov under pressure to provide more tax cuts
ABC Online - Australia
... MELANIE CHRISTIANSEN: The comments from the Reserve Bank Governor have also encouraged another key player in the Senate, Family First's Steve Fielding. ...

Dennis Hood - 6 articles

Family First bid for state seats
NEWS.com.au - Australia
The party's former federal director, Dennis Hood -- number one on the Family First Upper House ticket -- said today the party was looking forward to ...

Illegal drivers policy
Advertiser Adelaide - Adelaide,South Australia,Australia
... offence. Family First's Legislative Council candidate Dennis Hood said yesterday a first offence should be met with "a hefty fine". ...

SA 'could not cope' with bird flu
Advertiser Adelaide - Adelaide,South Australia,Australia
Dennis Hood, campaigning for a place in the Legislative Council at the March poll, said the current bed shortage in both public and private hospitals meant the ...

Family First to be key player
Advertiser Adelaide - Adelaide,South Australia,Australia
... and Hartley. The party's former federal director, Dennis Hood, said he was "looking forward to rattling a few marginal cages". Mr ...

Family First pushes P-plate curfew
Advertiser Adelaide - Adelaide,South Australia,Australia
... Dennis Hood, Family First's lead legislative council candidate for the election, said under the policy the P-plate curfew would begin at midnight and finish at ...

Ban taxpayer-funded ads: MP
Advertiser Adelaide - Adelaide,South Australia,Australia
... Family First Upper House candidate Dennis Hood has pledged to crack down on government-sponsored information campaigns if elected. ...

Gay rights activists concerned over growing influence of Family First

Gay rights activists concerned over growing influence of Family ...
ABC Online - Australia
... There were a number of MPs who were doing everything they could to throw obstacles in the way, most notably Andrew Evans from the Family First Party, but also ...

Family First senator urges Govt to explain IR impact

Family First senator urges Govt to explain IR impact
ABC Online - Australia
Victorian Family First Senator Steve Fielding says the Federal Government should explain what impact changes to industrial relations laws will have on families ...

Coalition gains Senate majority

Coalition gains Senate majority
ABC Online - Australia
... John Howard cannot be assured of support on all issues from two newcomers - the Queensland Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce and Family First's Stephen Fielding. ...

Senator Fielding says he will not support any policies that will hurt Australian families and will be taking a close look at how a Telstra sale will affect families.

He says he also has some concerns about the proposed changes to industrial relations.

"I'm lucky enough to be starting a new job today and I've got a secure job and what I would be saying is that is it too much to ask that Australian families have also a secure job," he said.

"Job security is a very big concern and it's very hard for families to plan ahead and it causes high stress and high anxiety for people."...

Fresh faces, clean slates

Fresh faces, clean slates
Age (subscription) - Melbourne,Victoria,Australia

...But the real wild card in the new Senate line-up is the conservative-minded Family First senator-elect Steve Fielding.

With the Nationals' Barnaby Joyce already on the record as opposing the sale of Telstra and expressing strong reservations about other key legislation, such as the move to ban compulsory student unionism, Fielding could become a crucial number to get critical Government legislation over the line.

A family-values man with strong connections to Australia's burgeoning evangelical church movement, Fielding has already been carefully courted by Prime Minister John Howard and Communications Minister Helen Coonan.

But while Fielding's natural conservatism would appear to put him closer to the Coalition than to Labor, which way this entirely unpredictable man will vote on key legislation is impossible to predict.

The one sure thing is that Australians are likely to get to know Fielding a lot better than they know him now.

Senator-elect spells out priorities

Senator-elect spells out priorities
Age (subscription) - Melbourne,Victoria,Australia
The bustling cafe Mocha Jo's, in the heart of the Glen Waverley shopping centre, seems an unlikely place to negotiate the full privatisation of Telstra.

But to Mocha Jo's did federal Communications Minister Helen Coonan take herself last week to talk to Family First senator-elect Steve Fielding to explain why the Government wants Telstra sold. Clearly worried that the Coalition's one-vote Senate majority will not be enough to get the Telstra legislation through Parliament after July 1, Senator Coonan told Mr Fielding she was keen to make sure he understood everything...

Bracks joins Howard in bowing to Family First

Bracks joins Howard in bowing to Family First
Age (subscription) - Melbourne,Victoria,Australia
... Family First Victorian senator-elect Steve Fielding also discussed changes to the state's education curriculum with the Premier and pushed for an increased emphasis on the value of the family unit, including additional class time dedicated to "financial and relationship management skills"...

PM gives Family First preference

PM gives Family First preference
By Misha Schubert
Canberra
March 4, 2005

For an infant party with just one senator and no balance of power clout, Family First sure commands a lot of attention.

Prime Minister John Howard gave them almost 90 minutes of his time yesterday - and another hour with his top policy advisers - in a clear sign that Coalition heavyweights believe the fledgling political force has a potent future...

A short, sharp political education

A short, sharp political education
Sydney Morning Herald (subscription) - Sydney,New South Wales,Australia
...If there was more knowledge of the electoral system, there would be more informed debate. After the recent federal election there was much talk about the way that Family First got elected in Victoria. Family First's Steve Fielding got 56,372 first-preference votes and was the sixth senator elected from Victoria. The Greens polled 263,551 votes and didn't make it. Even the long-forgotten Democratic Labor Party outpolled Family First, scoring 58,042 votes.

So why did Family First's candidate get elected? Because the ALP decided to play silly buggers with preferences...