AUSTRALIAN Catholics are being enticed by all sides of politics in the lead up to the federal election on October 9.
Election issues likely to impact on Catholics include education, health and social morality.
A new party which claims as its platform the good of the family has entered the federal arena with more than 70 candidates contesting lower and upper house seats in five states.
Party secretary Matt Burnet said the Family First Party attracted a lot of interest from members and candidates who regularly attended a church because of the nature of its policies.
There are also two Senate candidates in Queensland who are standing as independents and support anti-abortion and social justice issues.
The Archbishops of Sydney and Melbourne entered the education debate on September 28 releasing a statement in conjunction with their Anglican counterparts on the Labor Party’s ‘Great Australian Schools’ policy.
Their statement endorses some points and seriously questions the potential divisive effect of other parts of Labor’s education overhaul.
The National Catholic Education Commission has written to each of the major parties requesting responses to three questions on funding for Catholic schools.
The responses have been collated and summarised by the Queensland Catholic Education Commission and will be presented in point form to parents of children within the state’s Catholic schools this week.
Meanwhile, the Brisbane archdiocesan Justice and Peace Commission has questioned the lack of issues such as indigenous reconciliation during campaigning.
It has suggested that social issues have taken second place to economic ones.
This theme has also been taken up by a political action collective including a group called Salt Shakers. It has compiled an extensive summary of issues it believes should concern Christians before they lodge a vote.
Salt Shakers asked the major and minor parties for their policies and voting histories on more than 20 issues to come up with a table of who supports what.
