Redeeming politics through Christian Independent or Small Parties

TROWEL & SWORD

Madeleine Goiran

Introducing Gerard and Madeleine Goiran

Gerard and Madeleine are happily married with three children and are both very active in the Christian Democratic Party and are members of the Christian Reformed Church of Gosnells, WA. Gerard is currently the Chairman of the Committee of Social Responsibility of the CRCA in Western Australia.

Born in France, Gerard came to Australia in 1970 and has held a number of senior positions in the banking industry. Currently employed in the finance industry, Gerard also held a number of casual teaching positions at University and Tafe . Gerard served for a while as a part-time member of the Board of the Association for Christian Education. Gerard is currently President of the CDP in Western Australia.

Gerard ran as a candidate in the 1993 Federal and State elections on behalf of Call to Australia. He was also a candidate in the 1996 Legislative Council State election for the East Metropolitan Region. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from Macquarie University and a Certificate in Finance Broking. He is also qualified as a professional translator with the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters.

Madeleine has been involved in the party since 1991. As a teacher by profession and a mother of three young people, has a passion to support the nurturing of children through healthy family lifestyles and the practice of well tested principles and values. Through this passion, Madeleine is a driving force behind awareness of drug abuse in the community, with the promotion of awareness seminars and meetings.

In the broader Christian church, many still consider politics to be nothing else than compromise, scheming and plotting and consequently contrary to what our walk in faith should be. They do not believe that Christians who get involved in politics can remain faithful to their Lord and Saviour.

There is currently a huge requirement to redeem politics from such a negative view and to restore it to where it should be: in the service of the people and in the defence of our freedom of worship.

Our freedom of worship is continually eroded by legislation that promotes unhealthy, unrighteous lifestyles. If worship is not just Bible reading, devotions and going to church but also how we live every day, I find it personally difficult to worship the God of the Bible when I am forced to pay taxes to support the Medicare refund of abortion. I also find it difficult when censorship laws are so weak that my choice is limited to watching very little television or to entertaining myself with scenes of sex and violence. I find it difficult to worship God if I am not allowed to start the school day at the local government school with prayer and Bible reading.

In fact, far from believing that Christianity and politics do not mix, I believe that I compromise my Christian faith if I choose to do nothing, if I decide to be politically inactive and to leave the government of our country to parliamentarians who do not always acknowledge the Lord Jesus in their life.

Politics should be about servanthood: yes, serving the people but also, and more importantly, serving the Lord Jesus out of both gratitude and obedience. It would seem to me that casting my vote once every three or four years is not sufficient to serve the Lord Jesus in the area of politics; there is also the need to get involved either as a Christian lobbyist or a Christian parliamentarian to influence legislation as and when it gets debated. To leave it to others, particularly to non-Christian parliamentarians is really shunning my responsibilities.

Why then did I not join a major party? The chances of getting elected in a major party are much higher than in a small party because major parties have more financial resources and are better known to the electorate. However, major parties require complete loyalty and seldom give a conscience vote. Although technically, any parliamentarian is always free “to cross the floor” and vote with the other side, in practice, the fear of not being pre-selected at the next election for doing so is a powerful deterrent and makes it hard to remain faithful to the Lord. I do however admire those Christian parliamentarians in major parties. Their task is very difficult precisely because they often need to put their job on the line in the party room in order to remain faithful. Far from me to belittle them, I would want to see more of us supporting them, praying for them, writing and speaking to them

Yet, I also believe that Christian independent parliamentarians or representatives of a Christian party, such as the CDP can deliver more consistent outcomes on social issues. Given the structure of our political system, it is easier for independent or small parties to get a foothold in their Upper House of Parliament than in the Legislative Assembly or House of Representatives. To the extent therefore that Upper Houses are “houses of review”, the opportunity exists for Upper House Christian parliamentarians to conduct their research and influence the recommendations of the various committee reports.

Is this realistic? Are Christian independents and Christian parties not confined to political wilderness? Why then do we not have more of them?
In answer to this, I can say confidently that when, on occasions, Christians and churches rise to the challenge, we do get results. As evidence of this, consider the results of the recent South Australian election where a former pastor of the AOG churches got elected under the banner of a new party, ‘Family First’. He now holds the balance of power in the Upper House.
It is all possible humanly speaking and obviously if God wants it.
The challenge is to make ourselves available as His tools and wait for Him to decide when and where to use us.

Christian Democratic Party
(Fred Nile Group)

National Directory as at 13 June 2002

National Officers:
GPO Box 141, SYDNEY NSW 2001
Hon National President: Rev Fred Nile MLC
Hon Deputy Senior President: Gerard Goiran
Hon Deputy Junior President: Spero Katos

CDP State/Territory Branches
Australian Capital Territory:
PO Box 367, ERINDALE ACT 2903
Hon Chairman: Rev Tim Janes 02 6231 4410
E-Mail: timjanes@myplace.net.au

New South Wales:
GPO Box 141, SYDNEY NSW 2001
Hon Secretary: Malcolm Smith 02 9645-9094

Northern Territory:
52 James Circuit, WOODROFFE NT 0830
Hon Secretary: Dennis Booth 08 8931 1237

Queensland:
PO Box 605, LUTWYCHE QLD 4030
Hon Secretary: Andrew Hassall 07 3300-9757
E-Mail: cdpqld@optusnet.com.au

South Australia:
15A Gertrude Street, MAGILL SA 5072
Hon President: Rev David Rodway 0410-607-229

Tasmania:
[NONE]

Victoria:
PO Box 9, DOVETON VIC 3177
Hon Chairman: Spero Katos 03 9528 2509
E-Mail: kenjcook@optusnet.com.au

Western Australia:
7 Matthew Way, THORNLIE WA 6106
Hon President: Gerard Goiran 08 9493 4112
E-Mail: goiran@perthpcug.org.au

NSW Parliament House CDP Office:
Phone: 02 9230 2132 Fax: 9230 2098
E-Mail: fred.nile@parliament.nsw.gov.au
website: http://www.christiandemocratic.org.au

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