Family First – A Federal Crusade - the Birth of a New Movement
Posted on Friday, May 06 @ 09:34:28 EST by Christine Schmidt
Christopher_Hassall writes:
Compass: (1 May 2005, ABC TV)
__________________________________________________________
Bruce Redman certainly had a lot of foresight to record and shoot the formation and campaign of the Family First Party (Redman 2005). This is a trend in Australian media – Jennifer Rutherford directed Ordinary People in 2001, which documented the rise of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party. It aired on the ABC in 2002, and followed One Nation Party candidate Colene Hughes through the Queensland and Federal election campaigns of 1998, giving insight into the party’s internal politics. The death of Sir Joh Bjelke-Peterson has also prompted documentaries about his life and political career.
Redman masterfully charts the formation of the party through interviews, narration, and artistic video montages. The documentary manages to remain objective, including comments from party members and supporters, other politicians, academics, media commentators and media material in the form of advertisements, radio interviews and footage of protests. The principal material is interspersed with occasional footage of worship in progress, which were confronting and highly emotive. It seems that the thrust of the Family First party was “A fight against the powers of darkness,” although they failed to reveal their Christian Roots too heavily, “we are a values-based party”.
The documentary addresses a significant issue: why has the Family First party deliberately avoided being classified as a Christian political party? Dr Ross Laurie from the University of Queensland Contemporary Studies Program asserts, “They did this because they know most Australians are very wary of mixing religion and politics, especially parliamentary politics.”
I caught up with director, producer and writer of the documentary, Bruce Redman before his weekly film review on ABC Radio. Redman was trained in documentary at the ABC before creating Red Movies twelve years ago, producing commercials, corporate films, documentaries, international productions, dramas and a feature film in 1999. He commented that although he has a lot of drama and film experience, he still wants to make documentaries because like drama, they are “just telling a story”.
The ABC did not approach Redman to produce this documentary; rather he conceptualised and developed it himself. He said, “I thought it could be good fun, I could go to a marginal seat and I could look at different candidates from different persuasions and follow them around and watch their journeys.” He identified that Family First was getting started and that the drama element would be fascinating in observing its formation. Although he admits there was luck involved, he said, “I know politics and I could feel what was happening. I could see it.” Redman’s interest in politics began while he was working closely with Wayne Goss in 1995 and Peter Beattie in 2001 to develop their commercials.
Fortunately, Redman has a contact within the party – Pastor John Lewis, a family friend. The foundation meeting in Melbourne was the first footage of the documentary shot with the agreement of the party leaders (after having to plead his case). After this Redman travelled the country shooting the proceedings with his digital Canon XL1. He maintains that although the party was nervous towards the end of production, members were cooperative during filming and have his respect for their honest transparency. Out of courtesy, Redman showed federal leader, Peter Harris a final cut of the show, saying, “It’s your party… you can cry if you want to!” Harris felt that it was an accurate portrayal of events and was pleased with its objectivity.
Redman described four ‘stories’ that he wanted to narrate in Family First – A Federal Crusade: the stories of the four candidates in their individual situations, the journey of the party as a whole from political naivety to being a political party, the rapidly approaching federal election, and the overall exploration of the drift towards the political right and the emergence of religion into politics. The documentary explores these stories within the microcosm of the party and the individual people involved – Redman was initially attracted to the subject by the drama aspect surrounding the formation of the party.
Although the mainstream media didn’t immediately catch on to Family First and Compass didn’t seem interested. After the “lesbians should be burned at the stake” comment Redman remembers, “all hell broke loose” and, “this is going, this is on the road now.” At this stage he knew that the show could be a success and continued filming the party’s progress. SBS were interested, but Redman knew the programme was a natural fit for Compass. “Even right up until election day I just didn’t know, but of course as the votes started to come in, it all started to look really interesting.” Fortunately he was in Adelaide with the party leaders that night and was able to capture powerful footage of their excitement and reactions. The final version of Family First – A Federal Crusade was created with the aid of ABC TV and Pacific Film Commission.
When asked about his style of filmmaking, Redman remarked, “as much as I love Mike Moore, and he’s a very entertaining filmmaker, he goes out with a theory… and builds it up into an argument. It’s not really a document; it’s not really a thing to say ‘this is what this is’. You’re always going to have some bias.” He said that although he aimed for complete objectivity he couldn’t help but be affected by the human side of the party’s values.
Redman attributes Family First’s success to the rise of ‘middle class guilt’ in Australia, and the phenomenon of the politician as celebrity. We discussed the reasons for Australians being so interested in politics, and Redman claimed that Pauline Hanson was a good example of a political celebrity. “John Howard was happy to have Hanson there, because after Keating he wanted to redress where things had gone in terms of political correctness. They didn’t have the guts to do it themselves.” He is not happy with the way that Australia has been portrayed in the international media, hearing about Pauline Hanson on Berlin radio in 1998. Dr Laurie also recalls viewing, in Vienna, a programme about the effect of evangelical Christian groups on the Australian federal campaign - with an emphasis on the Family First Party.
Dr Laurie’s opinion of the party is that, “the ‘happy-clappy’ brand of self-righteous vacuity of which ‘Family First’ is a part, seems to me very American and alien to the mass of Australians.” He doubts they will become a phenomenon in this country as evangelical outreach is usually so individually focused, “Sure they provide lots of singing and ‘fellowship’, but there seems little in the way of social outreach, let alone ecumenical outreach to other Christian groups.” Both Redman and Laurie point to the canny marketing and public relational skills of the Assemblies of God church, noting that Guy Sebastian’s musical ability was harnessed in the church.
Redman has investigated and accurately broadcasted the stories of the Family First Party and the federal election: exploring the ethics of the relationship of religions and politics. Redman defends Family First in this instance, noting that Methodists founded the Labor Party and the National Party has a Christian values system. “It has to start somewhere. I was impressed with the fact that they don’t talk about five years, but fifty years.” Dr Laurie writes, “if they stick to the Senate and stay focused on specific lifestyle questions they may have a medium term future.” The Family First Party was given a particularly sensational treatment by the mainstream media in Australia, focussing on negative ideals that didn’t necessarily agree with party policy. Bruce Redman with Family First – A Federal Crusade has presented a rare but marvellous portrayal of the remarkable birth and growth of a contemporary Australian political party.
Family First – A Federal Crusade
2005
Director: Bruce Redman
Bookmark this article:
__________________________________________________________
Bruce Redman certainly had a lot of foresight to record and shoot the formation and campaign of the Family First Party (Redman 2005). This is a trend in Australian media – Jennifer Rutherford directed Ordinary People in 2001, which documented the rise of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party. It aired on the ABC in 2002, and followed One Nation Party candidate Colene Hughes through the Queensland and Federal election campaigns of 1998, giving insight into the party’s internal politics. The death of Sir Joh Bjelke-Peterson has also prompted documentaries about his life and political career.
Redman masterfully charts the formation of the party through interviews, narration, and artistic video montages. The documentary manages to remain objective, including comments from party members and supporters, other politicians, academics, media commentators and media material in the form of advertisements, radio interviews and footage of protests. The principal material is interspersed with occasional footage of worship in progress, which were confronting and highly emotive. It seems that the thrust of the Family First party was “A fight against the powers of darkness,” although they failed to reveal their Christian Roots too heavily, “we are a values-based party”.
The documentary addresses a significant issue: why has the Family First party deliberately avoided being classified as a Christian political party? Dr Ross Laurie from the University of Queensland Contemporary Studies Program asserts, “They did this because they know most Australians are very wary of mixing religion and politics, especially parliamentary politics.”
I caught up with director, producer and writer of the documentary, Bruce Redman before his weekly film review on ABC Radio. Redman was trained in documentary at the ABC before creating Red Movies twelve years ago, producing commercials, corporate films, documentaries, international productions, dramas and a feature film in 1999. He commented that although he has a lot of drama and film experience, he still wants to make documentaries because like drama, they are “just telling a story”.
The ABC did not approach Redman to produce this documentary; rather he conceptualised and developed it himself. He said, “I thought it could be good fun, I could go to a marginal seat and I could look at different candidates from different persuasions and follow them around and watch their journeys.” He identified that Family First was getting started and that the drama element would be fascinating in observing its formation. Although he admits there was luck involved, he said, “I know politics and I could feel what was happening. I could see it.” Redman’s interest in politics began while he was working closely with Wayne Goss in 1995 and Peter Beattie in 2001 to develop their commercials.
Fortunately, Redman has a contact within the party – Pastor John Lewis, a family friend. The foundation meeting in Melbourne was the first footage of the documentary shot with the agreement of the party leaders (after having to plead his case). After this Redman travelled the country shooting the proceedings with his digital Canon XL1. He maintains that although the party was nervous towards the end of production, members were cooperative during filming and have his respect for their honest transparency. Out of courtesy, Redman showed federal leader, Peter Harris a final cut of the show, saying, “It’s your party… you can cry if you want to!” Harris felt that it was an accurate portrayal of events and was pleased with its objectivity.
Redman described four ‘stories’ that he wanted to narrate in Family First – A Federal Crusade: the stories of the four candidates in their individual situations, the journey of the party as a whole from political naivety to being a political party, the rapidly approaching federal election, and the overall exploration of the drift towards the political right and the emergence of religion into politics. The documentary explores these stories within the microcosm of the party and the individual people involved – Redman was initially attracted to the subject by the drama aspect surrounding the formation of the party.
Although the mainstream media didn’t immediately catch on to Family First and Compass didn’t seem interested. After the “lesbians should be burned at the stake” comment Redman remembers, “all hell broke loose” and, “this is going, this is on the road now.” At this stage he knew that the show could be a success and continued filming the party’s progress. SBS were interested, but Redman knew the programme was a natural fit for Compass. “Even right up until election day I just didn’t know, but of course as the votes started to come in, it all started to look really interesting.” Fortunately he was in Adelaide with the party leaders that night and was able to capture powerful footage of their excitement and reactions. The final version of Family First – A Federal Crusade was created with the aid of ABC TV and Pacific Film Commission.
When asked about his style of filmmaking, Redman remarked, “as much as I love Mike Moore, and he’s a very entertaining filmmaker, he goes out with a theory… and builds it up into an argument. It’s not really a document; it’s not really a thing to say ‘this is what this is’. You’re always going to have some bias.” He said that although he aimed for complete objectivity he couldn’t help but be affected by the human side of the party’s values.
Redman attributes Family First’s success to the rise of ‘middle class guilt’ in Australia, and the phenomenon of the politician as celebrity. We discussed the reasons for Australians being so interested in politics, and Redman claimed that Pauline Hanson was a good example of a political celebrity. “John Howard was happy to have Hanson there, because after Keating he wanted to redress where things had gone in terms of political correctness. They didn’t have the guts to do it themselves.” He is not happy with the way that Australia has been portrayed in the international media, hearing about Pauline Hanson on Berlin radio in 1998. Dr Laurie also recalls viewing, in Vienna, a programme about the effect of evangelical Christian groups on the Australian federal campaign - with an emphasis on the Family First Party.
Dr Laurie’s opinion of the party is that, “the ‘happy-clappy’ brand of self-righteous vacuity of which ‘Family First’ is a part, seems to me very American and alien to the mass of Australians.” He doubts they will become a phenomenon in this country as evangelical outreach is usually so individually focused, “Sure they provide lots of singing and ‘fellowship’, but there seems little in the way of social outreach, let alone ecumenical outreach to other Christian groups.” Both Redman and Laurie point to the canny marketing and public relational skills of the Assemblies of God church, noting that Guy Sebastian’s musical ability was harnessed in the church.
Redman has investigated and accurately broadcasted the stories of the Family First Party and the federal election: exploring the ethics of the relationship of religions and politics. Redman defends Family First in this instance, noting that Methodists founded the Labor Party and the National Party has a Christian values system. “It has to start somewhere. I was impressed with the fact that they don’t talk about five years, but fifty years.” Dr Laurie writes, “if they stick to the Senate and stay focused on specific lifestyle questions they may have a medium term future.” The Family First Party was given a particularly sensational treatment by the mainstream media in Australia, focussing on negative ideals that didn’t necessarily agree with party policy. Bruce Redman with Family First – A Federal Crusade has presented a rare but marvellous portrayal of the remarkable birth and growth of a contemporary Australian political party. Family First – A Federal Crusade
2005
Director: Bruce Redman
Bookmark this article:
