Steven Fielding (born 17 October 1960) is a former Australian
senator for the state of
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
and the former federal
parliamentary leader
A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. They are their ...
of the
Family First Party
The Family First Party was a conservative political party in Australia which existed from 2002 to 2017. It was founded in South Australia where it enjoyed its greatest electoral support. Since the demise of the Australian Conservatives into wh ...
. He was elected to the upper house at the
2004 federal election on two per cent of the
first-preference votes
In certain ranked-voting systems, a first-preference vote (or first preference, 1st preference, or primary vote) is the individual voter's first choice amongst (possibly) many. In certain ranked systems such as Instant-Runoff Voting or Single T ...
.
He failed to gain re-election at the
2010 federal election. His term ended on 30 June 2011.
Early life
Fielding was born on 17 October 1960, in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, where he was raised in the suburb of
Reservoir
A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation.
Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...
. His parents, Shirley and George Fielding, had a large family consisting of 16 children, and Fielding spent much of his childhood sharing a bedroom with five brothers in the family's three-bedroom home.
His early education was at the local Keon Park Primary School, He later attended the nearby
Merrilands High School.
Academically, Fielding suffered setbacks through an undiagnosed case of
dyslexia, and this led to problems studying subjects such as English.
[ His dyslexia was only diagnosed after he revealed his learning difficulties in 2009, and he was diagnosed as suffering from both ]developmental apraxia of speech
Development of the human body is the process of growth to maturity. The process begins with fertilization, where an egg released from the ovary of a female is penetrated by a sperm cell from a male. The resulting zygote develops through ...
and developmental surface dyspraxia, along with the dyslexia. Nevertheless, he excelled in mathematics, and his high marks in this subject allowed him to graduate with sufficiently high scores to gain entry into the
Bachelor of Engineering
A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an academic undergraduate degree awarded to a student after three to five years of studying engineering at an accredited college or university.
In the UK, a Ba ...
degree at
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,, section 4(b) is a public university, public research university in Melbourne, Australia.
Founded in 1887 by Francis Ormond, RMIT began as a night school offering cla ...
(RMIT), where he studied
electronic engineering
Electronics engineering is a sub-discipline of electrical engineering which emerged in the early 20th century and is distinguished by the additional use of active components such as semiconductor devices to amplify and control electric current ...
.
Upon graduating in 1983, Fielding accepted a position at
Hewlett-Packard, and later he moved into management at technology firms
NEC
is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. The company was known as the Nippon Electric Company, Limited, before rebranding in 1983 as NEC. It provides IT and network soluti ...
and
Siemens.
Fielding returned to university to undertake a
Master of Business Administration
A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accoun ...
(MBA) at
Monash University
Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university h ...
, completing it in 1992. He later moved to
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...
, New Zealand, where he worked for
Telecom New Zealand
Spark New Zealand Limited is a New Zealand telecommunications company providing fixed-line telephone services, a mobile phone network, internet access services, and (through its Spark Digital division) ICT services to businesses. It was know ...
in "change management" during a difficult time for the industry, as it was undergoing
deregulation.
He returned to Australia three years later, in 1995, and worked for
United Energy, the Australian
Yellow Pages
The yellow pages are telephone directories of businesses, organized by category rather than alphabetically by business name, in which advertising is sold. The directories were originally printed on yellow paper, as opposed to white pages for ...
and as a
marketing manager at
Vision Super.
Fielding entered politics in 2003 when he successfully stood as an independent candidate for the
Knox City Council.
He has described the decision to stand as "very last-minute", but others, such as the mayor of the council, Jenny Moore, and then Victorian
Labor
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the la ...
MP Peter Lockwood, said Fielding was very open about his intent to move into federal politics.
Either way, both Lockwood and Labor MP
Bob Stensholt
Robert Einar Stensholt (born 11 July 1945) is a former Australian Labor Party politician who represented the Victorian state seat of Burwood in the Victorian Legislative Assembly (the lower house) of the state's parliament.
He represented Bu ...
have described how Fielding later made inquiries about the possibility of running for one of the major parties before joining Family First.
2004 election
Fielding was elected to represent Victoria in the Senate at the
2004 federal election. He was the first representative of Family First to be elected to the
Federal Parliament
The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the governor-gen ...
.
Fielding's election was not expected – Family First had only been founded two years before the election, and it was not expected to succeed in its first federal election in Victoria.
Like many senators, Fielding gained a quota under the Senate's
proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
system by receiving preferences from other parties (see
Australian electoral system
The Australian electoral system comprises the laws and processes used for the election of members of the Australian Parliament and is governed primarily by the ''Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918''. The system presently has a number of distincti ...
). The
Australian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party dissenting splinter groups, it was Austral ...
and the
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...
agreed to swap preferences with Family First. But Fielding benefited from the larger-than-expected surplus of
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
preferences, and stayed in the count long enough to receive Democrat and Labor preferences, defeating the
Australian Greens' candidate David Risstrom for the last Senate place in Victoria.
As a result, Fielding was elected although his party as a whole received just 56,376 votes (1.9%) for the Senate in Victoria.
When first elected, the
Howard Government held a slim majority in the Senate, sufficient that Fielding would only hold the balance of power if one of the government senators chose to
cross the floor
In parliamentary systems, politicians are said to cross the floor if they formally change their political affiliation to a different political party than which they were initially elected under (as is the case in Canada and the United Kingdom). ...
.
This changed after the 2007 federal election (the changes of which took effect in 2008), when the balance of power in the Senate shifted to a combination of Fielding, the five Australian Greens senators and independent
Nick Xenophon
Nick Xenophon ( Nicholas Xenophou; born 29 January 1959) is an Australian politician and lawyer who was a Senator for South Australia from 2008 to 2017. He was the leader of two political parties: Nick Xenophon Team federally, and Nick Xenophon ...
.
Federal politics
While Family First is generally regarded as a
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
party, Fielding stated he would not be an automatic supporter of the then
Coalition opposition in the Senate. On some issues which he saw as affecting the wellbeing of families, such as the
WorkChoices
WorkChoices was the name given to changes made to the federal industrial relations laws in Australia by the Howard Government in 2005, being amendments to the ''Workplace Relations Act 1996'' by the ''Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choice ...
industrial relations policies, he indicated disagreement with government policies. In February 2009, he told a Senate hearing that he believed divorce added to the impact of
global warming
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
because it resulted in people switching to a "resource-inefficient lifestyle".
Balance of power
With some
backbenchers
In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of th ...
being willing to
cross the floor
In parliamentary systems, politicians are said to cross the floor if they formally change their political affiliation to a different political party than which they were initially elected under (as is the case in Canada and the United Kingdom). ...
, Fielding's vote was important on some of the Howard government's more controversial legislation. His vote ensured the passage of
Voluntary student unionism
Voluntary student unionism (VSU), as it is known in Australia, or voluntary student membership (VSM), as it is known in New Zealand, is a policy under which membership of – and payment of membership fees to – university student organisations i ...
,
[Graffiti Attack on Steve Fielding's Office After VSU Vote](_blank)
''The Age'', 10 December 2005 the overturning of
civil unions legislation in the
Australian Capital Territory
The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. I ...
, and changes to media ownership laws. Conversely, his intention to vote "no" ensured the defeat of the Howard government's proposed tightening of asylum seeker laws.
Climate change
In mid-2009, Fielding flew to the US on a self-funded trip to discover more about climate change. He came back unconvinced that man-made carbon dioxide emissions were the main driver of climate change. He subsequently voted against the Rudd Government's Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. Fielding also attended the Copenhagen Climate Conference in December 2009.
Youth allowance
In 2009 Fielding teamed up with the coalition to defeat the government's proposed changes to the youth allowance system. He said the changes were unfair to rural and regional students and that it would leave 26,000 students worse off.
Alcohol
Fielding opposed the Rudd Government's alcopops tax. He argued that taxing ready to drink alcohol beverages wouldn't put an end to binge drinking. He campaigned for the government to act against the practice.
Stimulus package
Following the global financial crisis the Rudd Government passed an economic stimulus package with the help of Family First. As part of the deal Fielding secured a $200 million jobs fund called 'Get Communities Working'.
Voluntary Student Unionism
At the end of his campaign in support of the Howard government's Voluntary Student Unionism legislation, which was passed, the walls of Fielding's office were vandalised with pro-union graffiti.
Luxury car tax
An increase to the luxury car tax was defeated in the Senate on 4 September 2008, with Fielding joining the
coalition in blocking the budget legislation. It was passed after Fielding negotiated exemptions for farmers and tourism operators.
Considered changing parties
In early 2008, Fielding reportedly considered breaking away from Family First to establish a new political party, inviting
Tim Costello
Timothy Ewen Costello AO (born 4 March 1955) is an Australian Baptist minister who was the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Advocate of World Vision Australia. Costello worked as a lawyer and served as mayor of St Kilda. He has authored a ...
and other "big names" to join him.
The revelations came after Fielding changed his position on abortion, after being rebuffed by his party for taking a softer approach.
ISP level content filtering
Fielding gave conditional support to the mandatory ISP level filtering scheme. A spokesperson for Family First indicated that the party would want X18+ rated and refused classification (RC) content banned for everyone, including adults. Fielding's support for
Internet censorship in Australia
Internet censorship in Australia is enforced by both the country's criminal law as well as voluntarily enacted by internet service providers. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has the power to enforce content restrictions ...
was not reported on his official website.
Paid Parental Leave Scheme
In June 2010, during the Senate discussion on the proposed
Paid Parental Leave Scheme, Fielding suggested "some women may rort the scheme by deliberately falling pregnant and then having a late-term abortion". He was subsequently criticised by all sides of Australian politics for these comments.
Legislation
Fielding introduced the following legislation into Parliament:
*Protecting Problem Gamblers Bill 2009
*Keeping Jobs from Going Offshore (Protection of Personal Information) Bill 2009
*Britt Lapthorne Bill 2009
*Removing Branding from Cigarette Packs Bill 2009
*Keeping Banks Accountable Bill 2009
*Removal of Excessive Super Bill 2009
*Easy Comparison of Grocery Prices Bill 2008
*Poker Machine Harm Minimisation Bill 2008
*Poker Machine Harm Reduction Tax Bill 2008
*Alcohol Toll Reduction Bill 2007
*Restoring Family Work Balance Bill 2007
*Fair Bank and Credit Card Fees Bill 2007
*Predatory Pricing Bill 2007
*Creeping Acquisitions 2007 Bill
Stunts
Fielding's use of publicity stunts was commented on by ''
The Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...
''. in May 2008, he joined protesting pensioners, who brought traffic to a standstill in the Melbourne CBD, when he and others took their shirts off in the style of the cab drivers who had successfully stripped for increased cab security, to demand $70- to $100-a-week rise in the pension.
Fielding also dressed as a giant beer bottle to promote Family First's proposed policy to introduce a
bottle return scheme.
[
]
Personal life
Fielding is a Christian and attends
CityLife Church, a large
Pentecostal
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement church in Melbourne.
He rejects
evolution
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
and has publicly espoused his belief in
Young Earth creationism
Young Earth creationism (YEC) is a form of creationism which holds as a central tenet that the Earth and its lifeforms were created by supernatural acts of the Abrahamic God between approximately 6,000 and 10,000 years ago. In its most widespre ...
. Fielding has three children. He has claimed he was sexually abused by a
scoutmaster
A Scout leader or Scouter generally refers to the trained adult leader of a Scout unit. The terms used vary from country to country, over time, and with the type of unit.
Roles
There are many different roles a leader can fulfill depending on t ...
and family friend for two years when he was a teenager. No-one has been charged or prosecuted for the alleged offences.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fielding, Steve
Family First Party members of the Parliament of Australia
Members of the Australian Senate
Members of the Australian Senate for Victoria
Politicians from Melbourne
Australian anti-abortion activists
Australian monarchists
Australian Pentecostals
Christian Young Earth creationists
1960 births
Living people
RMIT University alumni
Politicians with dyslexia
21st-century Australian politicians