“There are a lot of Christian MPs in Parliament at the moment,” says Wendy Francis, ACL’s Queensland director. “Not only that, there are a lot of people who we think hold Christian values, though they don’t adhere to the Christian faith.”

In an ABC 612 radio poll in Brisbane, voters on social media identified the one word that is most important to them ahead of the election: ‘honesty’ and ‘integrity’ were two of the big ones. Francis believes the current make up of Parliament reflects those values well. But come election day, many of the parliamentarians, who Francis believes, imbues those values – including Trevor Watts and Steve Davies – are at risk of losing their seats.

“We’re really praying that the good MPs get in or retain their seats,” she says.

On the other hand, says Francis, there are a lot of Labor candidates that we’d like to see win their seats, because the imbalance in Queensland isn’t good.

“Christians are really looking to regain some balance in the Parliament. But we’re looking for people of godly values.”

ACL has been running ‘Meet the Candidate’ forums across the state, in the three weeks leading up to the 31 January election. They’ll conduct 14 in total, offering voters the chance to meet their local candidates and question them on their platforms.

Francis says there are some issues appearing consistently in these forums, including asset sales, chaplaincy, abortion and euthanasia.

Of the hundreds of Christians who’ve attended the forums, voters appear split on asset sales, and appear to vote along party lines. Chaplaincy, on the other hand, has overwhelming support.

“Queensland Christians are really supportive of chaplaincy, but there’s quite a divide among candidates in their support,” says Francis. “Overall, ALP and LNP candidates have shown strong in their support for chaplaincy. The Greens have been open and honest in saying that they don’t support chaplaincy, so there’s a stark difference there.”

“Life issues” – like abortion and euthanasia – are always of particular concern to Christians who participate in the ACL forums, and the Queensland election is no different. But the candidates are wary of saying too much though Francis believes that there needs to be more education on euthanasia in particular, among candidates.

“The most startling thing that has come out of these forums is that the understanding about euthanasia is very shallow among the candidates. They were mixing up support for turning off life support with support for euthanasia, which is not the same thing.”

Religious education has been a hot button issue in other states, particularly in Victoria, where permission forms and regulations have been changed significantly in the past year. But Francis says there’s been no suggestion of changes made to religious education in Queensland, and candidates from the ALP and LNP have indicated there is no intention to alter existing arrangements.

Francis says that all candidates have been responsive to the ACL’s invitations to their ‘Meet the Candidate’ forums, and they are pleased with the turnout.