Family First New Zealand

Family First New Zealand is a conservative Christian lobby group in New Zealand. It was founded in March 2006 with former Radio Rhema talkback host and South Auckland social-worker Bob McCoskrie as the national director. Its stated objectives are to "seek to influence public policy affecting the rights and protection of families and promote a culture that values the family."

Currently, the organisation lists several of its major objectives on an associated website. These include:

It lists secondary matters of concern as:

In 2007, Family First supported a petition for a citizens-initiated referendum to overturn the 2007 amendment act which replaced Section 59 of the Crimes Act 1961, which had allowed for a defence of reasonable force in child abuse cases based on corporal punishment. The petition gained 324,316 signatures although only 285,027 were required for a referendum. When checked for invalid signatures there was a shortfall of 15,000 signatures. Sufficient signatures were then obtained to hold the New Zealand citizens-initiated referendum, 2009, asking voters "Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?". In May 2009, Family First criticised the Government for spending $8 million on the referendum which they felt should have been held at the same time as the November 2008 general election. Although the referendum returned with 87.4% of those who voted voting "No", no change was made to the Crimes Act, and the referendum question was criticised by opponents for being a loaded question.

Family First produces "Value Your Vote", a brochure and accompanying website which are a voting guide primarily concerned with each party's or candidate's record and opinions on issues which it sees as of detriment to the family, such as civil unions, prostitution and abortion. This guide has been published for the 2008 general election, the 2010 Auckland mayoral election, and the 2011 general election.

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