MP joins conservative Family First party ahead of abortion bill debate

Sarah Game leaves her own party to join conservative Family First party Wed 17 Jun 2026 at 12:05pm In short: SA MLC Sarah Game has joined the Family First party, abandoning her own Fair Go for Australians party. It is her third political party since her entry into parliament on the One Nation ticket at the 2022 election. What's next? The announcement comes as state parliament prepares to debate Ms Game's bill which proposes new limits on late-term abortions in SA. South Australian MP Sarah Game has abandoned the political party she founded to join the conservative Family First brand, marking the third time she has changed parties in less than two years. Ms Game was elected as the state's first One Nation MP when she won her upper house seat at the 2022 state election. She quit to become an independent in May last year, citing problems with the way its brand was being perceived at the time, before forming Sarah Game's Fair Go for Australians party. During the most recent state election campaign, she extraordinarily urged South Australians not to vote for her own party after a spectacular split with star candidate and former Adelaide Crows captain Chris McDermott. The party went on to secure 0.3 per cent of the upper house vote. Ms Game told 891 ABC Adelaide on Wednesday she joined the party because it puts "the family unit and family values first". "No one can say I'm not having a really good go at this political career and trying to make a difference, certainly my values haven't changed since I entered parliament," she said. Ms Game added she had "tried to make One Nation fit" but her values and priorities aligned better with the Family First party. "I think that there's differences with One Nation, I mean, certainly in the delivery style ... Family First doesn't have the same antagonistic delivery style," she said. "Family First, I believe, has family and the family unit as a much higher priority for its legislative agenda than One Nation does. "I feel [One Nation] is more focused on, really, to be honest, dividing people and being a bit more antagonistic, which has never been my style and won't be my style going forward." Family First made the announcement late Tuesday evening ahead of an expected vote on Ms Game's latest bill which proposes new limits on late-term abortions in South Australia, just months after a failed attempt to change the laws. In a statement, Family First's national director Lyle Shelton said Ms Game was "one of the strongest and most courageous advocates for families in any Australian parliament". "I am delighted that someone so closely aligned with the values that matter to Australian mums and dads has chosen to join Family First," Mr Shelton said. Ms Game is the first representative for the party since it was revived in 2021 by former MPs Jack Snelling and Tom Kenyon, who resigned from the Labor party to restart the brand. It was first founded in South Australia more than 20 years ago by Assemblies of God pastor Andrew Evans, who won a Legislative Council seat in 2002. In 2017, it amalgamated with the Australian Conservatives Party which was headed by now-SA One Nation leader Cory Bernardi. But days after SA's 2018 election, its last remaining MP Dennis Hood joined the Liberal Party. Family First received 2.1 per cent of the Legislative Council vote at the most recent SA state election. Ms Game will be the party's lead upper house candidate at the next election in 2030.