Sydney, Australia - Australia's political leaders are turning to God to help them garner support ahead of national elections this year in a sign of religion's growing influence over politics.
Conservative Prime Minister John Howard and centre-left Labor Party Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd have both taken part in a live internet chat with Christian churchgoers, aimed at winning support from the influential Christian lobby.
Organised by the non-denominational Australian Christian Lobby, organisers said more than 100,000 people watched the forum, broadcast live to about 800 churches, to hear the political leaders talk about faith and policies.
"They both did pretty well. Although I think if you took a vote in the room, John Howard would have come out ahead," political analyst John Warhurst, from the Australian National University, told Reuters on Friday.
The next election is due in Australia before the end of the year, with the polls showing Howard's Liberal-National Party coalition government, in power since 1996, well behind Rudd's Labor Party.
But Labor needs to win 16 seats from the government to take power, meaning the election is likely to be won and lost in a handful of tight contests in constituencies in the suburbs of Australia's major cities.
Religious divisions dominated Australian politics during the 1950s and 1960s, when the Labor Party split in two, with a predominantly Catholic anti-communist offshoot helping to keep the conservatives in power.
But the role of religion in Australia's political life has been largely muted ever since as politicians mostly kept their faith separate from political decisions.
Predominantly Christian
The latest official figures show Australia is a predominantly Christian country, with more than 5 million Catholics and about 4 million Anglicans, although one in five Australians say they have no religious affiliation.
Pentecostal churches are also experiencing a boom in popularity - a shift recognised by the major parties after the 2004 elections when the then unknown Family First party, backed by Pentecostal churches, won a seat in the Upper House Senate.
Howard was brought up a Presbyterian but regularly attends Anglican church services, while Rudd grew up a Catholic but now also attends Anglican services with his family.
Rudd put religion on the political agenda in 2005, before he became Labor leader, by publicly declaring his faith and urging his party to speak out more on Christian issues and social justice.
Both Howard and Rudd used the church Internet forum to rule out any official recognition of gay marriage.
Howard used his address to announce plans to give families computer filters to stop Internet pornography, while Rudd promised to have family impact statements on all policies brought before his cabinet if he is elected to power.
Forum organiser Jim Wallace, a retired army brigadier who once commanded Australia's special forces, said Christian voters could hold the key to the coming election, although he would not endorse any candidate or party.
"I think Christian concern and interests should be, from a biblical point of view, across the agendas of both left and right," Wallace told Australian television.
But Democrats leader Lyn Allison says there are too many federal MPs with strong religious views.
Senator Allison says the separation of church and state is becoming blurred.
"The Prime Minister this morning said that there were a great number of Members of Parliament in Coalition ranks with very strong ties to the Christian church," she said. "I know this is a Christian country but people with very strong religious views are heavily over-represented, if I can put it that way, in the Parliament," she said.
He said recent polling found about 17% of Christians were swing voters, who were not committed to either party. With voting compulsory in Australia, their support would be crucial to the election outcome.