Family First Victoria to pull out of state election amid battle with Family First Victoria

FFV leader Lisa Bentley spoke to 6 News last month.

Family First Victoria have confirmed they will no longer run in the Victorian election, amid an ongoing battle with Family First Victoria.

As first reported by 6 News last month, both Family First Victoria (created by Lisa Bentley) and Family First Victoria (the same party as the one set up in South Australia last year) were trying to get registered with the Victorian Electoral Commission ahead of the November state election.

The VEC said at the time that "as party name isn’t registered in Victoria there is nothing to stop the name from being used on 2 different applications," and the party that shows that they have 500 members and complies with all other registration requirements first will be registered first.

But now, Ms Bentley has confirmed her party is pulling out of the race, citing "intimidation & harassment."

Family First did not immediately respond to questions from 6 News, including about whether this would see the end of their federal court action against her.

This move will likely see FFV's social media accounts deactivated & their website take down, marking the end of the party formed last year.

It comes after 5 new parties applied for VEC registration yesterday, including the New Democrats, which lists Labor-turned-independent MP Kaushaliya Vaghela as their registered officer.

She became an independent after crossing the floor against Labor, breaking party rules.

A second independent upper house MP has also formed their own party, with Catherine Cumming launching the Independence Party.

The Indigenous-Aboriginal Party of Australia & Australian Democrats are also aiming to get registered, as is the Angry Victorians Party - a sub-branch of the Australian Values Party.

Family Matters Australia has also applied for registration. It remains to be seen whether they will have any hurdles relating to their name.

Check out the latest impartial coverage of the 2022 Victorian Election here.

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