As the links between extreme religious cults and Liberal Party politicians pile up, managing editor Michelle Pini considers the 'quid pro quo'.
IN RECENT TIMES, we have witnessed the infiltration of politics by a variety of religious groups, such as those of the Pentecostal Horizon sect, to which former PM Scott Morrison belongs and the Brethren religious group, whose considerable resources propped up the Liberal Party's 2025 Election campaign.
While it could be argued that religion has always gone hand in hand with politics, dating back to the Spanish Inquisition and beyond, Australia is a secular state, and this is a fundamental tenet of our democracy.
Given we purport to adhere to the separation of church and state, as our statutes indeed dictate, why do we continue to allow religious groups of any flavour to claim tax exemptions and also donate massive funds and resources to bankroll politicians of their choosing?
During this year's Federal Election, it emerged that the wealthy religious sect, the Plymouth Brethren, donated large (unspecified) sums to the Liberal Party, provided a small army of electoral volunteers to help “convert” people to vote Liberal, and even scrutineered on behalf of the party. Interestingly, it was also revealed that members of this secretive group are not permitted to vote, as they believe they have religious exemption.
This prompted PM Anthony Albanese to state at the time:
It doesn’t stack up that hundreds of people have just happened to turn up at polling booths, some travelling across state boundaries, to hand out for the Liberal Party wearing Liberal Party shirts.
What is the quid pro quo, given that that organisation doesn't vote in elections, and given the views that they have?
This group of zealous volunteers were also given access by the Liberal Party to sensitive voter information – our personal information – allowing this secretive cult to make approximately a million calls on behalf of the Coalition leading up to the election.
On 15 September, Four Corners screened a disturbing episode, 'Big Brethren,' which delved into the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church (formerly the Exclusive Brethren) and the extent of this cult’s far-reaching tentacles within the Liberal Party.
According to one ex-Brethren member, the group donated huge sums of money in support of Dutton’s Liberal Party election bid, via a variety of companies and split between a range of different candidates:
"...so it's just under the reportable threshold."
Not only were the Brethren major donors of the Liberal Party and provided unpaid labour during the election, Four Corners revealed the group had previously managed to gain lucrative Morrison Government contracts – to the tune of $135 million – during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Purely coincidentally, of course, former Liberal MP Greg Hunt – who happened to be Health Minister when the contracts were awarded – is currently employed as a board advisor for, you guessed it, a Brethren-owned company.
Morrison himself, of course, while not a Brethren member, does belong to another cult group, the Pentecostal Horizon Church, the activities of which have been extensively reported on IA.
Some readers may remember our coverage of the former PM distinguishing himself after his Government’s election loss by declaring to a congregation of that particular sect:
"We don’t trust in governments… We don’t trust in the United Nations, thank goodness!”
Never mind that he was still a Member of Parliament during that particular rant.
During Morrison's time, despite their open distrust of governments – which they share with the Brethren – let’s recap some of the spoils Pentecostal “churches” also received from government handouts during COVID, while Morrison was PM:
- The WA Margaret Court Pentecostal cult branch declared that the blood of Jesus would protect parishioners from the deadly virus, but deigned to provide sanitiser, anyway. Nonetheless, a fortnight after this declaration, the church received more than $500,000 in JobKeeper, plus a $50,000 Federal Government cash flow boost. That's a lot of sanitiser.
- Hope Unlimited Pentecostal Church in New South Wales was handed $660,000 in JobKeeper payments and later posted a $1.6 million profit, up $43,355 from the previous year.
- And ScoMo's own Horizon Pentecostal megachurch was the recipient of $533,694 in total government subsidies, including $110,000 worth of public money through a Department of Home Affairs initiative known as the Safer Communities Fund.
We will reiterate here that, as these megachurch cults are listed as "churches", they are also not legally required to pay any tax.
But back to the Brethren. Apart from their considerable donations of funds and “free” labour to the Liberal Party’s election campaign, the Brethren, according to the Four Corners investigation, also spend their time and efforts intimidating and controlling their members.
Apart from forbidding them to vote, some of the constraints on members include keeping them inside a guarded and gated enclosure, overseeing their finances, controlling and monitoring their computer access, and forbidding movies, radio and camping.
According to the group’s “Man of God” Bruce Hales, members must also not trust people with beards, journalists or publishers in general. He refers to Indigenous Australians as “humans” who 'don't always live like civilised humans' and 'have had too much money ... poured their way'. And women are not permitted to hold positions of power and have to bow to the wishes of their husbands.
Homosexuality is absolutely forbidden, and members who have spoken out about sexual abuse or other grossly disturbing behaviour are bullied and intimidated.
Then there's the matter of the recent ATO raids on Brethren offices, which, the ATO told Four Corners, only happens when it:
"...suspect[s] tax evasion, fraud, secrecy or concealment [or has] a reasonable belief that documents may be disposed of, altered or destroyed... and it thinks a cooperative approach won't work."
Oh, they may have also harassed non-Liberal candidates in the last election.
Nothing weird or untoward there, then!
Nonetheless, the Brethren’s behaviour is not at all of concern according to the following Liberal Party royalty, who, according to the Four Corners report, also:
“...championed the cult’s charity arm, the Rapid Relief Team, or RRT, set up in the wake of a UK Government decision to challenge the Brethren's charitable status."
Former PM Tony Abbott:
“I've had a bit to do with the Brethren over the years and they're very good people, who contribute a lot to our society.”
Former Shadow Treasurer and current would-be Liberal Leader, Angus Taylor:
“The work that RRT does right across Australia is absolutely fantastic. And it's played an enormously important role in our communities, so thank you RRT.”
Indeed, the Brethren, or Exclusive Brethren as they were once known, have been courting conservative politicians since 2007, when they had private meetings with then-PM John Howard and former Treasurer Peter Costello.
Apparently, Howard and Costello also thought nothing of devoting exclusive time to the cult's leaders, despite one of the men being under police investigation over the funnelling of $370,000 into Howard's 2004 Election campaign.
Yep, nothing to see here.
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