After election campaign blitz, Brethren return to real estate game
The devil works hard, but the crusading parishioners at the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church work harder when it comes to trying to get Liberals elected.
The secretive fundamentalist church, whose patriarch and 'Man of God' Bruce Hales preaches a 'hatred' of outsiders, condemns homosexuality and treats women as second-class citizens, sent out an army of volunteers to campaign for the Liberal Party at marginal seats across the country including Bennelong, Kooyong, Gorton, Hawke, Gilmore and Calare – all despite its members objecting to voting on religious grounds.
Anyway, with the dust settled and the Liberals vanquished despite all that electioneering, the Brethren flock can go back to what they do best — buying up multimillion-dollar tracts of land in the quiet, leafy corners of Sydney's northwest.
Relatives of Hales, dubbed the 'royal family' by some observers, have been particularly drawn to the Epping-Eastwood area.
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Among them is Justin Hales, Bruce's 25-year-old grandson, whose father, Gareth, was one of the senior Brethren figures spotted leafletting. He recently spent about $8 million buying not one but two adjacent blocks in North Epping on a quiet cul de sac. The first was bought in 2023 for $2.9 million, and its four-bedroom neighbour was picked up for a suburb record $5.13 million last year.
Now Hales is seeking council approval to consolidate the two houses into a single 11-bedroom mega-mansion at a cool cost of $9 million. When first exhibited, the development application shattered the council's maximum permitted floor size and attracted 30 objections from neighbours. It is being exhibited again with a slight reduction in size at the rear. Hornsby Shire Council is considering the application.
Asked about the latest Hales property plans, a Brethren spokesperson told CBD: 'Our church has no comment to make on the home renovations of any of our parishioners, past or present, young or old, Hales or not Hales.
'If you want information about our church, let us know. If you want information about property renovations, watch The Block.'
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