‘What's going on?': Why the Exclusive Brethren are out in force this election

The Age

02-05-2025

'Why are they campaigning?' Prime Minister Anthony Albanese asked on Tuesday, referring to Plymouth Brethren Christian Church members in Liberal and National Party T-shirts staffing pre-poll stations around the country.
Their church was a cult, he said, adding: 'They don't vote ... but they all of a sudden have found this enthusiasm in their hundreds to travel around the country to hand out how-to-vote [cards]. What's the quid pro quo? What is going on there?'
This is what's going on: a systematic, lavishly funded attempt by an organisation with a strong financial agenda to influence the federal election without disclosing who they are or what want.
Its campaign is part of a long history of attempted political influence, money politics and secrecy, from the sect once known as the Exclusive Brethren.
In 2004, its global leader, Sydney businessman Bruce D. Hales, feared Labor's Mark Latham might win power and urged followers to act in support of John Howard.
Letters, witnesses and public documents emerged two years later showing that, within days of Hales' callout, Brethren businessmen had set up a holding company, raised hundreds of thousands of dollars from mystery sources, funded anti-Labor and anti-Greens advertising and put boots on the ground.
Initially, none of this was linked to the church. The authorisations for material came from unknown individuals, sometimes using their middle names, in obscure places, or using false addresses.
Confronted later, the Brethren denied any involvement, saying its members had acted independently.
Taken together it was a material intervention. Its advertising spend in the 2004 Australian election exceeded $370,000 – the fifth largest of any third-party donor that year.