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News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
‘Atrocious': Football world reacts to Tottenham's Ange Postecoglou decision
Season three will not be happening. Ange Postecoglou was sacked as Tottenham manager overnight Friday, just 16 days after the Australian ended the club's 17-year trophy drought by winning the Europa League. Postecoglou led Tottenham to a 1-0 victory over Manchester United in Bilbao to clinch the north Londoners' first European prize in 41 years and secure a place in next season's Champions League. But the Australian paid the price for Tottenham's worst domestic season since they were relegated from the top flight in 1976-77. 'Following a review of performances and after significant reflection, the Club can announce that Ange Postecoglou has been relieved of his duties,' a statement on Tottenham's official X account said. Exactly two years after he was hired from Celtic, Postecoglou's eventful spell in north London was brought to a ruthless end by chairman Daniel Levy. Tottenham lost 22 of their 38 Premier League games to finish 17th in the table, above only relegated trio Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton. 'The Board has unanimously concluded that it is in the best interests of the club for a change to take place,' the statement said. 'While winning the Europa League this season ranks as one of the club's greatest moments, we cannot base our decision on emotions aligned to this triumph. 'It is crucial that we are able to compete on multiple fronts and believe a change of approach will give us the strongest chance for the coming season and beyond. 'This has been one of the toughest decisions we have had to make and is not a decision that we have taken lightly, nor one we have rushed to conclude. 'We have made what we believe is the right decision to give us the best chance of success going forward, not the easy decision.' Postecoglou had forcefully defended his track record during the season and bristled at the constant questions over his future after his trophy success. He clashed with Tottenham fans during a defeat at Chelsea when he cupped his ear to them in a defiant gesture after a goal that was eventually disallowed. That blunder encapsulated his turbulent time in north London, but the 59-year-old bowed out gracefully. Postecoglou releases statement 'When I reflect on my time as Manager of Tottenham Hotspur my overriding emotion is one of pride,' Postecoglou said. 'The opportunity to lead one of England's historic football clubs and bring back the glory it deserves will live with me for a lifetime. Sharing that experience with all those who truly love this club and seeing the impact it had on them is something I will never forget. 'That night in Bilbao was the culmination of two years of hard work, dedication and unwavering belief in a dream. There were many challenges to overcome and plenty of noise that comes with trying to accomplish what many said was not possible. 'We have also laid foundations that mean this club should not have to wait 17 more years for their next success. I have enormous faith in this group of players and know there is much more potential and growth in them.' Tottenham were ravaged by injuries and in the latter stages of the campaign Postecoglou focused on keeping his key players fit and fresh for the Europa League. The gamble paid off but even securing Tottenham's first trophy since the 2008 League Cup was not enough to save him. He becomes the fifth manager sacked by Levy in the past six years. Brentford boss Thomas Frank, Fulham manager Marco Silva, Crystal Palace chief Oliver Glasner and Bournemouth's Andoni Iraola are reportedly the leading candidates to replace Postecoglou. Postecoglou made a blistering start to his Tottenham career, earning rave reviews for his 'Angeball' style of attacking play. However, a string of defeats at the end of the season blew a golden opportunity to qualify for the Champions League. In September 2024, Postecoglou boldly stated that he 'always wins things' in his second year. He delivered on that pledge but even the euphoria from the Europa League win could not save him from the axe. Football world reacts: 'They were atrocious' Postecoglou had largely retained the support of his players and Tottenham defender Pedro Porro saluted his efforts. 'Thank you for everything, boss. I'll always be grateful for the way you led us, defended us, and kept us going through all the highs and lows,' Porro said. 'Above everything, you gave us one of the greatest moments in the club's history and for that, you'll always be celebrated.' Newcastle legend Alan Shearer tweeted 'what a stupid game football is!!!!' in response to the news. Former England striker Chris Sutton added to the BBC: 'To get someone in who wins them silverware, then straightaway get rid of him, that sums up modern football, doesn't it? It's absolute bonkers. 'I would love to know the thought process behind the decision to get rid of him. Basically it is saying the finance of the Premier League is the be all and end all, is it? So finishing fourth or fifth in the Premier League and not winning a trophy is what matters - it is like they are morphing into Arsenal under Arsene Wenger at the end, if that's what is important. 'But money over glory sums up the owner, Daniel Levy, doesn't it? 'Nothing surprises me in football anymore, so Ange Postecoglou is better off out of it really - and maybe they can go back to being mediocre old Tottenham again now.' Former Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp said he wasn't surprised Levy had stuck the knife in again. 'I thought it was a certainty, doesn't shock me at all,' Redknapp told talkSPORT. 'Daniel has had two weeks after the cup final to come out and stop the speculation, from day one after they won that cup he never came out and said a word. 'I knew then for sure he was finished, so it's not a shock in any shape or form to me.' 'It's harsh, it's a difficult one,' he added. 'They were atrocious this season, let's be honest. The league form, fourth from bottom, they had a shocker, they won the cup, sometimes you get a bit of luck with the draw. 'But overall I suppose Daniel has looked at it and is thinking, hang on, Man United kept [Erik] Ten Hag last year after winning a cup and they went out and bought some players under his leadership and then suddenly they sack him. 'Were they going to take that chance with Ange? Bringing four or five new players and suddenly things haven't improved in the league by Christmas, then they have to sack him and are stuck with the players he brought in. 'He looks a good guy and I'd have liked to have seen him given more of a chance but it was never going to happen once Daniel didn't come out and support him.' England manager Thomas Tuchel also discussed the decision. 'It just shows you that it is not only about titles, you can survive seasons without titles if your connection, the support and the belief and the trust between the coach and the club is strong then you can overcome seasons without titles,' Tuchel said. 'If there is slight disbelief, if there are concerns, if the trust is not there anymore, obviously then it is sometimes not even enough to win a trophy after so many years. 'I have biggest respect for him. He's a huge character, he brought a trophy, he said he will deliver in the second year and he did. 'But this is part of the job, we are responsible for the results and we are responsible for the development of the team so, whether we like it or not, sometimes it is us who has to take the full responsibility.'
The Age
2 hours ago
- The Age
‘Game On': The minute-long message that unleashed the Brethren's election machine
One Sunday in mid-April, two weeks into the federal election campaign, the global leader of the extremist Christian sect formerly known as the Exclusive Brethren recorded a brief audio message to his followers. To the Brethren, the words of 'Man of God' Bruce Hales are close to holy writ. The message was only a minute or so long and narrowcast to the flock on a Brethren-only app called the Global Media Stream, according to a church source who has requested anonymity for fear of recrimination. That message gave permission for an unprecedented electoral effort by the church. The following week, thousands of members of what's now known as the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church began appearing at pre-polling stations throughout the country, handing out election material and swamping booths in signage to try to get Peter Dutton elected. Instead, this mass movement of sect members may have helped turn voters against the then opposition leader. It has caused deep rifts within the Liberal Party and outrage in Labor, and it's sparked a push to scrutinise the Brethren's secretive support of conservative politicians, and whether disclosure requirements have been met. It has also led to one young man, who transgressed the Brethren's stringent rules, facing a church punishment that could separate him from his family forever. 'It's game on' To people not versed in the peculiar language of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, Bruce Hales's April 13 audio recording was obscure in the extreme. Government in Australia needed the Brethren's prayers, he told his members. 'Australia needs to smile again.' In the weeks leading up to this message, a large number of Brethren members had already been working quietly with the Liberal Party at the local level, phone canvassing or behind the scenes, on what they described as 'King's business' – hoping to sway marginal Labor seats for Dutton. Hales' message signalled a step-change: 16,000 Brethren members were encouraged to get involved. The government needed to change. Another church insider, who also asked to remain anonymous for fear of recriminations, said Hales' sons amped the effort. In the week before pre-polling opened, a message went out from local Brethren leaders calling members to gather at one of a number of locations near where they lived. Across the nation, inside the houses of elders, church halls or business premises, the Brethren were played a video featuring Gareth, Charles and Dean Hales. 'How awesome was it to hear that recording on [Global Media Stream]?' the Hales boys enthused. Then, in the tones of a high-pressure sales call, they exhorted their members to step up their election efforts: 'Make sure our booths are manned and volunteers fired up each day to dominate the play.' Loading 'It's game on,' one of them added, according to a summary obtained by this masthead. 'Pray and take action'; 'It's all in the extra 1 per cents'. 'Make sure we don't leave any gas in the tank!' they said. Days later, the Brethren army was unleashed on the public. Members of this church generally are exempt from voting – they claim a conscientious objection, arguing that government is of God and should not be chosen by men. They are also taught to despise the 'world' and 'worldly people' because they will defile and contaminate them. Despite this doctrine, thousands took time off from Brethren company jobs and fanned out to marginal Labor seats nationally to hand out for the Coalition. A booth roster from the seat of Gilmore, obtained by this masthead, shows them listed as 'friends'. Gareth Hales was spotted at a booth in Bennelong. 'Make Australia smile again,' they would say, parroting the words of their leader. A significant third party? A Liberal source, who asked not be named to discuss internal matters, said numbers of the Brethren had long donated to the Coalition parties and had been well known by candidates for helping on the periphery in campaigning. This year, the source said, the effort was 'turbocharged'. It was driven by the Brethren and welcomed by the party, and unprecedented numbers – 20, 30 or more at some polling booths – turned out. The Brethren insider said the whole church had been geared towards it. Businesses lost up to three weeks of work and, 'Everyone was active. Everyone was out. This campaign controlled what time the [church] meetings were. This was the priority.' It was clear, both from the word of Labor members on the ground, and from church insiders, that the Brethren were required to travel outside their areas to campaign where they would not be recognised. Labor's member for Lingiari, Marion Scrymgour, told ABC Radio after the election that Brethren members were being flown into remote areas of her huge, central Australian electorate each morning to campaign, then flown back out again to stay the night in a resort on Groote Eylandt. The spending – in cash and kind – raises crucial questions about political campaign disclosures. Outside groups that spend more than $250,000 trying to persuade people during a campaign must register as a 'significant third party', which brings clear disclosure obligations. The ACTU, Advance and Climate 200 are examples. But the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church does not have this registration, and nor do any of its businesses, charities or trusts. A spokesman for the church has denied multiple times that the church was involved in any campaigning or spending. Anything done by members was simply the work of individual people or businesses, he said. Campaign finance expert Joo-Cheong Tham, a professor at Melbourne Law School and director of the Centre for Public Integrity, said the church's behaviour deserved an inquiry. 'It's critical that there be transparency in relation to third-party expenditure,' he said. Tham said the Brethren effort appeared highly co-ordinated but was not necessarily funded by a single entity, which exposed a 'regulatory gap' that deserved scrutiny. Apart from the campaigning, the Brethren insider said church members were also told to open their wallets to make donations, but to make sure each individual amount was under the federal disclosure threshold of $16,900. That way nobody would know it was them, the source said. Ex-Brethren member Lavinia Richardson explained that to avoid public scrutiny, Brethren businessmen would gift amounts of money, or make distributions from a trust, to multiple family members or trusted staff to pass on to a candidate. Each individual donation fell under the threshold but together it could be tens of thousands of dollars. Tham said that while this was not illegal, it was another regulatory gap in the federal act, which lacks anti-avoidance provisions. In his view, all those figures should count as one and be disclosed. A senior NSW Liberal operative, who asked to remain anonymous to discuss internal issues, confirmed to this masthead that there 'were unusual spikes in fundraising activity' during this campaign. 'Some of the colleagues raised more money than ever: hundreds of thousands of dollars … more money than ever from the Brethren.' Loading The Australian Electoral Commission said it held a review of campaigner activity after every election, and it would contact any entity it determined was required to register or disclose. Failure to register incurs a penalty of up to $66,000. A court can order a penalty of three times the amount of money raised. The Labor member for Bennelong, Jerome Laxale, who won an increased majority despite a concerted, Brethren-led Liberal campaign against him, said he intended to make a submission about these issues to the joint parliamentary committee on electoral matters when it was formed. 'I'll certainly be writing a submission to it and will be encouraging locals to share their experience as well,' Laxale said. 'Not something that should happen in a democracy like ours. It was just too much.' The Brethren campaign raises fundamental questions for the Liberal Party. A party insider, speaking anonymously to discuss internal matters, said the push for large numbers of Brethren campaigners on the ground had come through local campaigns, but that they believed someone senior in the party, potentially in Dutton's office, must have signed off on it. Dutton, during the campaign, was asked about the Brethren and said the Liberal Party did not recruit people from particular religions. 'The Liberal Party has not recruited people from particular religions,' Dutton said. 'We're a volunteer-based organisation. People can volunteer and provide support to their local Liberal National Party candidate. I'd encourage them to do that.' But documents leaked to this masthead show that, as the size of the sect's input became clear, senior Liberals raised concerns. 'They'll call in favours and they don't do this for free,' senator Linda Reynolds complained at a meeting of the party's Federal Council on April 30, according to leaked notes from the meeting. 'They don't do things for democracy given they don't vote; they do it to control the candidates. They're dangerous … they hate women.' The church treats women as second class citizens – they are not permitted to be in a position of authority over a man, they sit at the back of the church and, after marriage, are confined largely to domestic and voluntary work. Another federal secretariat member, Jane Buncle, a lawyer, agreed with Reynolds in the meeting, saying the party needed Brethren campaigners because 'we don't have enough members', but that their presence would deter people – particularly women – from joining the party. 'Engaging a group like the Brethren who actively diminish women of all ages drives those people away even further,' Buncle said. 'It's a matter for the leaders of this campaign why they needed that support ... but it will impact us long term.' A senior Liberal source agreed, saying the Brethren's values were 'not necessarily aligned with the values of the Liberal Party'. 'Having them represent us in the electorate is a bigger problem than the party has been prepared to admit so far,' the source said. Federal Liberal director Andrew Hirst declined to comment, but a spokesperson said the party 'does not ask its volunteers, members, or donors what their religious beliefs are, nor do we intend to'. On the hustings, members of all major parties say the Brethren's presence may have harmed Dutton's chances. In the marginal Labor seats where volunteers said their numbers were greatest – including Bennelong, Parramatta, Macquarie and Gilmore – the swings against the Liberals were considerably larger than the statewide result. 'It's one of the strangest and most offensive experiences I've ever gone through as a candidate and volunteer in my 30 years of doing this,' said Laxale, who was re-elected to Bennelong with a large swing. 'I distinctly remember counting 36 people in Liberal shirts at pre-poll. Thirty-three were men. They were loud, obnoxious … chanting slogans … It was a lot.' Scrymgour, who also had a big swing towards her, said: 'They were aggressive and intimidating, and I think for a lot of women. We had women who were terrified to go to the booths in Katherine.' 'A traitor' While the church's campaign might have damaged the Liberal Party, it's been potentially life-changing for one young Brethren man. The man, who this masthead has agreed not to name because he fears the ramifications, has confirmed he took part in the political campaign, which he said was being run 'under guidance from the top, being Bruce Hales'. Asked about the church's line that it was simply individuals being motivated to help, the young man said: 'Absolutely NOT!!! There were teams organised in each locality who were each given T-shirts … There was absolutely no asking which party you would like to campaign for or what role in the campaigning you were comfortable doing. It was all handed to you and you were expected to get on with it.' The Brethren spokesman also insisted that different Brethren members supported different parties, but the young man said this too was wrong. Others campaigning 'for the likes of Labor were heavily ridiculed on the Zoom calls', he said. This young man had come to Australia from the UK for family reasons, but his time here was cut short by the church. Already unhappy in the church, he secretly recorded one of the election co-ordinating meetings and leaked it to former members – people the church regards as dangerous 'opposers'. He was sent home immediately to England 'because of the audio I recorded'. His 'assembly discipline' was to be kicked out of the family home. The man says he's now living in a small caravan in the backyard, his contact with his parents is limited, and he's unable to speak to his brothers and sisters. 'I have had multiple meetings with the local Brethren priests … I've been told that being a traitor is worse than anything else. They called me a traitor because I exposed private information to those who have left the Brethren. They say it has severely affected the Brethren in Australia.' After the Brethren's role in the campaign was exposed in this masthead and on social media, the church's spokesman suggested that for media to make inquiries about the religious affiliation of any individual volunteer was to encroach on their freedom of religion. Asked if he had any freedom now, including freedom of worship, the young man in the UK said there was none. 'If I decide to visit another church I would absolutely fear losing contact with my family. It would be seen as a severe crime.' Asked about the man's case, the Brethren in the UK responded that their 'pastoral care practices ... are never punitive or coercive', and that 'communicating with people outside our church community ... does not trigger any pastoral response'.
Sydney Morning Herald
3 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Game On': The minute-long message that unleashed the Brethren's election machine
One Sunday in mid-April, two weeks into the federal election campaign, the global leader of the extremist Christian sect formerly known as the Exclusive Brethren recorded a brief audio message to his followers. To the Brethren, the words of 'Man of God' Bruce Hales are close to holy writ. The message was only a minute or so long and narrowcast to the flock on a Brethren-only app called the Global Media Stream, according to a church source who has requested anonymity for fear of recrimination. That message gave permission for an unprecedented electoral effort by the church. The following week, thousands of members of what's now known as the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church began appearing at pre-polling stations throughout the country, handing out election material and swamping booths in signage to try to get Peter Dutton elected. Instead, this mass movement of sect members may have helped turn voters against the then opposition leader. It has caused deep rifts within the Liberal Party and outrage in Labor, and it's sparked a push to scrutinise the Brethren's secretive support of conservative politicians, and whether disclosure requirements have been met. It has also led to one young man, who transgressed the Brethren's stringent rules, facing a church punishment that could separate him from his family forever. 'It's game on' To people not versed in the peculiar language of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, Bruce Hales's April 13 audio recording was obscure in the extreme. Government in Australia needed the Brethren's prayers, he told his members. 'Australia needs to smile again.' In the weeks leading up to this message, a large number of Brethren members had already been working quietly with the Liberal Party at the local level, phone canvassing or behind the scenes, on what they described as 'King's business' – hoping to sway marginal Labor seats for Dutton. Hales' message signalled a step-change: 16,000 Brethren members were encouraged to get involved. The government needed to change. Another church insider, who also asked to remain anonymous for fear of recriminations, said Hales' sons amped the effort. In the week before pre-polling opened, a message went out from local Brethren leaders calling members to gather at one of a number of locations near where they lived. Across the nation, inside the houses of elders, church halls or business premises, the Brethren were played a video featuring Gareth, Charles and Dean Hales. 'How awesome was it to hear that recording on [Global Media Stream]?' the Hales boys enthused. Then, in the tones of a high-pressure sales call, they exhorted their members to step up their election efforts: 'Make sure our booths are manned and volunteers fired up each day to dominate the play.' Loading 'It's game on,' one of them added, according to a summary obtained by this masthead. 'Pray and take action'; 'It's all in the extra 1 per cents'. 'Make sure we don't leave any gas in the tank!' they said. Days later, the Brethren army was unleashed on the public. Members of this church generally are exempt from voting – they claim a conscientious objection, arguing that government is of God and should not be chosen by men. They are also taught to despise the 'world' and 'worldly people' because they will defile and contaminate them. Despite this doctrine, thousands took time off from Brethren company jobs and fanned out to marginal Labor seats nationally to hand out for the Coalition. A booth roster from the seat of Gilmore, obtained by this masthead, shows them listed as 'friends'. Gareth Hales was spotted at a booth in Bennelong. 'Make Australia smile again,' they would say, parroting the words of their leader. A significant third party? A Liberal source, who asked not be named to discuss internal matters, said numbers of the Brethren had long donated to the Coalition parties and had been well known by candidates for helping on the periphery in campaigning. This year, the source said, the effort was 'turbocharged'. It was driven by the Brethren and welcomed by the party, and unprecedented numbers – 20, 30 or more at some polling booths – turned out. The Brethren insider said the whole church had been geared towards it. Businesses lost up to three weeks of work and, 'Everyone was active. Everyone was out. This campaign controlled what time the [church] meetings were. This was the priority.' It was clear, both from the word of Labor members on the ground, and from church insiders, that the Brethren were required to travel outside their areas to campaign where they would not be recognised. Labor's member for Lingiari, Marion Scrymgour, told ABC Radio after the election that Brethren members were being flown into remote areas of her huge, central Australian electorate each morning to campaign, then flown back out again to stay the night in a resort on Groote Eylandt. The spending – in cash and kind – raises crucial questions about political campaign disclosures. Outside groups that spend more than $250,000 trying to persuade people during a campaign must register as a 'significant third party', which brings clear disclosure obligations. The ACTU, Advance and Climate 200 are examples. But the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church does not have this registration, and nor do any of its businesses, charities or trusts. A spokesman for the church has denied multiple times that the church was involved in any campaigning or spending. Anything done by members was simply the work of individual people or businesses, he said. Campaign finance expert Joo-Cheong Tham, a professor at Melbourne Law School and director of the Centre for Public Integrity, said the church's behaviour deserved an inquiry. 'It's critical that there be transparency in relation to third-party expenditure,' he said. Tham said the Brethren effort appeared highly co-ordinated but was not necessarily funded by a single entity, which exposed a 'regulatory gap' that deserved scrutiny. Apart from the campaigning, the Brethren insider said church members were also told to open their wallets to make donations, but to make sure each individual amount was under the federal disclosure threshold of $16,900. That way nobody would know it was them, the source said. Ex-Brethren member Lavinia Richardson explained that to avoid public scrutiny, Brethren businessmen would gift amounts of money, or make distributions from a trust, to multiple family members or trusted staff to pass on to a candidate. Each individual donation fell under the threshold but together it could be tens of thousands of dollars. Tham said that while this was not illegal, it was another regulatory gap in the federal act, which lacks anti-avoidance provisions. In his view, all those figures should count as one and be disclosed. A senior NSW Liberal operative, who asked to remain anonymous to discuss internal issues, confirmed to this masthead that there 'were unusual spikes in fundraising activity' during this campaign. 'Some of the colleagues raised more money than ever: hundreds of thousands of dollars … more money than ever from the Brethren.' Loading The Australian Electoral Commission said it held a review of campaigner activity after every election, and it would contact any entity it determined was required to register or disclose. Failure to register incurs a penalty of up to $66,000. A court can order a penalty of three times the amount of money raised. The Labor member for Bennelong, Jerome Laxale, who won an increased majority despite a concerted, Brethren-led Liberal campaign against him, said he intended to make a submission about these issues to the joint parliamentary committee on electoral matters when it was formed. 'I'll certainly be writing a submission to it and will be encouraging locals to share their experience as well,' Laxale said. 'Not something that should happen in a democracy like ours. It was just too much.' The Brethren campaign raises fundamental questions for the Liberal Party. A party insider, speaking anonymously to discuss internal matters, said the push for large numbers of Brethren campaigners on the ground had come through local campaigns, but that they believed someone senior in the party, potentially in Dutton's office, must have signed off on it. Dutton, during the campaign, was asked about the Brethren and said the Liberal Party did not recruit people from particular religions. 'The Liberal Party has not recruited people from particular religions,' Dutton said. 'We're a volunteer-based organisation. People can volunteer and provide support to their local Liberal National Party candidate. I'd encourage them to do that.' But documents leaked to this masthead show that, as the size of the sect's input became clear, senior Liberals raised concerns. 'They'll call in favours and they don't do this for free,' senator Linda Reynolds complained at a meeting of the party's Federal Council on April 30, according to leaked notes from the meeting. 'They don't do things for democracy given they don't vote; they do it to control the candidates. They're dangerous … they hate women.' The church treats women as second class citizens – they are not permitted to be in a position of authority over a man, they sit at the back of the church and, after marriage, are confined largely to domestic and voluntary work. Another federal secretariat member, Jane Buncle, a lawyer, agreed with Reynolds in the meeting, saying the party needed Brethren campaigners because 'we don't have enough members', but that their presence would deter people – particularly women – from joining the party. 'Engaging a group like the Brethren who actively diminish women of all ages drives those people away even further,' Buncle said. 'It's a matter for the leaders of this campaign why they needed that support ... but it will impact us long term.' A senior Liberal source agreed, saying the Brethren's values were 'not necessarily aligned with the values of the Liberal Party'. 'Having them represent us in the electorate is a bigger problem than the party has been prepared to admit so far,' the source said. Federal Liberal director Andrew Hirst declined to comment, but a spokesperson said the party 'does not ask its volunteers, members, or donors what their religious beliefs are, nor do we intend to'. On the hustings, members of all major parties say the Brethren's presence may have harmed Dutton's chances. In the marginal Labor seats where volunteers said their numbers were greatest – including Bennelong, Parramatta, Macquarie and Gilmore – the swings against the Liberals were considerably larger than the statewide result. 'It's one of the strangest and most offensive experiences I've ever gone through as a candidate and volunteer in my 30 years of doing this,' said Laxale, who was re-elected to Bennelong with a large swing. 'I distinctly remember counting 36 people in Liberal shirts at pre-poll. Thirty-three were men. They were loud, obnoxious … chanting slogans … It was a lot.' Scrymgour, who also had a big swing towards her, said: 'They were aggressive and intimidating, and I think for a lot of women. We had women who were terrified to go to the booths in Katherine.' 'A traitor' While the church's campaign might have damaged the Liberal Party, it's been potentially life-changing for one young Brethren man. The man, who this masthead has agreed not to name because he fears the ramifications, has confirmed he took part in the political campaign, which he said was being run 'under guidance from the top, being Bruce Hales'. Asked about the church's line that it was simply individuals being motivated to help, the young man said: 'Absolutely NOT!!! There were teams organised in each locality who were each given T-shirts … There was absolutely no asking which party you would like to campaign for or what role in the campaigning you were comfortable doing. It was all handed to you and you were expected to get on with it.' The Brethren spokesman also insisted that different Brethren members supported different parties, but the young man said this too was wrong. Others campaigning 'for the likes of Labor were heavily ridiculed on the Zoom calls', he said. This young man had come to Australia from the UK for family reasons, but his time here was cut short by the church. Already unhappy in the church, he secretly recorded one of the election co-ordinating meetings and leaked it to former members – people the church regards as dangerous 'opposers'. He was sent home immediately to England 'because of the audio I recorded'. His 'assembly discipline' was to be kicked out of the family home. The man says he's now living in a small caravan in the backyard, his contact with his parents is limited, and he's unable to speak to his brothers and sisters. 'I have had multiple meetings with the local Brethren priests … I've been told that being a traitor is worse than anything else. They called me a traitor because I exposed private information to those who have left the Brethren. They say it has severely affected the Brethren in Australia.' After the Brethren's role in the campaign was exposed in this masthead and on social media, the church's spokesman suggested that for media to make inquiries about the religious affiliation of any individual volunteer was to encroach on their freedom of religion. Asked if he had any freedom now, including freedom of worship, the young man in the UK said there was none. 'If I decide to visit another church I would absolutely fear losing contact with my family. It would be seen as a severe crime.' Asked about the man's case, the Brethren in the UK responded that their 'pastoral care practices ... are never punitive or coercive', and that 'communicating with people outside our church community ... does not trigger any pastoral response'.
