Plymouth Brethren leader Bruce Hales is due before the federal joint committee on electoral matters on Friday, and former and current members tell The Age the church is a controlling sect, not a mainstream religion.
Hales’s submission says he had no involvement in members volunteering for political parties. Twelve shunned former members wrote to the committee that the campaign activity began with his personal decision.
Coalition committee members call the hearing a “witch-hunt”, and Freedom for Faith calls the Brethren a mainstream denomination. The church runs a dozen charities with hundreds of millions in assets, and a finding of electioneering could put their tax concessions at risk.
#auspol
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/brethren-a-controlling-sect-not-a-religion-say-former-and-current-members-20261014-p615e8.html
National Secular Lobby
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2026-10-15 06:57:55 UTC
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2026-10-15 06:57:55 UTCEvent JSON
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