Key Takeaways
- Leaked videos and a confidential “guidelines” document show that the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church (PBCC) centrally coordinated its members’ campaigning for Coalition candidate Peter Dutton during the 2025 federal election, contrary to the church’s public claim of independent action.
- The materials emphasize loyalty, confidentiality, and evasiveness, instructing booth workers to deny any church involvement and to avoid creating a digital footprint.
- Senior church figures, including Bruce Hales (the “Elect Vessel”) and his confidants such as Gavin Grace and Paul Humber, directly directed volunteers, used scripted talking points, and employed wartime‑style rhetoric to motivate them.
- Evidence has been submitted to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, which is investigating whether the PBCC violated charity law by engaging in party‑political activity and risking its tax‑exempt status.
- Former members and witnesses describe intimidation tactics at polling booths, reinforcing concerns about the extent and nature of the Brethren’s political involvement.
Background on the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church
The Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, formerly known as the Exclusive Brethren, is a separatist religious group that exercises tight control over members’ personal lives, from household decisions to spiritual practices. Although registered as a charity and thus barred from direct party‑political activity, the church has long been accused of mobilising its followers for political ends. During the 2025 federal election, thousands of Brethren members appeared at polling booths across Australia, prompting an investigation by the federal parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters.
Leaked Evidence Reveals Central Coordination
In late 2024, this masthead obtained a trove of leaked material—including a detailed “guidelines” document and several instructional videos—that demonstrates a highly organised, top‑down campaign. The document was distributed nationally by senior Brethren to electorate workers and explicitly stresses that “LOYALTY is paramount” and “CONFIDENTIALITY is mandatory.” It warns members not to discuss project details in social settings, to avoid creating a digital footprint, and to follow a “need‑to‑know” principle, all aimed at shielding the church from scrutiny.
Guidelines on Messaging and Evasion
The guidelines provide a script for booth workers when questioned about their affiliation. Workers are told to present themselves as “a concerned business owner/team member and Christian worried about the future of Australia” and to insert the local candidate’s name into a pre‑written line: “You are supporting and volunteering for your local candidate ‘insert name’.” This uniform phrasing confirms that the messaging was centrally crafted rather than spontaneously generated by individual volunteers. The document also instructs volunteers to deflect direct questions about church involvement with responses such as, “I don’t think it’s appropriate for you to ask my religion,” thereby maintaining the façade of independent action.
Video Instructions from Church Elites
Complementing the written guide, two leaked videos feature senior church figures delivering direct instructions. Gavin Grace, a Melbourne‑based businessman who coordinated the Brethren effort in the marginal Sydney seat of Bennelong, advises volunteers on how to evade questions about their religion and to repeat a scripted narrative that separates personal volunteerism from church direction. Grace, who profited immensely from COVID‑related government contracts through his company Westlab (whose auditor was Bruce Hales), appears to be reading from a prepared script, yet his answers mirror those given by volunteers in other states, indicating a nationwide script.
Paul Humber’s Wartime‑Style Rally
Another video shows Paul Humber, a wealthy New South Wales Brethren businessman, rallying volunteers in the Robertson electorate using militaristic language. He urges them to “stake out a position as close to the polling booth as the electoral law permits,” to “hold those positions,” and to “speak loud, speak assertive.” Humber’s rhetoric includes the slogan “Make Australia Smile Again,” a phrase coined by Bruce Hales, and he disparages Labor and Green volunteers as “low‑lifes,” revealing a partisan, combative mindset that extends beyond mere civic participation.
Leadership Involvement and Ideological Justification
Bruce Hales, regarded by followers as the “Elect Vessel,” has repeatedly taught that nothing a member does can be separated from their role in the Brethren “assembly.” In a 2014 sermon delivered in Trinidad, he declared that assembly‑minded persons would carry the “feature of the house of God” wherever they go, implying that all actions—including political campaigning—are extensions of religious duty. This theological framing provides ideological justification for the church’s covert political work, even as it publicly denies any organisational role.
Internal Dissent and Withdrawal of Testimony
Former members, speaking anonymously due to fear of retribution, have told this masthead that a senior Brethren figure initially agreed to appear before the parliamentary committee but withdrew after the hearing date was set. This retreat underscores the internal pressure to maintain secrecy and the potential consequences for those who challenge the church’s narrative.
Allegations of Intimidation at Polling Booths
The Joint Standing Committee has also received testimony about intimidation tactics employed by Brethren volunteers. A young mother who survived domestic violence described being subjected to a “gauntlet” of Brethren men at a Queensland booth, who struck her with Liberal Party pamphlets while she shielded her child. She reported feeling “really intimidated and unsafe,” highlighting how the Brethren’s presence can cross the line from lawful volunteering to coercive behaviour.
Church’s Official Denial vs. Evidence
Despite the mounting evidence, the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church maintains that it did not organise or coordinate the volunteer effort. spokesman Lloyd Grimshaw and the church’s submission to the inquiry insist that any participation by members was purely personal and spontaneous. However, the uniformity of the leaked guidelines, the scripted video instructions, and the direct involvement of senior leaders such as Grace and Humber contradict this claim, suggesting a deliberate strategy to conceal central direction while reaping the political benefits of a mobilised base.
Implications for Charity Status and Electoral Law
Because charities are prohibited from engaging in party‑political activity, demonstrable coordination by the PBCC could jeopardise its tax‑exempt status. The Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters is weighing whether the Brethren’s actions constitute a breach of the Electoral Act and the Charities Act, and whether sanctions or a re‑classification of the organisation are warranted. The outcome may set a precedent for how religious charities navigate political involvement in Australia.
Conclusion
The leaked documents and videos paint a clear picture of a centrally directed, secretive campaign by the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church to support Coalition candidates in the 2025 federal election. Far from being a spontaneous grassroots effort, the operation relied on strict loyalty oaths, confidentiality protocols, evasive talking points, and motivational rhetoric from the church’s highest echelons. As the parliamentary inquiry proceeds, the evidence will test the limits of charitable exemptions and the accountability of religious organisations that seek to influence the political process while publicly disavowing such involvement.