The massive intervention of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church on behalf of the Coalition in last year’s federal election campaign has created all sorts of ripples – except, it seems, inside the Liberal Party itself.
To remind you, thousands of members of the isolationist church – whose members don’t vote – hit the hustings on behalf of the Liberal and National Parties, swamping polling booths with identically dressed men and women and their signage. Then both the Brethren, formerly known as Exclusive Brethren, and the Liberals furiously denied any organisation had been involved.
It prompted Anthony Albanese to label the church a cult, ask what the arrangement was between them and then-Liberal leader Peter Dutton, and to suggest there was a policy “quid pro quo”.
On the streets, according to evidence before a parliamentary inquiry, it made people feel unsafe and intimidated. One young mum, a victim of domestic violence, described running the gauntlet of dozens of Brethren men and being hit repeatedly with Liberal pamphlets after she refused to take one.
It prompted questions from the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Matters about whether the Brethren effort nationwide amounted to “domestic interference” in the poll, and whether the church should have been registered under electoral law as an “independent third-party campaigner”.
All this is extraordinary. But apparently not extraordinary enough to prompt any serious introspection in the Liberal Party.
CBD enthusiastically dived into the party’s post-election review – the one Dutton and Angus Taylor don’t want you to see but which the PM tabled during question time on March 3 – to find out what it said about this controversial aspect of the Liberal campaign.
Who agreed to have church members on the hustings for Dutton, we wondered? Who was the conduit between the party and the church? Had money or policy promises changed hands?
We were, to say the least, disappointed by the lack of detail in the report.
“Electorates varied in their capacity to muster supporters,” the small section on the Brethren begins. “The ageing of party members has added to the problem … and some campaigns were grateful for the assistance of volunteers who were also members of the Plymouth Brethren.”
The report does acknowledge “divided opinions” within the party about the value of having booths overrun by fired-up church members and called for “better training of all booth workers”.
And that’s about it – no hard-hitting self-examination. “It will need further investigation to determine why such exception has been taken to the role of the Plymouth Brethren.”
Contacted on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Brethren said: “The Plymouth Brethren Christian Church has no comment on the review. But as we have repeatedly said, members of our church should be allowed to participate in the democratic process without having their religion questioned, just like anyone else.”
Packer’s Consolidated Press Holdings faces legal action
Last month, CBD brought word of the departure of Catherine Davies from billionaire James Packer’s private investment vehicle Consolidated Press Holdings, where she’d served as the billionaire’s long-time general counsel and company secretary.
At the time, our efforts to get an answer to questions about the cause for her departure went unanswered. Well, now we have a little more information.
Earlier this month, Davies launched legal action in the Federal Court against Consolidated Press Holdings over an alleged breach of general protections, according to a filing lodged on March 4. The filing also lists the investment vehicle’s chief executive, Lawrence Myers, as a respondent. Packer is not listed as a respondent.
Davies has hired the workplace law firm Marks Pritchard to represent her in the action, while Consolidated Press Holdings has brought in Norton Rose Fulbright to defend it. Neither firm nor Myers responded to requests for comment in time for publication.
Davies’ departure from CPH left just Myers, who also serves as the deputy chairman at Breville, and the investment vehicle’s finance director, Michael Uzunovski, as directors of the company, according to documents filed with the corporate regulator. While CPH doesn’t offer a full picture of Packer’s wealth, its day-to-day operations continue to draw intrigue in some circles within corporate Australia, even if only to see some of the bets he’s making.
In CPH’s most recent filings last year, Packer stood to reap a $110 million dividend, thanks to major bets on Sportsbet’s owner, Flutter Entertainment, and the gaming firm Light & Wonder.
Sticking to the script
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Liberal MP Aaron Violi must be feeling pretty good about himself.
The Coalition MP’s International Women’s Day post to Facebook was so good that his colleague Simon Kennedy, who succeeded former prime minister Scott Morrison as the member for Cook, thought he’d post the same thing, word for word.
“Happy International Women’s Day!” both men posted to Facebook, just hours apart on Sunday. “Today we celebrate the incredible women who help shape and strengthen our community here in Casey and across the nation. I am blessed to have many strong and amazing women in my life, for which I am truly thankful.”
Given Kennedy is the member for Cook, not Casey, we couldn’t help wondering if there was a script circulated among Coalition colleagues eager to send a supportive message to the women of their electorate. But not so, we’re told, just a good old case of a staffer in Kennedy’s office copying and pasting the post wholesale. Kennedy and Violi both declined to comment.
“Happy International Women’s Day! Nice to celebrate with Nila, Kaia and of course Taj!” reads Kennedy’s updated post, acknowledging his wife and kids.
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John Buckley is a CBD columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email.
Fiona Byrne is the CBD columnist for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.