I have written several pieces about the Liberal Party branches being taken over by the religious in most of the Australian states. It seems to have started in Victoria1,2, and quickly spread to other states with Western Australia2,3, Queensland2 and South Australia4,5 having fallen to the religious. The only holdouts seem to be Tasmania6 and New South Wales7.
I also wondered if, apart from having the religious nutter Scott Morrison as Prime Minister, the federal Liberal Party had been taken over by the religious. While it was difficult to be certain of the proportion of those in the parliamentary Liberal Party who were religious (many keep it secret), at the time of writing that piece in the middle of 2021, that proportion was about 94%. At the same time, the proportion of the general population with a religious affiliation was about 60%8.
I also reported on the Church and State Summit of 2021 which was held in Brisbane and that summit made clear that the religious want the christianisation of government and suggestions were canvassed about how they would go about it8. They knew that spouting their ‘philosophy’ would be counter-productive as they realise that religion is in decline. So, then federal National Party MP, George Christensen (he joined Pauline Hanson’s One Notion Party in April 20229) suggested they needed to take a smarter approach to debate by self-censoring some of their agenda until they were in power. He said: “We have got to pick the battles we can win on in the public arena in order to get elected and be in government, and then prosecute the other battles while you’re in government”8. This is telling prospective christian politicians to lie by omission while running for office.
Now the Plymouth Brethren have been discovered campaigning en masse for the Liberals and National parties, with unusually large groups of volunteers spotted in some marginal electorates across the nation. As suggested by George Christensen above, they have been told to lie about their beliefs, one of which is that they are not allowed to vote. Their instructions included that, if asked, they were to deny that they were volunteering on behalf of the church, and to state that they will be voting10.
The Plymouth Brethren are a nonconformist christian movement whose history can be traced back to Dublin, Ireland, in the mid to late 1820s, where it originated from Anglicanism11.
Cults like this have little, if anything, to do with the supposed teachings of Jesus. These teachings are the antithesis of many of the policies of the Liberal and National parties, and their campaign methods which most notably use the dog-whistle at every opportunity. In campaigning for the Liberal and National parties, these cults demonstrate that they are mostly about maintaining their privilege and influence, and perhaps most importantly, their tax-free status, rather than anything ethical concerns.
Sources
- https://blotreport.com/2018/05/04/demise-of-the-liberals-is-under-way/
- https://blotreport.com/2021/03/19/paedophiles-coal-and-jesus-3/
- https://blotreport.com/2019/01/15/demise-of-the-liberals-under-way-in-wa/
- https://blotreport.com/2021/06/06/the-demise-of-the-liberal-party-is-under-way-in-south-australia/
- https://blotreport.com/2022/07/01/the-demise-of-the-liberals-in-south-australia-continues/
- https://blotreport.com/2024/01/30/beginning-of-the-end-for-tasmanian-liberals/
- https://blotreport.com/2021/11/28/impending-doom-for-liberals-in-nsw/
- https://blotreport.com/2021/05/01/paedophiles-coal-and-jesus-4/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Christensen
- https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-30/plymouth-brethren-deny-coordinated-campaign-support-coalition/105233290
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth_Brethren
The involvement of the Christian right in the LNP is more than unsettling, Goodenough in WA is an example, now Hasty is doing Court’s bidding.
Maurice,
While Goodenough missed out on preselection in the latest election, he ran as an independent, and it seems he missed out. Hastie is the one that worries me the most. He is not only a standard religious nutter, but is also a creationist.
It’s tough being Christian in the Benighted States these days. The sacrifices asked of you are simply intolerable. To wit, consider the sad plight of North Carolina Baptists such as Marcy McClanahan who voted to sack their anti-Trump pastor Ben Boswell:
Extract from link below:
Chairwoman Marcy McClanahan said that people had been complaining about Boswell frequently mentioning social justice issues in his sermons.
“A lot of these people left the church … in the last few years. If any of you talked to them, you heard the same thing over and over again — I’m tired of being indicted because I’m white. I’m tired of being banged over the head every week about immigrants and LGBTQ, and I just want to come to church and be encouraged. … I think what we need is 80% comfort and 20% social justice,” McClanahan reportedly said during the meeting [to oust Boswell].
Yep Marcy that’s a terrible crime against humanity. Boswell should have observed the well-known 11th Commandment – Thou shalt neither burden your flock with guilt nor bore them with repetitious sermons. The former should be restricted guidance on matters of “relations” (ie sex, to the rest of us), however the latter is a mortal sin.
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/other/anti-trump-pastor-forced-out-by-church-for-frequently-promoting-social-justice-report/ar-AA1F9rYe
Jon,
I read an article about christian MAGAts, one of whom opined that the stuff that Jesus is supposed to have said (e.g. love they neighbour, take care of the poor, look after immigrants), is now “too weak” and “doesn’t work any more”. Amazing stuff.
That’s in line with their (and conservatives like Vance) misinterpretation and misapprpriation of the theories of Ayn Rand (which I haven’t read) regarding personal responsibility etc. There was a good article in the SMH recently by a fellow whose parents brought him up using Rand’s philosophy. They later realised it’s GROSS errors and rejected it. I shouldn’t comment since I haven’t read any of her philosophies but the “personal responsibility” mantra fails even the simplest test because it fails to recognise the physical and mental issues many people face – some from birth. It also assumes everyone has the same opportunities and responsibilities (eg it doesn’t account for onerous responsibilties many (including kids) have as carers etc etc), and have the same capability and confidence to deal with managing their lives.
Interestingly, the new American Pope Leo XIV (and the late Francis) is on record as saying that Vance’s interpretations of Ordo Amoris (which have similar sentiments to this “too weak/deosn’t work today hypocrisy – ie you don’t need to care about people outside your close sphere) are erroneous misinterpretations – AND go against Christ’s, and the Catholic church’s, teachings.
I’ll see if I can find the SMH article.
Yes, great article. My question is why do religious institutions have any say at all? Can the tax office & government make sure they are doing what they state they do. I really think there needs to be an inquiry into religious entities – ‘there is something
rotten in Denmark’ – & that is religion!!
Marilyn,
Religion is largely about control, and as religion declines almost everywhere around the world, the religious are terrified that their privilege, influence and tax-free status will disappear. That is why they are getting more strident and have thrown their lot in with such amoral bastards as Trump, and such parties as the Liberal Party, and in some cases have taken over branches of the latter party.