{
  "id": 14894135,
  "title": "Exclusive Brethren head denies knowing church members were volunteering for Liberal party during 2025 election",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/16/exclusive-brethren-head-denies-knowing-church-members-were",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-16T06:58:24.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Guardian",
    "slug": "the-guardian",
    "url": "https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/oct/16/exclusive-brethren-head-denies-knowing-church-members-volunteering-liberal-party-2025-election-ntwnfb"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The most senior member of the Exclusive Brethren, Bruce Hales, has denied any involvement or knowledge of his church members volunteering for the Liberal party during the 2025 election. He stated emphatically that he had \"no involvement whatsoever\" in any aspects of the election and did not plan, coordinate, direct, or fund such activities.\n\nBruce's son, Gareth Hales, also testified before a parliamentary committee but acknowledged that the group faced challenges in being labeled a cult by the prime minister. He referred to the label as \"a bit rough,\" and denied any political affiliations of two individuals, Morgan C Jonas and Chris de Bruyne, whom the church allegedly paid to disrupt campaigns against Labor MPs.\n\nThe committee hearing was marked by tension, with Coalition members accusing Labor and crossbench MPs of a \"Spanish inquisition.\" National senator Bridget McKenzie and Liberal MP Ben Small repeatedly interrupted questions, calling them \"disgraceful\" and \"disrespectful.\"",
  "summary": "Bruce Hales also denies church was a cult while son tells parliamentary committee it was ‘a bit rough’ being labelled as such Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The most senior member of the Exclusive Brethren has denied any knowledge of or involvement in thousands of members from his church volunteering for the Liberal party at the 2025 election. The Plymouth Brethren…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Guardian Australia",
        "title": "MPs clash over grilling of Exclusive Brethren leader on alleged election campaigning – video",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/16/mps-clash-over-grilling-of-exclusive-brethren-leader-on-alleged",
        "published": "2026-10-16T06:35:41.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}