{
  "id": 14897374,
  "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-14897374",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-16T06:58:24.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Guardian Australia",
    "slug": "the-guardian-australia",
    "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": null,
  "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."
}