The Plymouth Brethren Christian Church has denied secretly paying far-right influencers to stage stunts targeting Anthony Albanese and other politicians during an appearance at a parliamentary inquiry into the 2025 election. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing The Guardian.
The church also refuted claims it had coordinated hundreds of volunteers to support Liberal candidates, including at polling booths across the country.
The Nine newspapers reported on Friday that the church, formerly known as the Exclusive Brethren, paid influencers to disrupt the Labor campaign, including Laurence McIntyre, who was filmed heckling the prime minister.
McIntyre has been previously pictured with neo-Nazi figures Joel Davis and Blair Cottrell and was reported by the ABC to be an organiser for a March for Australia anti-immigration rally in 2025.
Lloyd Grimshaw, a director at the Brethren church, told the parliamentary inquiry on Friday that the reporting by Nine was a "complete lie". "My church did not make any donations or support in any way political parties or third parties who were involved in the election," Grimshaw said.
He alleged the church had been targeted with "unsubstantiated" allegations about its activities, claiming some members did volunteer at the election but for "pretty normal reasons", such as backing their local candidate or being worried about the economy.
He also said multiple church members had contacted him about how they were treated at polling booths, saying some faced "aggressive questioning" and "verbal abuse" over their involvement.
Grimshaw confirmed the church did not participate in the 2025 election campaign: "The Plymouth Brethren Christian Church did not participate in the 2025 election campaign in any way, shape, or form, and that includes paying for any political activity, chartering planes, moving people around. There was not one single cent paid from the church to fund that type of activity."
He also criticised the prime minister's description of the Brethren church as a "cult": "Not only is it offensive, but it's completely untrue, and it's hurtful."
In its interim report, the electoral matters committee claimed democracy was "under assault" from third parties including the Brethren church and right-wing lobby group Advance. The Labor-chaired committee recommended a new code of conduct for campaigners, but the Coalition accused Labor of turning the election inquiry into a "hyper-partisan witch-hunt" against members of the church.
On Friday, the Nationals leader, Matt Canavan, claimed the Labor party was weaponising the inquiry against the Brethren church and "launching a war" against those of religious faith. "I find these attacks on people of faith in our country completely unbecoming of an Australian government in our democracy," Canavan told News 24.