Behind the Exclusive Brethren

Out of nowhere in 2004, an obscure religious sect burst onto the political stage in Australia.

Almost unheard of until then, the Exclusive Brethren was suddenly spending up big in election advertising in support of conservative political parties. But its members were shy to the point of paranoia about who they were – preferring, as they said, to ‘fly under the radar’. Brethren members assiduously lobbied politicians, but did not vote.

And they were very close to then prime minister John Howard.

What exactly was their interest in politics? Why did their activism suddenly blossom almost simultaneously across the world, from Canada and the United States to Sweden and Australia? And how did a small, fringe group whose values are utterly detached from those of most Australians, infiltrate the highest office in the land?