It was a basic pub meal two pieces of fish and a handful of chips but to Roger Bennett it represented a significant departure from everything he had been taught to believe.

As a member of the Exclusive Brethren until January this year, the 28-year-old Adelaide man had been forbidden from eating in restaurants his whole life.

But two months after severing ties with the secretive religious group, Mr Bennett ventured into Brighton's Esplanade Hotel, as if he was visiting a foreign country.

"It was really weird, I didn't understand social etiquette or what was going on," he said. "But it was an enjoyable meal, I got through it okay."

Mr Bennett, of Torrens Park, this week offered a rare insight into the world of the Exclusive Brethren, who shun contact with outsiders, or as he said they called them "worldlies".

Raised in Unley, just a few streets from the Brethren's Mary St meeting hall, Mr Bennett grew up in a typically large Brethren family, the eldest of five children.

He went to Highgate Primary, in the days before the Exclusive Brethren established its own school at St Mary's.

"We were picked on a bit because we didn't eat with everyone else but you kind of got used to it and moved on," he recalled.

"I did normal kid things, played with action figures, played with Brethren mates, it was just that we had relatively limited contact with the outside world."

Mr Bennett was in Year 5 when he said then Exclusive Brethren leader James Symington banned members from watching television. "One day we were allowed to watch it, the next day we weren't," he said.

"But it didn't really affect me that much. We didn't have a television at home so it wasn't as though I had any favourite programs I was missing out on." Mr Symington also banned the use of computers, Mr Bennett said, a decision that frustrated him more than anything. "I was one of the brighter kids in the class as far as computers went ... All of a sudden I wasn't able to do that anymore. But again, you moved on."

After attending Urrbrae Agricultural High School for a few years, Mr Bennett completed Years 11 and 12 through correspondence finishing with good grades. However, Mr Symington had also forbidden members from attending university, so like the majority of Exclusive Brethren youth, Mr Bennett was given work in a factory owned by a church member. "They really do look after their own, make sure everyone has got work," he said.

So with a job that paid well, a supportive family and a strong group of friendships that he had developed within the church, what was it that made him leave?

"There were a couple of different reasons," Mr Bennett said. "I've always been curious about what the rest of the world has to offer. So I started doing a lot of reading, which is generally frowned upon because the Brethren have their own publications."

Another reason was his inability to find a partner within the church. "You're not actively encouraged to date, the Brethren have a fairly stern view of dating.

"Because you can only marry within the church, you travel around as much as you can interstate and overseas so that you're meeting more girls. I did that for a few years and wasn't having much luck and that's when I started to ask a few questions. I wondered what I was doing wrong. I started thinking I needed to become more successful because the girls wanted someone who was wealthy and had their act together. But I still wasn't having any luck ...

Gradually feeling more and more disillusioned, Mr Bennett began distancing himself, started missing church services and breaking rules. "I bought a computer and a mobile phone. And was also sneaking out to watch movies every now and then. I was really starting to rock the boat. Everyone was wondering what I was doing with the computer, why I needed it. In February last year, Mr Bennett made the decision that he wanted to leave the church by the end of 2006.

"I was becoming so far removed from them it was becoming difficult to have a conversation with anyone. I had a long-term idea of what I wanted to do with my life and where I wanted to go and it got to the stage where I wasn't going to be able to do that as a member of the Brethren."

Having known no other life, Mr Bennett said the decision to leave was not easy. "I just had to grit my teeth and say I'm leaving. "They would let me live at home but I would've had to eat in a separate room and get rid of my computer and my phone. I had no social network because all my friends were in the church, I only had one mate in Adelaide that knew what was going on. But after I left (in January this year) I'd never felt so good in all my life. I stood up for what I believed in and that's so important."

Life since leaving the Brethren hasn't been easy Mr Bennett has been seeing a counsellor and has had health issues but it has also been exciting. "There were so many things I hadn't tried. I'd never been inside a nightclub before or even a pub. I'd never been part of a club before."

He now is a member of a public speaking group based at Parkside and he has been able to pursue his passion for Mini Cooper cars, as a member of the Sporting Car Club of SA. Because of his decision to leave the Exclusive Brethren, Mr Bennett is able to contact his family only by telephone, and that's "pretty infrequent".

"It's hard because they really want me to come back. They'd have me back in a second. They'd give me financial security, something I don't really have at the moment. But I wouldn't go back in a million years. I'm happy with my life now." An Exclusive Brethren spokesman says the church made a decision to move its headquarters further south several years ago because of a need for cheaper housing for its members.

A spokesman for the group Tony McCorkell, a Queensland-based public relations consultant, said the Exclusive Brethren had decided to move south "about three or four years ago". Mr McCorkell said the Exclusive Brethren had between 350 and 400 Adelaide members, a "large number" of whom had moved to the Happy Valley/Flagstaff Hill area in the past few years. Previously these members had lived in the suburbs south of the city, between Unley and St Mary's. All large meetings, which attract visitors from interstate and overseas, now are held in the Brethren's $2.2 million complex at Happy Valley. A Messenger investigation revealed last week that the Exclusive Brethren have bought up millions of dollars in property around Happy Valley and Flagstaff Hill in the past few years.

The group has recently had plans for a 120-seat hall on Black Rd, Flagstaff Hill, approved by Onkaparinga Council. Messenger made several attempts to get in contact with senior Adelaide members of the Exclusive Brethren last week but calls were not returned.

Extracts:

"Polite Notice. We respect God's name and on these premises do not accept the use of blasphemy or swearing. While in our store we ask you to respect this. Thank you for your cooperation."

A music store, a piano shop, a bike shop, a cooker shop .. I can count at least five local stores with this little notice on the inside of their front door.

Oddly, all are closed for the whole weekend, and none has a website.

A little further digging reveals that they are all run by members of a religious sect called The Exclusive Brethren. And they certainly are exclusive. I first came across them when I was selling them a building and we had agreed the price when they discovered that the access drive was also used by the people in front. They withdrew. I pointed that the Queen's highway which served the drive was shared by everyone but they were unmoved.

They keep themselves to themselves, making Howard Hughes seem positively gregarious by comparison. They will not join any professional organisation so they can not be estate agents, accountants, doctors, pharmacists or opticians. They are not allowed to go to university because that would encourage mixing with all of us. They are not allowed to read novels, listen to the wireless or TV or use the internet. They don't go to the theatre or cinemas, let alone pubs. They may only stay in hotels or eat in restaurants in an emergency and then they have to sit at a table all on their own.

All of which makes them a little strange in that earnest, polite and clean-cut manner you will find if you deal with Mormons: but it certainly makes them terrific entrepreneurs because they don't have much choice other than to work for themselves. A boss might want them to eat in the staff canteen or use a computer or work on Saturdays.

It does, interestingly, show that you don't need to do all that frantic networking that the Judge Business School teaches as the prerequisite for a successful entrepreneur. I suppose that they get a bad name (the term cult being the dreaded four letter word for all these sects) because most of the information we outsiders glean is from members who have left.

The chief complaint seems to be the way their women are treated. Girls marry young and are encouraged to have lots of little brethren. They can marry only within the sect and if they don't they risk being ostracised. But they will defend their unliberated womenfolk by citing the very low divorce figures.

A former member of the Exclusive Brethren appeared in the Nelson District Court yesterday charged with sex offences dating back more than 50 years.

The 72-year-old Nelson man was facing six representative charges of indecent assault and one of inducing a girl to perform an indecent act. He entered no plea. The alleged offending spanned from 1951 to 1985, and related to four women, all of whom were former Exclusive Brethren members.

The women were aged five to 10 at the time.

The man's lawyer, Hamish Riddoch, asked Judge Tony Zohrab for interim name suppression until his client's next appearance on August 14.

The judge denied the request, but granted an interim order suppressing the man's identity until 5pm today to allow time to appeal against that decision.

Riddoch said he would be seeking a stay or discharge of the charges because the length of time since the most recent alleged offence would make a fair trial difficult. He said some disaffected members of the church had chosen to go public and there could be some prejudice against his client.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Graeme Eden opposed name suppression, saying the women would not be identified and publication of the man's name could prompt others to come forward.

The judge said it was known that there was a member of the Exclusive Brethren facing charges. The finger could be pointed at other members of the church if the name was not publicised, the judge said.

The man was remanded on bail until August 14.

An elderly former member of the Exclusive Brethren Church has appeared in Nelson District Court on a series of historic sex charges, some as old as 56 years.

The 72-year-old man was in court this morning, charged with six charges of indecent assault and one of inducing a girl to perform an indecent act on him.

The seven representative charges relate to four women, all former Exclusive Brethren members, and date from between 1951 and 1985. At the time of the offending two of the women were girls, aged between five and 10 years of age.

The man's lawyer, Hamish Riddoch, asked for interim name suppression, saying disaffected members of the church had generated publicity about the case.

Because of the publicity there was concern about prejudice and whether the man could get a fair trial.

But Judge Tony Zohrab denied the request, saying it was known there was a former church member facing such charges and by not allowing the publication of his name "the finger may well be pointed at other members of the Exclusive Brethren Church".

He said police also opposed name suppression, believing publication of his name could assist their inquiries into the matter.

But he granted an interim order when Riddoch said he would appeal the decision.

Riddoch also indicated he would make an application for a stay on the charges following a depositions hearing.

The man was remanded without plea to reappear in court on August 14 and directed not to have any contact with the complainants and to surrender his passport.

Speaking outside the court, Riddoch said a stay could result in a discharge or the court directing no indictments be laid on the basis that a trial would be prejudiced and the man would not get a fair trial.

As an example, he said the historic nature of the charges meant some witnesses who may have been able to give evidence in defence of the defendant could now be dead.

A secretive and controversial religious sect appears to be expanding south from its longstanding headquarters in the Unley area.

The Exclusive Brethren, which owns a $3 million meeting hall in Mary St, Unley, is undergoing a massive expansion south of Adelaide, having bought up millions of dollars in property in the Happy Valley and Flagstaff Hill areas over the past four years.

The group's total property asset base south of the city is now worth at least $9 million. The group, whose members shun contact with outsiders and live by a set of strict rules, has used the Unley meeting hall for large gatherings for at least the past three decades. But with the group now owning a 1040-seat hall in Happy Valley, it appears the Exclusive Brethren may have new plans for its Unley property.

Messenger Newspapers faxed a series of questions to senior Exclusive Brethren member Warwick Joyce, of Netherby, last week but did not receive a reply.

Elizabeth Edwards, who lives next door to the Mary St hall, said the Exclusive Brethren had stopped holding large meetings at the hall "about two months ago" but she believed they had no plans to sell the site. "They actually approached me about six weeks ago wanting to buy my place," she said. "So they've obviously still got plans for this site."

The Exclusive Brethren own several properties which back on to the meeting hall, all of which appeared to be uninhabited when Messenger Newspapers doorknocked the area last week. The group's habit of buying up properties and then either knocking them down or leaving them vacant has been a cause of angst among some neighbours for several years. Irini Palios, who has lived in the area for about 10 years before moving out in 2000, described the group as "secretive and troublesome".

"They buy up these properties in a prime real estate area and then leave them vacant," she said.

"It's no good for the area."

The Exclusive Brethren also owns a church in Laught Ave, Black Forest, a school for its members, Melrose Park School, and two houses in St Mary's.

A Messenger investigation into the group has revealed the following: The Exclusive Brethren has developed at least three hubs of property holdings, in Happy Valley, Unley and St Marys; The titles of the properties are controlled by trusts, run by leading members; and,Mr Joyce, 53, of Netherby, has been connected to a political advertisement currently being considered by the Australian Federal Police. The Exclusive Brethren in Adelaide has a tight-knit group of senior members who share a number of real estate and business connections.

A group of five leading members, Kevin Seeley, Colin Wright, Andrew Carman, Mark Joyce and Stephen Craig jointly own several properties, including a $2.2 million meeting complex at Happy Valley and a $3 million Unley meeting hall.

Mr Seeley also shares ownership of the $670,000 Melrose Park School, with Warwick Joyce and Bruce Hornsey.

Mr Joyce has interests in several Exclusive Brethren companies, both in SA and interstate, while he also has been connected to the political advertisement being considered by the Australian Federal Police.

Another prominent Exclusive Brethren family is the Grace family. Andrew Grace is a director of the Melrose Park School and is the person who authorised a political advertisement in the Eastern Courier that was booked by Mr Joyce before the last Federal Election.

His relatives, Alan and Kevin Grace, wrote written letters of support this year for the Brethren's development application at Flagstaff Hill, when it was being assessed by Onkaparinga's Development Assessment Panel. Stephen Selby, David Hack and Trevor Tunley own the Flagstaff Hill block and also a church in Black Forest.

The political advertisement, which attacked the Greens Party before the 2004 Federal Election, was referred to the AFP in May by the Australian Electoral Commission.

The AEC had been investigating whether payment for this advertisement and others interstate had been properly disclosed, a requirement under the Commonwealth Electoral Act.

A Messenger Newspapers investigation has learned Adelaide businessman Warwick Joyce, a senior member of the Exclusive Brethren, was involved in the anti-Greens advertisement and 10 others in Adelaide that supported the Liberal Party before the 2004 Federal Election.

Mr Joyce booked advertisements to appear in all Messenger Newspapers on October 6, 2004. All 11 ads urged the re-election of Prime Minister John Howard.

The involvement of the 53-year-old Netherby man, who runs a Richmond-based machinery wholesale company and is also a director of an Exclusive Brethren school at St Marys, has not previously been disclosed.

When contacted about the ads earlier this month, Mr Joyce said he had acted on his own and stressed "the Brethren has nothing to do with this". When he was then asked why these advertisements were "authorised" by another Exclusive Brethren member who runs a school in Victoria, he said "that's a good question" and asked for further questions to be put to him in writing.

Mr Joyce failed to respond to a series of questions faxed to his home address, and did not return Messenger's calls before presstime.

The AEC was unaware last week of the involvement of Mr Joyce when contacted by Messenger Newspapers. Advertising by the Exclusive Brethren originally was brought to the AEC's attention by Greens leader Senator Bob Brown, in September 2005, after he found pamphlets criticising his party were circulated in Tasmania before the 2005 election.

Mr Brown questioned whether the full expenditure for the pamphlets, and a number of political advertisements that ran in several NSW, Tasmanian and South Australian newspapers, had been disclosed to the AEC. A 12-month investigation into Mr Brown's claims concluded last year that all of the advertisements and pamphlets associated with the Exclusive Brethren were paid for and disclosed by a Sydney company, Willmac Enterprises. However, the AEC has since handed the case over to the AFP. Mr Brown said voters deserved to know who was behind the advertisements. He criticised the AEC's investigation saying: "They took too long to take the matter seriously". Mr Brown said he hoped the AFP's investigation would be more thorough.

The Exclusive Brethren, which does not allow its followers to vote, continually has said the advertisements were not part of an organised campaign, but a case of individual members acting on their own free will. However, investigations have shown that many advertisements were either booked or authorised by senior Exclusive Brethren members. An AEC spokesman said in an emailed statement the AEC would not "as a matter of protocol, comment on what methodology it may or may not have employed, or individuals it may have contacted as part of AEC investigations, including that regarding Willmac Enterprises, and the AEC has no comment in response to your inquiry about a Mr Joyce."

The spokesman refused to say if the AEC would investigate Mr Joyce's involvement further, or if it would pass on the information to the AFP.

[Bold Added]

Name suppression for a former Nelson Exclusive Brethren man facing seven sexual offending charges will be lifted on Wednesday unless his lawyer successfully appeals a judge's order.

The 72-year-old entered no plea when he appeared in the Nelson District Court on Tuesday morning on the charges, which date from 1951 to 1982, and involve four complainants from Nelson.

He faces six charges of indecent assault and one of inducing a girl to do an indecent act.

The man's lawyer, Hamish Riddoch, told the court it was likely he would apply for a stay (discharge) of the charges because of the age and nature of the allegations.

He said name suppression was sought because the matter would have to go to a depositions hearing before the stay could be granted, and he wanted a fair trial.

Mr Riddoch also presented the court with a medical certificate that related to the defendant's wife, citing it as another reason for name suppression.

Police opposed the application for name suppression, saying the public were entitled to know the accused's name.

Prosecutor Sergeant Graeme Eden said name suppression would prejudice other members of the church who may be suspected. Publicising the man's name could also help police inquiries.

Judge Tony Zohrab refused name suppression but granted interim suppression until 5pm on Wednesday, to allow time for Mr Riddoch to appeal that decision.

Judge Zohrab said "my concern is that it's been well-known for a period of time that a member of the church is facing charges and my concern is that if this man's name is suppressed the finger may be pointed at other people in the church".

The man was remanded without plea until August 14 and ordered to surrender his passport by 5pm on Tuesday.

Lithgow Council has approved another new church for the Exclusive Brethren, this time in the Hillcrest subdivision at Bowenfels.

The application was the subject of considerable discussion at the latest meeting of Council's Finance and Services Committee after an address was received from a representative of the church.

Regional Services Manager Andrew Muir said that the development application was for a place of worship at 12 Thornton Place.

He said the application was by Lithgow Gospel Trust for an 81 square metre meeting hall that would be designed to resemble a small dwelling.

He said it was intended to cater for a typical congregation of less than 50 people and provided 15 car parking spaces.

He said there was room on the site for the building to be set back

Mr Muir said that the building, while smaller than the private dwellings in the estate, was not regarded as incompatible with existing or future development.

He said that eight submissions were received from residents during the public notification period.

These related to issues such as the size of the premises being less than the 220 square meters required in covenants on the estate, traffic movements and traffic noise, devaluation of other properties, fences (no front fences are permitted in the estate), and landscaping.

But Mr Muir said covenants on any private development were imposed by the developer and were not a matter for Council.

He said applications could only be considered on their individual merits and subject to specific conditions that DA complied with Council planning requirements.

This was supported by General Manager Paul Anderson who said that there were covenants on a range of issues in the estate but these were matters between the purchasers and the developer and had not been pursued by Council.

Mr Muir recommended approval subject to a list of 42 conditions and the recommendation was adopted by Council.

The meeting was addressed by a representative of the church, Martin Baker, who said the church had many such halls in cities and towns around the nation.

He said the building would be located at the rear of a very large block of 2000 square meters and would be suitably landscaped.

Replying to questions from Councillors, Mr Baker said it would be smaller than the 'Fairview' church premises erected in Strathlone Estate and would be ‘more residential looking'.

He said it was designed ‘not to be pretentious but to blend in with the surroundings'.

Mr Baker said the Strathlone church catered for larger congregations from the Blue Mountains and Bathurst as well as the local area.

He agreed that other bigger meeting places could be ‘on the cards' in the future ‘but not at the moment'.

Mr Baker said the church would be keen to address any concerns of the residents.

Cr Brian Morrissey moved adoption of the recommendation.

He said there had been concerns expressed when the ‘Fairview' church hall was proposed at Strathlone but these had been very quickly appeased by the conditions imposed by Council.

"With the passing of time you now would not know there is a church there," he said.

An elderly former member of the Exclusive Brethren Church has appeared in court on a series of historic sex charges.

The 72-year-old man was in Nelson District Court this morning, charged with six charges of indecent assault and one of inducing a girl to perform an indecent act on him.

The seven representative charges relate to four women, all former Exclusive Brethren members, and date from between 1951 and 1985. At the time of the offending two of the women were girls, aged between five and 10 years of age.

The man's lawyer, Hamish Riddoch, asked for interim name suppression, saying disaffected members of the church had generated publicity about the case.

Because of the publicity there was concern about prejudice and whether the man could get a fair trial.

But Judge Tony Zohrab denied the request, saying it was known there was a former church member facing such charges and by not allowing the publication of his name "the finger may well be pointed at other members of the Exclusive Brethren Church".

He said police also opposed name suppression, believing publication of his name could assist their inquiries into the matter.

But he granted an interim order when Mr Riddoch said he would appeal the decision. Mr Riddoch also indicated he would make an application for a stay on the charges following a depositions hearing.

The man was remanded without plea to reappear in court on August 14 and directed not to have any contact with the complainants and to surrender his passport.

Speaking outside the court, Mr Riddoch said a stay could result in a discharge or the court directing no indictments be laid on the basis that a trial would be prejudiced and the man would not get a fair trial.

As an example, he said the historic nature of the charges meant some witnesses who may have been able to give evidence in defence of the defendant could now be dead.

Willmac Enterprises Pty Ltd (ACN 110 954 624) was formed on 14th September 2004 and wound up voluntarily just over two years later. The way it conducted its affairs was unusual for a company with a paid up capital of just ten bucks it spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in the run up to the 2004 election in support of the Liberal National Party coalition.

Following a complaint by Greens leader, Senator Bob Brown, the Australian Electoral Commission investigated the activities of Willmac but couldn’t seem to find any evidence of wrongdoing.

Now an Adelaide suburban newspaper, Messenger Newspapers, has been doing a bit of investigating and found out more with its limited resources than was the AEC. In particular it has found that out an Adelaide businessman and Brethren capo, Warwick Joyce, had a significant involvement that was unknown to the AWC. Notwithstanding the information that it has passed on to the AEC, the Commission is still prevaricating refusing to make public what it has done to investigate the matters raised.

Crikey reports: [See Forum News thread via Newsdesk]

"What we now know about the Adelaide versions of these ads is that they were booked by one Exclusive Brethren member, authorised by several others and apparently paid for by yet another Brethren member’s company. Claims that all these people were acting off their own bat and not as part of a campaign seem risible."

Meanwhile it was revealed in Senate Estimates last May that a matter concerning Willmac Enterprises has been referred by the AEC to the Australian Federal Police, who have yet to confirm whether or not they will investigate.

Who can doubt that with another federal election just months away, we should all be watching this space?

Clearly the AEC should give an account for its tardy and inadequate response in regard to this matter.

An Adelaide member of a secretive religious sect, known as the Exclusive Brethren, has been connected to a political advertisement being considered by the Australian Federal Police.

The advertisement, which attacked the Greens Party before the 2004 Federal Election, was referred to the AFP in May by the Australian Electoral Commission. The AEC had been investigating whether payment for this advertisement and others interstate had been properly disclosed, a requirement under the Commonwealth Electoral Act.

A Messenger Newspapers investigation has learned Adelaide businessman Warwick Joyce, a senior member of the Exclusive Brethren, was involved in the anti-Greens advertisement and 10 others in Adelaide that supported the Liberal Party before the 2004 Federal Election.

Mr Joyce booked advertisements to appear in all Messenger Newspapers on October 6, 2004.

All 11 ads urged the re-election of Prime Minister John Howard.

The involvement of the 53-year-old Netherby man, who runs a Richmond-based machinery wholesale company and is also a director of an Exclusive Brethren school at St Marys, has not previously been disclosed. When contacted about the ads last week, Mr Joyce said he had acted on his own and stressed ``the Brethren has nothing to do with this''. When he was then asked why these advertisements were ``authorised'' by another Exclusive Brethren member who runs a school in Victoria, he said "that's a good question" and asked for further questions to be put to him in writing.

Mr Joyce failed to respond to a series of questions faxed to his home address, and did not return Messenger's calls before presstime. The AEC was unaware last week of the involvement of Mr Joyce when contacted by Messenger Newspapers.

Advertising by the Exclusive Brethren originally was brought to the AEC's attention by Greens leader Senator Bob Brown, in September 2005, after he found pamphlets criticising his party were circulated in Tasmania before the 2005 election.

Mr Brown questioned whether the full expenditure for the pamphlets, and a number of political advertisements that ran in several NSW, Tasmanian and South Australian newspapers, had been disclosed to the AEC. A 12-month investigation into Mr Brown's claims concluded last year that all of the advertisements and pamphlets associated with the Exclusive Brethren were paid for and disclosed by a Sydney company, Willmac Enterprises.

However, the AEC has since handed the case over to the AFP.

This week Mr Brown said voters deserved to know who was behind the advertisements. He criticised the AEC's investigation saying: ``They took too long to take the matter seriously''. Mr Brown said he hoped the AFP's investigation would be more thorough.

The Exclusive Brethren continually has said the advertisements were not part of an organised campaign, but a case of individual members acting on their own free will. However, investigations have shown that many advertisements were either booked or authorised by senior Exclusive Brethren members.

With a population of just 43,000 Australia-wide, the Exclusive Brethren is a secretive and controversial group. Members are not permitted to own radios or TVs, watch movies or eat in restaurants. They are also not allowed to vote.

An AEC spokesman said in an emailed statement the AEC would not ``as a matter of protocol, comment on what methodology it may or may not have employed, or individuals it may have contacted as part of AEC investigations, including that regarding Willmac Enterprises, and the AEC has no comment in response to your inquiry about a Mr Joyce." The spokesman refused to say if the AEC would investigate Mr Joyce's involvement further, or if it would pass on the information to the AFP.

Additional reporting - MICHELLE ETHERIDGE

Today I discovered that the Federal Government funded schools run by the Exclusive Brethren by $20.7 million in 2006.

This secretive, fundamentalist sect bans members from attending university and censors textbooks of school-age children. Science texts have entire chapters removed. Modern novels are banned and novels that are permitted are censored.

Anyone not a member is considered an "outsider". Members are taught to shun "outsiders".

How is it then that my tax money funds a group that refuses all association with me?

The Exclusive Brethren also teaches its women to be subservient to their fathers and husbands.

Julie Bishop is Minister for Education, Science and Training, and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Women's Issues. Clearly though, she is not concerned about a group teaching its women subservience, and she is not concerned about group that cuts entire chapters from science texts, and she is not concerned about a group that bans university education.

But wait, the Exclusive Brethren has been funding the electioneering of the Liberal Party.

We recognized the opening graphics rather quickly! The remainder of this 4 minute extract features a few well-known faces originally seen on the BBC Everyman broadcast from a few years ago. (We recommend viewing this video from the NewsDesk rather than the Front Page - click on the moving arrows.)

An elderly Nelson Exclusive Brethren member on Friday morning was to be officially charged with a range of alleged sexual offending, dating back more than half a century.

The 72-year-old man will appear in the Nelson District Court on July 24 to face seven representative sexual offending charges, relating to four women.

The charges stem from alleged offending in Nelson between 1951 and the 1980s.

The women, all former Exclusive Brethren members, made complaints to the police in April.

Nelson Bays police area commander Inspector Brian McGurk said police had spoken with the man's lawyer, and were to pick him up at 9.30am Friday to serve him with a court summons. He would not be taken into custody.

Mr McGurk would not comment further on the case while it was before the courts.

Police sought legal advice in June about whether to charge the man.

Tasman police crime service manager Detective Inspector John Winter said at the time that legal opinion was sought because of the complexity of the case, which involved several complainants and stretched back over many years.

Australian-based Exclusive Brethren spokesman Tony McCorkell said on Friday the man had been asked to leave the church in April.

Mr McCorkell said last month the man was not attending church functions or socialising with church members while the matter was being investigated. The man had not been given advice by the church, but had hired independent legal counsel.

He refused to comment further, but told Newstalk ZB today that the matter had been a sad, drawn-out process.

An Appeal court has removed the threat of jail from an Exclusive Brethren mother who repeatedly flouted orders to give the father access to three of her children.

In February, Family Court justice Robert Benjamin convicted the mother, sentencing her and one of her elder sons and son-in-law to suspended jail sentences for failing to turn the children over to their father, who has left the sect.

But three judges of the Family Court last week overturned the four-month suspended sentences, saying they were too harsh, and that Justice Benjamin had failed to explain why the breach was so serious that it warranted jail.

The judges did not impose a new penalty on the mother, instead calling for another court date to hear arguments about what the penalty should be.

The son, 22, and the son-in-law won their appeals against their penalties for aiding and abetting the mother.

Meanwhile, the two children, 12 and 8, have not been produced for access visits for the past two months, and the father will take the mother to court again later this month over two more alleged breaches.

A panel of three family court judges was highly critical of Justice Benjamin, who had justified his sentence in February by saying his access orders had been blatantly flouted.

"What happened in this case is that the court said to these people, 'Do not breach these orders', in circumstances where the finding was clear that the separation of the children and their father was at the higher end of emotional abuse," Justice Benjamin said in February.

"I made it absolutely clear. Yet some two or three weeks later, a breach occurred. In this case a term of imprisonment is entirely appropriate."

But the panel, made up of the Family Court's deputy Chief Justice, John Faulks, with Joseph Kay and Julienne Penny, said that since the case involved the strong beliefs of the Exclusive Brethren, it was "hardly surprising" that there would be difficulties in ensuring that the orders were "smoothly implemented".

Rather than a suspended jail sentence, a rethink of "some of the mechanics of the orders" was appropriate, the judges said.

A former senior member of the Exclusive Brethren Church has been charged with sexually abusing children.

The allegations date back several decades and the victims are all now adults, the eldest in her 60s.

ONE News can not reveal the identity of the accused.

"Police have laid summonses charging a 72-year-old local man with seven representative charges relating to sexual offending back to 1951," says Inspector Brian McGurk, acting Tasman district commander.

Four ex-Brethren members laid complaints with the police last year claiming the man sexually molested them when they were aged between five and 10.

McGurk says the summonses have been issued and they will be served on the defendant on Friday. He says the man is well aware of the charges and police met his solicitor on Thursday.

The alleged abuse stretches back decades, the eldest complainant is in her 60s and the youngest in her mid 20s.

A former Brethren member went to police on behalf of the four women nine months ago.

"It's just a great day for them that hopefully they'll be able to put this behind them," the former church member says.

When the scandal broke, church leaders said the accused was no longer part of the flock.

"The Exclusive Brethren doesn't have a culture that condones this. This is not a cultural issue within the church," Tony McCorkell, an Exclusive Brethren spokesperson said in April.

But some ex-members claim church leaders knew about it but didn't act.

"It was raised a long time ago of course, 20-odd years ago and nothing was followed up," says the former church member.

The Brethren could not be reached for comment on Thursday but have told ONE News previously the man at the centre of the allegations is no longer welcome at church.

The 72-year-old will appear in court later this month.

An elderly Exclusive Brethren member has been summonsed to appear in court on sex charges dating back more than half a century.

Nelson area commander Brian McGurk said the 72-year-old man would face seven charges relating to historic sexual offences dating back to 1951.

"He is aware of those charges -- we've spoken with his lawyer -- and he will pick him up at 9.30 tomorrow morning so he can collect his summons."

Five women, all former Exclusive Brethren members, accused the man in April of sexual abuse stemming from incidents in Nelson between 1951 and the 1980s.

The man is to appear in Nelson District Court on July 24.