October 29th, 2006 (EB News)
- Onward Christian Voters is party's new theme tune - New Zealand Herald
"It was important for Labour to ensure that think-tanks such as the Maxim Institute and churches like the Exclusive Brethren did not have a monopoly on God.
Leading members of the Exclusive Brethren became active in the last election, spending up to $1.2 million on their own estimate on campaign material to help National.
They also hired private investigators to follow Helen Clark and members of her Cabinet.
Professor Morris said there had been a recent change in the Brethren's thinking.
"It is that Jesus will only return when Christian governments rule. The aim is to moralise governments so that Christ will arrive."
He said the Exclusive Brethren's involvement in New Zealand politics was part of an international strategy that was "nothing less than phenomenal".
"Right-wing parties have struck up connections with these sects. It is skilful coalition-forming."
Professor Morris told them there were about 42,000 Exclusive Brethren worldwide, and about 6000 in New Zealand.
"They believe that Satan has infiltrated governments. They are increasingly obsessed with security and terrorism ... it is about saving themselves."
He did not think the Brethren were a threat to Labour and had probably done more damage to National in last year's election by aligning themselves with that party.
"The Exclusive Brethren have egg on their faces and will be more cautious next time - but don't write them off," he told delegates.
He won applause when he said Labour was still closer to the Gospel than right-wing parties.
Poverty was a dominant theme of the Bible, and the early prophets had been obsessed with social justice.
"Labour needs to claim the moral high ground. The Christian left is still there, it needs to be nurtured."
The lecture was well attended and delegates asked how sects like the Brethren should be handled.
Professor Morris said most right-wing religious theology was "shoddy" and he urged the delegates to debate the issues."
>>>More - Labour switches focus to climate change - Radio New Zealand
"The conference closed on Sunday with a strong attack on the Exclusive Brethren's links with National.
In his closing address, Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen accused National's leader, Don Brash, of lying about his links with the Exclusive Brethren.
He says while Labour must defend the right of the Brethren to follow their own beliefs provided no laws are broken, it cannot accept that the rich or powerful can buy themselves a government.
Dr Cullen referred to what he described as Dr Brash's links to big business and the more extreme forms of the religious right.
The party has been urged to create a Christian wing to counter the influence of the Exclusive Brethren and religious right.
The call came during a conference session discussing the Exclusive Brethren.
A professor of religious studies at Victoria University, Paul Morris, said the left has allowed the right to claim that it represents religious values.
He said Labour used to be the party of Christian values, and there needs to be a strong Christian left to debate the Christian right.
However, Mr Morris said the Exclusive Brethren has egg on its face, and is unlikely to be a threat to Labour at the next election."
>>>More - Closing speech to the NZ Labour Party Conference - Press Release, NZ Government
"But one can’t ignore a group which deliberately published lies about both Labour and the Greens. One can’t ignore the fact that, in many provincial seats in particular, the Exclusive Brethren engaged in deceptive and dishonest push-polling which may have had a significant impact on the results.
Nor should we ignore the hypocrisy of people who claim not to vote but tried to buy themselves a government; of people who will not fight for their country in time of war, but falsely condemned Labour for not providing adequate defence systems; of people who claim to support traditional family values, but have been pretty obviously party to helping spread rumours and lies about people’s families; of people who call the internet a conduit of evil communications to be shunned and, at the same time, run a website."
>>>More - Cullen Ends Labour Conference On Attack - Newswire, NZ
"He accused National's leader Don Brash of lying about his links to the Exclusive Brethren.
He says while Labour must defend the right of the Brethren to follow their own beliefs provided no laws are broken, it can not accept that the rich or the powerful can buy themselves a government.
Dr Cullen referred to what he described as Dr Brash's links to big business and the more extreme forms of the religious right."
>>>More - Labour in fundraising frenzy - TVNZ One News, NZ
"This is the story of how a small, unrepresentative, intolerant, self confessed exclusive group bought themselves a political party and nearly captured a nation by stealth," Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen told delegates.."
>>>More (includes video)
October 28th, 2006 (EB News)
- Left should fight right 'biblical verse for verse' - Sunday Star Times, NZ
"Labour needs to add a religious faction to the party to combat the rise of the evangelical right and challenge groups like the Exclusive Brethren.
Morris, who ran a 90-minute workshop on the Exclusive Brethren at the conference, said parties of the left were Christian focused but those principles had been deserted in recent times. "If you want to debate the Christian right you need a Christian left to do it. I'm quite convinced if you want a debate on moral responsibility... you can out-argue them.
"There is much of the theology which is shoddy. But it is presented again and again, and very effectively networked." A left-wing religious faction, he said, "should take them on biblical verse for verse".
Last election, Labour and the Greens were attacked in a secretive $1 million campaign backed by the Exclusive Brethren. The group became a major thorn for National leader Don Brash when he was forced to admit he knew it was behind anti-Labour and Greens pamphlets, after saying he did not.
The Brethren connection continued to hamper National, with several senior MPs saying the group's involvement was a factor in it losing the election. More recently, it was revealed the Brethren hired private investigators to dig dirt on Clark and senior Labour ministers.
Clark has not missed an opportunity to take potshots at the Brethren, saying at the start of the conference on Friday: "Take a wee tip from me, focus on the new thinking. The Exclusive Brethren's cover has been blown... and I only intend to mention them in mirth."
The Exclusive Brethren would not be drawn on the proposal. Neville Simmons, an Epsom businessman and member of the church, said: "I suppose if that's what they want to do... I don't have any comment..." Asked if the Brethren would campaign in favour of a National government next election, Simmons said it was an individual decision, and "I don't know yet."
>>>More - Christian grouping in Labour welcomed - NewstalkZB, NZ
"Helen Clark's comments follow a debate at Labour's annual conference in Rotorua, over the role of the Exclusive Brethren in politics.
She told delegates she has wasted all the breath she needs to on the Brethren, whose agenda, she says, has been exposed."
>>>More - Brethren aim to 'moralise' govt, conference told - Weekend Herald, NZ
"The Exclusive Brethren are part of a right-wing international religious campaign to "moralise" governments ahead of the coming of Christ, delegates at Labour's annual conference were told today.
Paul Morris, professor of religious studies at Victoria University, said there had been a recent change in the Brethren's thinking.
"It is that Jesus will only return when Christian governments rule," he said.
"The aim is to moralise governments so that Christ will arrive."
The Brethren ran an initially covert campaign against Labour in last year's election.
It enraged the Government, which says it spent $1.2 million supporting National.
Prof Morris was invited to speak at the conference to explain why this happened, and he said it was part of an international strategy that was "nothing less than phenomenal".
"Right wing parties have struck up connections with these sects," he said.
"It is skilful coalition-forming."
He told about 120 delegates who attended his lecture that there were about 42,000 Exclusive Brethren worldwide, and about 6000 in New Zealand.
"They believe Satan has infiltrated governments," he said.
"They are increasingly obsessed with security and terrorism ... it is about saving themselves."
Prime Minister Helen Clark dismissed the Brethren in her welcoming speech last night, saying their cover had been blown and she considered them a joke.
But the lecture was well attended and delegates raised questions about how sects like the Brethren should be handled.
Prof Morris said most of the right-wing religous theology was "shoddy" and he urged them to debate the issues."
>>>More
October 27th, 2006 (EB News)
- A Brethren castaway - The Dominion Post, NZ
"Doug Field's family is split down the middle - some in the Exclusive Brethren and others cast out. Now the church is proffering money and regrets.
His point is that the Exclusive Brethren church – he prefers the term cult – has failed to make peace with those who leave or are kicked out. Instead, it takes away their jobs, cuts them adrift from families and friends, and condemns them as headed to hell.
"Nothing has been put right with me and none of my concerns have been addressed."Doug Field is now a 35-year-old solo dad, a shambling chap with shaggy hair, a ready bark of laughter and an appealing openness. He lives in a farmhouse on a sunny spot above the Nelson settlement of Wakefield, sharing a sparse rented room with his 11-year-old son. He's on the DPB and money's tight.
He's not the only one to be approached. In the glare of bad publicity in several countries, the Exclusive Brethren leadership has moved to, in its parlance, "put things right" with former members.
Known as the review, it's been carried out by local members – in Field's case one of his brothers was among the visitors.
But he's been left with the impression it's little more than a push to get people back in the fold and for church members to salve their own consciences.
Ex-EB - Doug Field
In an effort to distance itself, the upper echelons of the church appear to be having local church members claim that cases were misrepresented to the hierarchy, making local leaders take the rap.
He reckons he's calmed down a lot lately and certainly there's a gentle quality about him. It rings true when he says he would never do anything that jeopardised custody of his son. But there are still some things he can never forgive.
"The worst year of my life," he says of the time when, aged 10, he and his brother were taken away from their parents to live with another Exclusive Brethren family.
His parents had been kicked out of the church and were deemed not worthy to keep their children.
When their younger brother started at their school, they were warned by church members not to talk to him. The school had two playgrounds and he remembers straining to catch a glimpse of the little brother he hadn't seen for months in the lower area. "We were taken without warning, we didn't even know where we were going. That was it. I never saw my parents for a whole year until, just as surprisingly, they were deemed to be OK again and we went back."
It's the religion and its harsh attitude to people who leave that has caused the split, he says. "We would be a primo family. We all get on well, we're all musical. My brothers who are still in the church – there's nothing I don't like about them. It's completely because of the Brethren rules."
His father died about 18 months ago. One of Field's brothers in the church rang offering him five minutes alone at the graveside, if he came at a particular time. He declined.
Now, he says, all he wants is to sit down and have a meal with his mother, to chat like an ordinary mother and son. He still has the reply she sent to a Mother's Day card a few years ago, urging him to repent: "You may not intend to go far Doug, but once Satan has his foot in the door, he'll take you further than you intend to go."
Still he loves her. "My ultimate dream and my goal is not for the church to crumble, but for the hierarchy to relax its rules on having to do with ex-members."
Brethren life was all he knew as a child and he went along with it for years, pushing against the boundaries where he could. In church terms he was a rebel, by ordinary standards a child with spirit."
>>>More - A Brethren castaway - PDF Version
October 24th, 2006 (EB News)
- Labour masterclass in spotting the elusive Brethren - NZ Herald, NZ
"The Labour Party conference this weekend will offer a workshop on "the Exclusive Brethren and the religious right in politics".
President Mike Williams said yesterday that "sunlight is the best disinfectant" and that he wanted Labour activists in electorates to know the work of the religious right in order to know when they were a victim of it.
Leading members of the Exclusive Brethren issued anonymous leaflets last year attacking Labour and the Greens and were reported to be behind push polling in parts of the country - electioneering disguised as telephone polling.
They approached the Electoral Commission seeking advice on how to support National with a $1.2 million campaign but without jeopardising National's spending limit.
"You cannot stop these people but sunlight is the best disinfectant and we want to shine a light into those activities so our people in those electorates know when they are victims in it.
"What is the motivation of these people who don't vote and want to tell you how to vote? What is the motivation of people who want us to have troops in Iraq but would not put themselves in harm's way?"
>>>More -
Labour MPs remortgage homes - The Press, NZ
"Some Labour MPs have remortgaged their homes to pay back money unlawfully spent during last year's election campaign.
Ministers yesterday admitted the Government's spending of taxpayer money on garnering votes and its handling of the subsequent furore had seen it take "a bit of a hit" in the polls.
In a sign of how much the row has hurt individual bank balances, party president Mike Williams said members, including himself, had remortgaged their homes to pay back the $825,000 overspending.
The party is preparing for this weekend's annual conference and Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen said it hoped to leave the turmoil of the past few weeks behind.
At the conference, MPs will attend a workshop on the Exclusive Brethren where a professor of religious studies would school them on the Christian sect and its motivations.
"This is an international phenomenon where religious cults take part in elections in exactly the same way you saw in the last general election," Williams said.
"Sunlight is the best disinfectant. We want to shine a light into those activities."
>>>More
The following Radio New Zealand broadcast is of interest. It features Kevin Ryan QC who has just retired at age 75.
The most interesting portion is at around 29.50 into the 35 minute interview and relates to action taken by Ryan on behalf of Exclusive Brethren clients in custody matters. This link is only valid for 7 days from Thursday 19 Oct and we will attempt to get a transcript and update the link to an archive at a later date. He quotes from a rare face-to-face conversation with Symington, when he (Ryan) had doubts about the separation of families.
October 21st, 2006 (EB News)
- PM's stalkers face wrath of country's private eyes - Sunday Star Times, NZ
"The private investigators hired by Exclusive Brethren members to follow Helen Clark and senior members of her cabinet have been called before the ethics committee of their professional body.
The revelation that the Exclusive Brethren, who met National leader Don Brash before last year's election and distributed anti-Labour and anti-Green party pamphlets, had hired private investigators came during an unusual period of political mud slinging.
Prime Minister Helen Clark said the institute was entitled to take steps to safeguard the standards of its ethical members and "we look forward to seeing the outcome" of the hearing. "
>>>More
Here are some recent cartoons from the NZ Press. The representations of the Exclusive Brethren in cartoons indicate that they are viewed as a complete joke by the media in political terms. (Click on image to see full cartoon in separate window.)
The Truth is that they are a corrupt organization that has caused and continues to cause untold damage by ripping families apart, covering up abuse and in their arrogance, having the audacity to describe themselves as a 'church'.
This site welcomes the attempts by the New Zealand Government to commence the morally correct process of removing benefits and subsidies that are enjoyed by other organizations who actually benefit society.October 20th, 2006 (EB News)
Some may not have seen the letter that the 'Secret Seven' Exclusive Brethren businessmen wrote to New Zealands Parliament last month. We reproduce it here together with an open letter reply written by Jim Anderton, a NZ MP.An open letter to all Members of ParliamentSeptember 11th, 2006
This letter is written by Tim Lough, Greg Mason, Andy Smith, Andrew Simmons, Neville Simmons, Phil Win and Doug Watt, and not on behalf of the Exclusive Brethren Church or members of that Church.
Both we, and our Church, have been subjected to repeated and relentless attacks by members of Parliament, both in the House and outside of the House. This follows the distribution of pamphlets produced by ourselves covering critical topics, prior to last year's election.
Much of what has been said about us is incorrect and very damaging. Accordingly, we state the correct position yet again:
1) At all times we acted as a group of concerned individuals. Our campaign was not authorised or directed by the Exclusive Brethren Church, nor undertaken on behalf of the Church.
2) Funding was by the writers and their associates. It cost less than $1 million. The Exclusive Brethren Church did not fund it in any way, nor was any congregation of the Church engaged in funding.
3) No political party has received any money from us.
4) No favours were asked for, nor were any offered in return for our pamphlets. There was no suggestion whatsoever, at any time, of any financial benefit or reward, nor were there any undertakings made to provide any benefit to us of any kind whatsoever.
5) Recommendations of the Chief Electoral Officer and senior legal counsel ensured our campaign fully complied with the Electoral Act.
6) No political parties had input into the content of our pamphlets.
7) All claims made in our pamphlets were researched from publicly available sources.
The recent and ongoing blatant attacks, involving a persistent and prolonged campaign, with snide, belittling remarks and mockery, seem clearly designed to promote public ridicule and to demean us and our beliefs in the eyes of the public.
We object to the repeated criticisms of our Church and our religion by members of Parliament, which we see as a vicious smear campaign against a minority religion for political purposes. This amounts to a serious violation of basic civil liberties, including freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, and freedom of speech.
We also object to the repeated allegations that we have breached the Electoral Act, noting the independant opinion in our favour published in the New Zealand Law Journal.
As belonging to a God-fearing fundamental, albeit minority religious group we cannot emphasise enough the importance of refuting these attacks. The freedom and civil rights of all New Zealanders are at stake. No group of New Zealanders, regardless of the colour, race or religious afilliation can tolerate, nor should tolerate, the vilification we have been subjected to from senior members of the Government.
Yours faithfully,
Tim Lough - Wellington |
 From 2005 EB News Conference: (from left) Phil Winn, Greg Mason,Neville Simmons, Andy Smith, Doug Watt,Tim Lough and Andrew Simmons. |
Address for Contact:
P.O. Box 99-470 Newmarket, Auckland 1149, New Zealand
Fax: (09) 524 8946
Email: govcom@clear.net.nz
Here is the quite remarkably accurate and scathing reply by Jim Anderton, Leader of New Zealands' Progressive Party. This was issued as a press release and to our knowledge, there has not been an official response from the 'Exclusive Brethren Secret Seven'. This is perhaps not surprising as it is difficult to refute Truth.
Monday, 25 September 2006, 11:16 am
Press Release: Progressive Party
25th September 2006
Anderton gives Open Response to Brethren
Open Reply to Tim Lough, Greg Mason, Andy Smith, Andrew Simmons, Neville Simmons, Phil Win, and Doug Watt, members of the Exclusive Brethren.
I refer to your open letter of 11 September 2006 to all Members of Parliament. You contend that although you are all senior members of the Exclusive Brethren Church, your actions in the last election campaign were nothing to do with the Church but were all personal. You contend that the criticism of you and the Exclusive Brethren Church which has followed since the election, is “a serious violation of basic civil liberties, including freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, and freedom of speech.”
I have spent much of my political life supporting those rights, so I take seriously any claims that they have been violated.
But when we look closely at the events of the last election and what has happened since, I believe that you are not under scrutiny because of your rights to religious belief, free assembly, and expression of opinion. Nice try. What concerns people, simply, is your apparent lack of openness and honesty.
We are led to believe that your members do not vote. Yet, you campaigned in a general election to influence the vote: extensively, misleadingly, controversially, expensively, and secretly.
You tried to influence New Zealanders towards your agenda. But you did your best to make sure that people did not know the source of the funding in the campaign, your membership of the Exclusive Brethren, your affiliations with Don Brash and the National Party, the similarity with secret campaigning in Australia and elsewhere, and the amount, purpose, and full nature of what you were doing.
I had a front seat view. Your expensive campaign of misinformation in the Wigram electorate included full page newspaper advertisements in the Christchurch Star and a massive last-minute pamphlet drop (with clear National Party leanings) to most homes in my electorate, all "authorised" by someone unknown to the electorate, not on the Wigram electoral roll, and with a given physical address which was deserted.
I note that although you admit producing and distributing pamphlets on critical issues prior to the last election I cannot find one of your names on any of the pamphlets delivered in Wigram.
Why such secrecy, honourable Exclusive Brethren members who acted as a group of businessmen but not as Church members? The answer is obvious: you wanted to mislead the voters so that you could maximize the political impact. Had people known who you were, they would have discounted the message. You misled for political gain.
Now that more light is at last shining on your hypocrisy, methinks you do protest too much about your rights to belief and expression. If you feel under attack, ask yourself why? I suggest it is not because New Zealanders (including MPs) dispute your rights of belief or expression. They just don’t like humbug, and especially humbug dressed up as sanctimony.
I do not hold my breath for your recognition that this was a mammoth political, personal (and probably religious) blunder. Goodness knows what your fellow Church members think of your actions, though you may have misled them too, by creating a siege mentality. I doubt you will apologise to the voters of Wigram, or to the people of New Zealand, for trying to mislead them. But you should. At the very least, I hope there is someone who will call you to account for a massive waste of money.
In short, I support your rights to worship and to political expression. But I do not accept that those rights are under attack. Rather, you are being called to account for what you did. You misled. You played dirty. You dishonoured the causes for which you spent lots of money. So if you do want to stand at the next election, or even campaign for the National Party, I suggest early disclosure, particularly to your business and church colleagues. Indeed, you might consider doing so publicly right now. And I hope you will also consider voting to enhance your rights to participate in New Zealand’s democracy – a precious right, of course, which I trust you will foster.
Yours sincerely,
Jim Anderton MP for Wigram and Leader of the Progressive Party
P.S. By the way, your campaign in Wigram may have actually helped. My majority increased by 5372 votes – or 169%. Made my day!
ENDS
October 19th, 2006 (EB News)
A member has sent us a series of scanned images of the in-depth article by Trevor Hill, reported here on October 10th, 2006. It has been a bit of a jigsaw to put them together, but if you click on any part of the images below, you will be shown a fairly readable image facsimile in a separate window.
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October 18th, 2006 (EB News)
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An Exclusive with the Elusive - The Brethren break their silence
- PDF Version - The Brethren break their silence
- JPG Version - Page 1JPG Version - Page 2JPG Version - Page 3JPG Version - Page 4JPG Version - Page 5
- JPG Version - Page 6
Investigator Magazine - November 2006 Issue
We apologize for the quality of the attached, there are two versions currently - PDF and individual JPG images. Once we have a transcription or a we blink, we will provide it here.
In other news, New Zealand is commencing a process of reigning in election over-spending. This unpopular act of political discipline was initiated by the devious and covert attempts by the Exclusive Brethren to influence electoral processes in multiple countries - a process in which they themselves take no part.
- Parliament Passes Law Validating Election Misspend - Newswire, NZ
- Parliament Passes Law Validating Election Misspend - National Business Review, NZ
October 17th, 2006 (EB News)
- National’s covert politics - Press Release: New Zealand Labour Party
"Labour strategist Pete Hodgson says that Labour is committed to stronger laws and rules to ensure that National’s attempts to rort last year’s election cannot be repeated.
“National tried to rort the 2005 election in five ways," Pete Hodgson said.
1. National broke the legal limit on broadcast advertising by treating the cap as GST exclusive rather than inclusive. This rort allowed National to spend considerably more on television and radio advertising than it was allowed. They have yet to pay the money they owe.
2. National colluded with the Exclusive Brethren to devise a smear campaign against Labour and the Greens that was specifically designed to avoid being attributable to National's election expenditure. The Exclusive Brethren promised $1.2 million towards the smear campaign.
3. National raised almost $2 million in donations in 2005, of which 92 per cent were funded anonymously, raising serious concerns for the transparency of the political process.
4. National, we have been told, deliberately spent its parliamentary funding in a way which eluded scrutiny by using it to pay for election staffers and strategists. No one knows the precise details because Dr Brash refuses to disclose them.
5. National spent a considerable amount – exactly how much is another closely held National secret – on a massive billboard and advertising campaign prior to the three months of the campaign. If that spending is added to what it spent within the three month campaign period, National spent considerably more than any other party.
“National’s 2005 election campaign can be characterised by secrecy and subterfuge, backed by anonymous wealthy backers who refuse to be identified."
>>>More - Libs make religious Right turn - Herald Sun, Australia
"Kevin Rudd writes: IN Australia today there is evidence of a greater and greater influence by Right-wing religious groups over the Liberal Party.
Just as we've seen with part of the religious Right in American politics.
Here, there are links between the Liberals and the Exclusive Brethren. The religious Right has mounted a step-by-step takeover of the Liberal Party in New South Wales.
There was an exclusive preference deal at the last federal election between the Coalition and the church-based party Family First.
I don't think this is good for Australia's democracy."
>>>More - Labour wants Nats reigned in - NZ City News, NZ
"While National is crying foul over how Labour won the last election, Labour is proposing legislation to change National's behaviour.
Party strategist Pete Hodgson claims National tried to rort last year's election and rules are being brought in to prevent a repeat.
He says National broke the legal limit on broadcasting advertising, used the Exclusive Brethren and raised almost $2 million in donations, mostly anonymously. Mr Hodgson says the party also avoided scrutiny on Parliamentary funding by using it to pay for staff and spent a considerable amount on a massive billboard campaign prior to the official three month campaign period.
He says Parliament will have to consider changes to the Electoral Act."
>>>More - Charities face tax net - NZ TV, One News
"A new law could strip charities of their tax-free status if they get too involved in politics.
"Some of the charities that now have charitable status might lose it, but that would be either because they don't have a charitable purpose or what they do has changed since they were first formed," says Charities Commission chairman Sid Ashton.
From next February, the commission will have new powers to strip charities of their tax-free status if they become too heavily involved in politics.
"If there is any hint of political taint in this, New Zealanders will stand up in droves and change it," says Garth McVicar of the Sensible Sentencing Trust.
Labour is already moving to strip the Exclusive Brethren church of its rights to deny union officials entry into their work places on religious grounds."
>>>More (including Video)
October 16th, 2006 (EB News)
- How I escaped from cult - Newcastle Herald, Australia
"A prominent Hunter businessman has told of escaping from the controversial religious group the Exclusive Brethren, which he says is strengthening its activities in the region.
Hilton Grugeon, the wealthy Maitland businessman and friend of Prime Minister John Howard, told the Herald he grew up in the Exclusive Brethren, which he said could legitimately be described as 'a cult'.
Mr Grugeon said he was 'turned out' by the church in 1980 after a 'testimony of lies' by another church member.
"I am lucky my wife knew it was a lie, otherwise she would probably have stayed in the church, and they would have made sure that I never saw my wife and four children again," Mr. Grugeon said."
>>>More
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