Exclusive Brethren
September 19th 2006 01:47
The Exclusive Brethren is a radical religious sect that is perhaps the greatest threat to democracy in a long time.
The Brethren have run several campaigns to support conservative political parties both in Australia and New Zealand. In New Zealand last year they ran a $500,000 campaign against NZ PM Helen Clark and The Greens, severely hurting both parties' votes. Earlier this year the Brethren also ran a strong campaign against the Greens in Tasmania. The campaign was devastating with the Greens expecting to gain 6-8 seats, they were lucky to retain the four they already had (and in the face of it we were proud of managing that against the Brethren's onslaught).
Now National Leader Peter Ryan has confirmed with The Age (Sept 19, 2006) that he has met with the Brethren to discuss the Victorian election. The Brethren are violently opposed to a woman's right to choose to have an abortion and are also against gay rights, but I think we can be proud of the fact that the Brethren have had to look to the National Party to find a party that shares their views.
The Brethren strongly supported John Howard in the 2004 election but they have reportedly been concerned with Ted Baillieu's left-of-centre policies. Both the Libs and Labor have introduced several "Green" policies in the fear that support for the Greens could hurt them in the November election.
The presence in the election of the Brethren has not been unexpected by The Greens. We have plans to try to minimise the effect that this group has on us, however we are talking about people who have so much more money than we do. Although they are untraceable, the Brethren receive donations from several major Australian businesses. Bob Brown and Christine Milne have both called for a Senate enquiry into the Brethren, but funnily enough the Coalition haven't agreed to that.
So Victorians reading this, keep an eye out for the Brethren, and don't believe what they say. We expect the Brethren to attack us hard on rural TV especially. So if you live in a rural seat, especially one that is represented by a National MP, write to your member and ask them to explain why they are accepting the support of such a group.
For more info on the Brethren see: www.bobbrown.org.au
The Brethren have run several campaigns to support conservative political parties both in Australia and New Zealand. In New Zealand last year they ran a $500,000 campaign against NZ PM Helen Clark and The Greens, severely hurting both parties' votes. Earlier this year the Brethren also ran a strong campaign against the Greens in Tasmania. The campaign was devastating with the Greens expecting to gain 6-8 seats, they were lucky to retain the four they already had (and in the face of it we were proud of managing that against the Brethren's onslaught).
Now National Leader Peter Ryan has confirmed with The Age (Sept 19, 2006) that he has met with the Brethren to discuss the Victorian election. The Brethren are violently opposed to a woman's right to choose to have an abortion and are also against gay rights, but I think we can be proud of the fact that the Brethren have had to look to the National Party to find a party that shares their views.
The Brethren strongly supported John Howard in the 2004 election but they have reportedly been concerned with Ted Baillieu's left-of-centre policies. Both the Libs and Labor have introduced several "Green" policies in the fear that support for the Greens could hurt them in the November election.
The presence in the election of the Brethren has not been unexpected by The Greens. We have plans to try to minimise the effect that this group has on us, however we are talking about people who have so much more money than we do. Although they are untraceable, the Brethren receive donations from several major Australian businesses. Bob Brown and Christine Milne have both called for a Senate enquiry into the Brethren, but funnily enough the Coalition haven't agreed to that.
So Victorians reading this, keep an eye out for the Brethren, and don't believe what they say. We expect the Brethren to attack us hard on rural TV especially. So if you live in a rural seat, especially one that is represented by a National MP, write to your member and ask them to explain why they are accepting the support of such a group.
For more info on the Brethren see: www.bobbrown.org.au
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Comment by jon
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Comment by 007bond
Maybe when you get into parliament you should propose a law that allows only people with an IQ greater then a chimp to be able to run for parliament
Comment by kathleen em
to see that!
this cult needs to be banned, not respected and not given any authority!
Comment by Anonymous