Exclusive Brethren, Advance to be summonsed to 2025 Australian election inquiry if they don’t show up
Updated ,first published
Leading figures from the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church and right-wing lobby group Advance will have to be compulsorily summoned before federal parliament to answer for their actions in the last election unless they take part voluntarily.
Labor Party MP Jerome Laxale, chairman of the parliamentary committee investigating the conduct of the election, said in his statement that both groups refused to participate in the election. He would invite them both again, but if they resisted, the committee would issue subpoenas.
The summons is a serious and unusual step for a parliamentary committee to take and, if ignored, could lead to charges of contempt of parliament or penalties including official censure, fines or, in extreme cases, imprisonment.
Laxale’s statement was met with a sharp rebuke from the committee’s deputy chairman, Liberal senator Richard Colbeck; Colbeck said it was a “punitive and political abuse of the committee” and said the parties had not refused to attend the meeting.
“The committee recognizes that this is an extraordinary step but believes it is necessary,” Laxale said in a statement Thursday morning.
Advance and the Brethren church had already “refused to attend previous hearings in November 2025 and March and May 2026.”
“Given that numerous attempts have been made to obtain the appearance of these witnesses… the committee also decided to issue a subpoena to compel their attendance if the witnesses continue to refuse these invitations.”
The church has consistently denied any involvement in its members’ mass mobilization in the weeks before the election, saying its members were acting individually to support the campaign of then-opposition leader Peter Dutton.
But Laxale’s statement said the church was mentioned in more than 75 published submissions submitted to the committee’s inquiry, and its presence was noted in approximately 80 different suburbs of federal electorates across Australia.
“Given the volume of submissions the committee has received and the level of community concern about their involvement in the electoral process, it is in the interest of not only the committee, but also Australia, to understand the involvement of both of these third parties in the 2025 federal election and their impact on the electoral process,” Laxale said.
The brothers were not noted as a significant third party in the campaign.
Colbeck said it was not the practice of lobby group Advance to refuse to give evidence to the committee, and said of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church: “Every discussion with them was that they wanted to participate.”
“Nothing to see here… Any committee’s decision to subpoena a witness is a serious decision and is used where there is an indication that a witness is unwilling or refuses to appear. This is not a political plaything,” Colbeck said in a statement.
Lloyd Grimshaw, director and spokesman for the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, said he had written a submission to the committee in response to questions and had “confirmed in writing on at least three occasions that I was pleased to attend and answer questions about the church not campaigning for or supporting any political party at the last election”.
“There was only one date they had nominated and unfortunately due to work commitments I couldn’t make it happen,” Grimshaw said. “There was a subsequent delay in arranging a new date, which I assume was due to the mandate of the committee chair. [Laxale] He was in North America at the World Cup.
“I would welcome a future hearing as an opportunity to set the record straight and present accurate information about our church directly to the committee.”
Brotherhood members announced they had donated $700,000 to lobby group Advance, which ran an extensive advertising campaign on behalf of the Coalition in the election.
Advance raised more than $13 million, acting as the top-spending third-party campaigner in the election. He spent huge amounts of money on social media and real-world advertising against the Greens and Labor, describing the government as “weak, woke, leaving us broke”.
In 2018, two directors of the Retail Food Group challenged the call for a joint parliamentary committee in the High Court, saying the committee did not have the constitutional power to compel witnesses. The Supreme Court ruled against them and the executives were forced to appear for trial.
A preliminary request for comment has been submitted.
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Michael Bachelard is The Age’s senior writer and former deputy editor and research editor. He has worked in Canberra, Melbourne and Jakarta, written two books and won several awards for journalism, including the Gold Walkley.Connect with: X or email.
