Gareth Hales has acknowledged meeting far-right activists and being part of private group chats involving Brethren elders and neo-Nazi associates, but told a parliamentary inquiry the encounters were “just business” and unrelated to campaigning.
Hales gave evidence by video link during a tense three-hour hearing examining the 2025 Australian federal election. He denied directly co-ordinating an alleged operation involving stunts targeting left-leaning MPs, despite leaked messages said to show his participation in discussions about an “election influence” campaign.
He confirmed meeting Chris De Bruyne and Morgan J Jonas, two far-right figures linked to the alleged operation, including at the offices of his company, Sante Global. A meeting between Brethren elders and far-right activists at a Sydney golf club had also been booked in the company’s name in April last year.
Hales maintained the meeting was for business purposes rather than election activity. He also said he was “not active” in group chats used by Brethren elders and far-right figures to co-ordinate the alleged stunts.
The inquiry heard that De Bruyne and Jonas had endorsed posters and advertisements associated with the Exclusive Brethren during the election, including “Make Australia smile again” signs echoing a phrase used by Bruce Hales, the church’s leader and Gareth’s father.
Bruce Hales told the committee that the slogan reflected what he saw as public dissatisfaction with the government, but denied it was an instruction for his sons to organise a campaign.
Brethren leaders reject direct campaigning role
Both men denied that the church, now known as the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, had ordered its members to campaign for the Coalition. Gareth Hales also said he had never asked Brethren members to campaign, before later conceding that he had encouraged them.
Leaked videos showed Gareth Hales and his brothers urging members to “man polling booths” and “dominate the play” during the election campaign. He said the comments concerned members exercising their democratic rights.
He described himself as a “private citizen” with no formal role in the church, and said he had campaigned “alongside many others” without adopting all of their views. “Simply campaigning alongside someone else does not mean adopting every opinion they have ever expressed,” he told the inquiry.
Hales was photographed campaigning in a blue Liberal Party T-shirt and confirmed he had met then opposition leader Peter Dutton and members of his staff in 2025, although he described the meeting as brief.
Bruce Hales said he only became aware of his son’s campaign involvement after seeing the photograph. He told MPs he had known nothing about the alleged operation involving far-right activists, adding: “I can understand how you might find it hard to believe.”
He said he had played no part in planning the alleged activity and believed he would have refused permission had he been asked. Asked whether his sons had deliberately kept the operation from him, he replied: “Quite likely.”
Inquiry told of alleged intelligence-gathering operation
The hearing followed the publication of leaked messages alleging that Brethren elders helped organise paid activists to confront MPs at campaign events and hotels. The allegations also included claims that the Prime Minister’s car and plane were followed and information about his location passed to neo-Nazi associates.
Neither Gareth nor Bruce Hales agreed to say whether they would investigate the allegations or take action over them. Bruce Hales said he had not read the reports about the alleged stunts, while criticising one of the journalists involved in reporting them.
Committee chair Jerome Laxale and independent MP Monique Ryan said they were unconvinced by the evidence. After the hearing, Ryan said it had “all the credibility of a Melbourne weather forecast”, while independent MP Andrew Gee told Gareth Hales: “I’m not buying what you’re selling.”
Coalition MPs repeatedly intervened in support of the Hales family, describing the inquiry as a “witch hunt” and accusing it of religious discrimination. Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie said: “This is beginning to look like religious discrimination,” while adding: “This isn’t the Spanish Inquisition!”
Gee accused Liberal senator Ben Small of “running a protection racket” for the Brethren, but later withdrew the remark.
Bruce Hales also faced questions about sermons urging Brethren members to keep “our secrets” from “men in the world”. He said his sermons were rarely misinterpreted by members.
Lester Sharples, a Brethren elder who had confirmed involvement in the alleged far-right operation, declined to appear before the committee, as did two other senior figures. Both Gareth and Bruce Hales said they had not spoken to him recently.
Former and current Brethren members have spoken out since the allegations emerged, with some describing the organisation as a controlling sect rather than a religion.
