Australia: For a cult that loudly proclaims how it doesn't vote, the Exclusive Brethren seem to have extraordinary difficulty in staying the hell out of politics. Their latest bout of interference has been to send a letter to the citizens of Tasmania
warning them about the evilness of Greens leader Bob Brown.
Considering their usual dabbling in politics comes in the form of smear campaigns that are either unsigned or attributed to dodgy shelf companies, this one was signed off by 51 cult members.
It says Senator Brown, who faces re-election this Saturday, hasactively and persistently vilified a religious Christian minority.
This would be the fine upstanding Christians who have been repeatedly dragged through the courts for child abuse and the refusal to obey court orders. For a minority they've also had three alleged paedophiles brought to the attention of the police this year, which seems to be an abnormally high number for such a small group.
The letter also foolishly aligned the Brethren with the loon behind the ludicrous, and cowardly anonymous, Greens Watch web site.
The site accuses the Greens of a belief in bestiality, of starting the race riots on Palm Island in 2004, and ofplotting to infiltrate the Exclusive Brethren.
The Greens are unimpressed at the campaign, but pretty much view it as business as usual for the Brethren.
They were attacking the Greens for years before we stood our ground and exposed them,Senator Brown said.
They are responsible for their own behaviour and when they enter the political arena they must be accountable.
The question is, if they are not voting, what are they doing this for?
Maybe Mr Howard is so desperate he needs the 10,000 votes of the Brethren,he said.
Yet, even though they named themselves as the wingnuts responsible for the smear, the Brethren are still having trouble obeying the law.
By law they are required to provide an address where the person endorsing the material can usually be contacted and, while a Brethren member does own the property, the business that rents it is pissed that they are being associated with the morons. They also forgot to include the name of the printer. Breaches of the law attract a fine of $1000 a person or $5000 for a group.
There's also allegations that the Liberal Party are involved in the advertising, with confusion over invoicing to the party account.
John Howard, of course, denies all knowledge, but then the corrupt little bastard also just let two of his Party members get away with a childish hate-mongering smear campaign of their own that demonised Muslims and implied that the Labor Party was the preferred party of terrorists. In comparison, the Brethren leaflets look professional.
While the Exclusive Brethren are happily slandering Bob Brown, the Labor Party are taking a close look at their affairs, asking four federal agencies to investigate the sect's activities.
ALP national secretary Tim Gartrell late last month referred allegations to the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Taxation Office, the Australian Electoral Commission and Austrac, which investigates large financial transfers.
The allegations are that the Brethren failed to declare the transfer of large sums of money across borders under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Act 2006 and the Financial Transactions Reports Act 1987, that it made false declarations about domestic financial transactions, that it used false names in election advertising material and that it used a front company,Willmac, to avoid strict electoral donation requirements.
Then there's the attempt to play political games with the Labor Party by trying to anonymously pass money to the Labor Party for later political games.
The ALP has also revealed that, early in the election campaign, a Brethren member tried to donate cash to a Labor candidate in an apparent bid to undermine Kevin Rudd's stated opposition to the sect. The donation was rejected.
If the ALP are gunning for them, it looks like their illegal tactics may finally be coming back to bite them and about time too.
Sect joins Tasmania campaign—The Age, 21st November 2007.
Brown feels wrath of Brethren—Mercury, 22nd November 2007.
Fake flyer distributors apologise—ABC News, 22nd November 2007.
Brethren in ALP's firing line—The Age, 23rd November 2007.

Brethren shenanigans in New Zealand have inspired a change in electoral law there.
About time too they have gotten away with biting people for years. Just damn nasty people they are, cold hearted thoughtless bunch.
The New Zealand electoral changes, regarding anonymous campaign donations, have been hitting the press since the Exclusive Brethren played silly buggers in their last elections. Looks like it finally went through.