Correcting the Record: Mr Bruce Hales – Election Inquiry Full Opening Statement

Mr Bruce Hales was not involved in the Australian 2025 Federal Election in any way. He did not participate, directly or indirectly, in the campaign, nor ask anyone to do so – neither did the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church.

Mr Hales, senior elder of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, has now appeared before a Parliamentary Inquiry into the 2025 Federal Election to set out the facts.

However, the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters’ decision to pressure a senior elder of any Church to answer for the actions of independent parishioners is a damning escalation and very concerning precedent.

We share the fears of other religious groups that this precedent will now be used to unjustly target other faiths. While this has started with our Church, left unchecked it won’t end with our church.

Watch Mr Hales’ full opening statement to the Committee in full below.

Opening Statement Full Transcript

Thank you, Mr. Chair and deputy chair and members of the committee.

Thank you for the opportunity to make a short opening statement.

I’ve accepted the committee’s invitation to appear today and thank you for allowing me to do so via AVL.

I acknowledge the work of this committee and its inquiry into the 2025 federal election.

On 5 October 2026, I wrote to the committee of my own volition.

I set out the questions I understood the committee to be interested in and answered each of them in detail.

I did so to assist the committee to understand the extent of my knowledge with respect to the issues that have preoccupied the committee.

Those answers demonstrate that I had no involvement in the alleged activities of members of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church during the 2025 federal election.

I stand by those answers and will refer to them during the course of my evidence.

I have a copy of my letter here with me today, and if you have any questions about the matters raised in my letter, I would be grateful if you could direct me to the relevant paragraph.

If you have any questions about other issues which are not covered by my letter, but are relevant to the terms of reference, I would be happy to answer those also.

Despite this letter, I was threatened with a summons if I did not appear before the committee in an effort to hold me to account for the political beliefs and alleged actions of church members.

To assist the committee, I will address three key themes from my letter.

Firstly, my role in the church.

I’m recognised by members as the most senior elder of the church globally.

The church has no formal hierarchy, no clergy, and no appointed ministers.

No one appointed me and no one voted for me; there is no office to hold or resign.

My role is spiritual; I give guidance so that members can live by the principles of the Holy Bible.

This includes at times providing practical advice about personal matters such as relationships, housing, job selection, and career advice.

I’m not a director of and hold no office in the company that performs the church’s administrative work.

I also have no authority over and do not seek to influence members’ political choices, their businesses, or how they take part in civic life.

Secondly, I had no involvement in the 2025 federal election.

I want to be clear and unequivocal.

I had no involvement whatsoever in relation to any members who volunteered or took part in any aspect of the 2025 federal election.

I did not plan such activities, I did not coordinate such activities, I did not direct such activities, I did not fund such activities.

This could not have been stated more clearly in my letter.

The church does not engage in any political activity, and if members do so, they do so in their personal capacity.

I had no agreement or understanding with the Liberal Party or any political party or with any group or person involved in the 2025 federal election.

I made no donation, payment, or contribution to anyone.

I did not commission or pay for advertising of any kind.

What I know of our members’ participation I primarily learned from the media.

I do not agree with the harassment or intimidation of anyone, and my genuine sympathy goes to anyone who felt intimidated at the 2025 federal election.

If any social action was committed by any individual of any faith that should answer what they did, I cannot answer for them.

Finally, I ask you to consider the role of the church, the individual conscience of its members, and our right to religious freedom.

Our fellowship is not a test of political conscience; no member’s place in our fellowship depends on how they vote, which party they support, or whether they campaign or volunteer at elections.

How a member votes, and whether they take part in political life, either by themselves or with other church members, is a matter of their own conscience before God.

It is not a matter for me, and it is not a matter for the church.

Neither the church nor I direct or control members’ political activities, which, if they are conducted, are conducted in their private capacity.

I do not control the lives of our members and nor do I seek to do so.

My role is to guide members to lead their lives in accordance with scriptural principles as set out in the Holy Bible and the teachings and writings of the church.

Members do not need anyone’s approval to take part in political activity.

The church keeps no register of members’ political activities.

There is no command structure directing them, and there is no person in the church who could answer for them.

The church is a religious organization, not a political one.

Our members, like members of any other faith in Australia, are entitled to take part in the political process, including by volunteering in their personal capacity.

I do not personally do this, and nor do I encourage others to do so.

However, the church should not be targeted for our members exercising this right.

I’m deeply concerned that members of our faith feel, I take it, I cannot exercise their political rights due to the prospect of retribution against their church or senior church members.

If members of any organisation who routinely come together, whether that is as part of a business, an association, a charity, or even a church, decide to undertake a political activity together, that organisation is not responsible for their actions, nor is its leader.

I ask the committee to reconsider whether it is appropriate that a faith leader of our church should be asked to account for the political choices of private individuals who share his faith.

The same would not be asked or expected from senior members of other faiths.

Nonetheless, I’m here to assist the committee.

I will do my best to answer your questions.

When I cannot answer a question fully today, I will provide a subsequent written response.

Thank you.