Questioning from Labor Senator Corinne Mulholland at the parliamentary inquiry into interference at the 2025 federal election is a little harder.
She’s pushing Plymouth Brethren Christian Church spokesman Lloyd Grimshaw on his line that the church is a dispersed “family” that’s non-hierarchical, and had nothing to do with the church flying people around and accommodating them in cities well out of their regions to campaign.
“That’s a really hard premise for us to swallow on this committee. That somehow thousands of people who live in completely different cities, who’ve never met each other, just happen to all have the same idea at the same period of time to do the same activity,” Mulholland said.
“I think it is a difficult pill for us to swallow, unfortunately Mr Grimshaw, and it flies in the face of evidence the committee has heard.”
Grimshaw, predictably, doubles down.
“I think you know the fact that some members got fired up and got involved. I think the media … have sensationalised the amount of people that got involved and the scale.”
She’s asking about a report in this masthead that a message went out on Global Media Stream from Bruce D. Hales, the world leader of the church, words to the effect that “Australia needs to smile again” – it was a message that then found its way onto posters and corflutes authorised by radical right-wing figures like Morgan C. Jonas.
Grimshaw says it was just some random words from the so-called “Man of God” taken out of context.
“It is very hard to accept,” Mulholland hits back.
“Following those conversations that were going on in the members-only app, and the video messages went out. We saw an uptick in activity across the country. You really cannot expect members of those committees to accept that evidence.”
Senator Mulholland also put to Grimshaw directly that there was evidence he had been involved in a chat with far-right activists involved in disrupting the election.
“Have you been involved in those apps? Are you a member of those apps and those discussions?” she asked.
“I’m not aware of being on any chats of what you discuss,” Grimshaw said.
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