‘More power to redheads’: Brethren leader backs Hanson, building nuclear bombs

The separatist Exclusive Brethren, whose secretive multimillion-dollar campaign supporting the Coalition at the last federal election is under intense scrutiny, has swung behind One Nation after its leader praised the “red-haired lady” at a recent religious meeting.

As well as backing One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, Brethren “Elect Vessel” Bruce Hales told his flock Australia should use its uranium to “build a few bombs”, to obliterate Iran and that the Brethren needed to “overcome … our Jewishness”.

Hales signalled his change of political heart in a Plymouth Brethren Christian Church address, transcribed and published recently to his 50,000 followers worldwide and subsequently leaked.

After this masthead revealed elders of the sect had secretly paid neo-Nazi associates to tail and harass the prime minister and other MPs at the last federal election, the church’s spokesman denounced antisemitism.

The release of the new Hales address comes as Freedom for Faith, a Christian charity advocating on behalf of various religions including the Anglican Diocese of Sydney and the NSW Presbyterian Church, wrote to a parliamentary committee saying its decision to call Hales and his son , Gareth, to answer questions about the election was a threat to the Brethren’s religious freedom.

Leaked messages published by this masthead showed Gareth Hales was among the Brethren elders involved in the “dirty tricks” election operation that targeted opponents of the Coalition with far-right stunts.

On August 22, the day after the church’s spokesman told a parliamentary committee the Brethren had no involvement in the election, global leader Bruce Hales delivered another political message.

“God’s resources are limitless,” he told the flock. “See, that’s the trouble, part of the trouble with this government in this country, is they want to leave all the resources in the ground. How thick could you get?

“Oil and bauxite … coal … gas … We ought to get enough uranium together and build a few bombs,” Hales said. “So I hope that red-haired lady gets a chance. More power to the redheads.”

Two church sources, speaking anonymously for fear of retribution, said this was a clear reference to Hanson, whom Hales has previously praised . The insiders said Hales went on to say the bombs built with Australian uranium should be used in the Middle East to obliterate Iran. This line did not appear in the printed address.

“It’s not exactly our matter. But we need to pray for it, and be sympathetic with the forces that are right, that God would uphold and endorse,” Hales told the Brethren.

Within the Brethren – a wealthy sect with charities worth hundreds of millions of dollars – Bruce Hales’ words are considered holy writ, and Hales himself “so close to the Lord Jesus that he can feel his heartbeat”.

Asked if the Brethren or its members had contacted One Nation to offer help, the party’s Victorian leader Warren Pickering said: “not to my knowledge”.