Family First MPs make their headquarters in former base of a cult

It was once the headquarters of the Agape doomsday cult, but it’s now the base of former Labor MPs Jack Snelling and Tom Kenyon’s Family First political party.

It was once the headquarters of the infamous Agape doomsday cult but it is now the home base of one of South Australia’s newest political parties.

Family First, led by former Labor treasurer Jack Snelling and minister Tom Kenyon, has moved into the Oakden complex once occupied by fugitive cult leader Rocco Leo and his followers.

But unlike the almost unbelievable scenario that unfolded at the site 12 years ago, this time neighbours adjacent the 102-132 Hilltop Crescent complex have nothing to fear.

Once a hiding place for a stockpile of ammunition and firearms Leo had hidden in the building, which was patrolled by roaming guard dogs, the deadliest weapon now likely to be encountered there is an election placard.

Family First’s Jack Snelling has defended having the party’s headquarters in a building where a cult used to operate from. Picture: AAP Image

Mr Snelling on Friday said he was unaware his party had moved into the former Agape cult headquarters.

“It was the old Hillcrest Hospital,’’ Mr Snelling said when asked if he was aware of the history of the complex.

“We are not renting it off the Agape cult, it has changed hands since then. It is owned by an Indian dentist and we are renting the facilities off him. I can’t see any irony in there, well not even coincidence. I don’t see any particular irony, we have nothing to do with religious cults.

“We are just using some space, a bit of office space and somewhere for storage and stuff like that.’’

Mr Snelling said the lease was taken out recently because the party needed to have a registered office and, depending on its success at the election, would reassess its position.

The former Agape Ministries property at Hilltop Road, Oakden, now used by Family First.

He said election preparations were proceeding well and the party expected to field more than 30 candidates for the lower house as well as its upper house candidates.

“We are just waiting for the writs to be issued to get our posters up,’’ he said.

In 2010, the Oakden property was raided, along with 11 other properties across Adelaide connected to the Agape cult, as police investigated its activities and the location of millions of dollars donated by cult members.

The searches unearthed shipping containers packed with ammunition hidden in furniture at several locations.

Firearms and detonators were also seized. The largest seizure was at Mount Magnificent, south of Adelaide, where detonators, fuses and 20,000 rounds of ammunition were found in a shipping container.

Agape Ministries leader Rocco Leo in Fiji.

While four senior cult members were charged with various offences, Rocco Leo never faced court as he fled to Fiji and was never extradited.

A warrant remains active in connection with 126 fraud charges and one assault charge.

His $1m empire was dismantled by a series of lawsuits and bankruptcy proceedings and in 2016 a further $9m was found in a hidden account.

Since then, Leo has fought the Australian Taxation Office and two rival groups of former parishioners for the money.

The ATO says it is owed millions in back-payments, while Leo maintains the cash is his and wants it to maintain his cult in Fiji.

FORMER SENATOR LOSES FIGHT OVER FAMILY FIRST NAME

The revived Family First Party has managed to survive a legal challenge that threatened its existence, after the original party’s former chairman, Bob Day, launched an appeal against its registration.

Mr Day, a former South Australian senator, took his fight to the SA Civil and Administrative Tribunal, seeking to have the Electoral Commissioner’s decision in January to register Family First Inc overturned. The new Family First Party is being led by ex-Labor ministers Jack Snelling and Tom Kenyon.

Mr Snelling and Mr Kenyon announced in late July last year they had quit the ALP to lead a resurgence of Family First with the blessing of the party’s founder, Andrew Evans.

Former Family First Senator Bob Day has lost a legal challenge to the party being brought back. Picture: AAP Image

Mr Day currently heads the Australian Family Party. Adelaide barrister Marie Shaw QC, for Mr Day, argued the name “Family First Party” and “Australian Family Party” were too similar and may confuse voters, particularly given Mr Day’s “long-term and known association” with the former party.

“When people who may be wishing to vote for Mr Day’s Australian Family Party will see Family First First Inc and might be uncertain as to whether or not that is the Australian Family Party that Mr Day is a member of or whether it’s not,” she told the tribunal. Barrister Paul d’Assumpcao, for Family First, argued the names of Mr Day’s party and Family First were “substantially different”.

Former South Australian Labor MP Tom Kenyon is now part of Family First. Picture: AAP Image

Barrister Kerry Clark, SC, for Electoral Commissioner Mick Sherry, stressed her client remained impartial in the dispute. Tribunal president Justice Judy Hughes on Friday upheld Mr Sherry’s decision to register Family First. She said she would publish the reasons for her determination on Monday.

After the hearing, Mr Day told The Advertiser: “We’ll go to the election and let voters decide from there.”

Mr Snelling said he was “pleased but not surprised” by the tribunal’s decision.