The wait has ended. Move over, Hamish Blake and Andy Lee — there’s a new podcast in town. The group formerly known as the Exclusive Brethren has finally succumbed to the manly urge to grab a microphone and talk for long periods of time.
The Plymouth Brethren Christian Church’s podcast series was launched on the “pipeline of filth” – what the church once called the internet – this week.
Bruce Hales (front left), the global leader of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, preaches in the US.Credit:
Episode 1 features church spinner Lloyd Grimshaw interviewing Gareth, Dean, Charles and Greg Hales – the four sons of the Brethren’s multimillionaire leader, Bruce Hales, who is known within the church as BDH, the Lord’s Servant, the Elect Vessel or CEO.
The first episode goes into the lives and businesses of the Hales brothers – the church’s so-called “royal family” – and their devotion to their “visionary” and “entrepreneurial” father.
It also delves into the negative media coverage engulfing the church, its controversial involvement in this year’s federal election, and the brothers’ desire for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to get a phone call with US President Donald Trump.
You might recall Albanese has called the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church a cult. No mention of the c-word on the pod, though.
This masthead has reported that the church’s financial and on-the-ground support for the Liberal Party at the last election was so overwhelming that some Liberal operatives feared the church would have undue influence over any incoming Peter Dutton government.
But the brothers say there was no arrangement with the Liberal Party or any party during the election. They also insist the church doesn’t campaign or co-ordinate volunteer political efforts at all.
But Gareth argues Australia was in a bad place at the last election.
“We honestly felt Australia deserved a better, stronger, braver leader that can actually work in with the US … the UK … NATO, France, Germany, Italy, like-minded, smart countries. That’s why we got involved.”
BoJo’s Aussie adventures
It’s no secret that Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson loves Australia.
The former British PM known for his buffoonish antics, laissez-faire approach to personal grooming and quite literally partying himself into political oblivion has visited Sydney for speaking gigs the past two summers. No word yet on whether he’ll be joining his home country’s eminently insufferable cricketers in Australia this summer.
Then prime minister Scott Morrison at No. 10 Downing Street with British counterpart Boris Johnson in 2021.Credit: Dominic Lipinski
But thanks to the work of some dastardly hackers, we have some idea of what BoJo got up to on his 2023 tour. Recently, an immense trove of Johnson’s diaries, documents and invoices dating back to during his prime ministership has been published online by Distributed Denial of Secrets, a US-based transparency non-profit.
Headline revelations published by The Guardian reveal that Johnson used prime ministerial contacts to approach the Saudi regime once out of office, and sought to lobby the United Arab Emirates over a billion-dollar private venture.
We also get pages of BoJo’s notes, written in a form of hieroglyphics you can only decipher if you went to Eton. And, a few nuggets about his relationship with Australia. Like the time he phoned then-prime minister Scott Morrison in 2022 just an hour after a long phone call with the Queen. The trove also contains further details about BoJo’s 2023 trip to Australia, which came months after he quit politics for good.
Sussan Ley met with BoJo during his 2023 visit to Australia.Credit: Trevor Collens
Johnson was flown in courtesy of the Menzies Research Centre to deliver its annual John Howard Lecture. First item on the agenda was a one-on-one meeting with Sussan Ley, then the Liberals’ deputy leader. Perhaps Dutton was unavailable. After his speech to the Menzies crowd that night, Johnson was feted at a private fundraising dinner with Howard and Morrison.
The next day, Johnson was reunited with Scomo at a United Israel fundraising lunch with businessman Steven Lowy, scion of the Westfield dynasty. That evening, he was hosted by our friends at The Australian Financial Review’s Business Person of the Year gala dinner in Sydney, where he was introduced by former federal treasurer Peter Costello (then chair of Nine, which owns this masthead and The Fin).
In fact, according to Bojo’s documents, the paper paid $85,000 to hear his thoughts, plus the cost of accommodation at the Fullerton Hotel. That’s a lot of money, but then again, BoJo sounds like a hell of a party guest.
We asked former editor Michael Stutchbury to comment – he was running the joint at that time – but he politely said no.
Johnson had so much fun he was back in Australia for more last year, courtesy of celebrity impresario Max Markson. He did another private event with the Menzies mob, and a podcast interview with future cancelled Sky News host Freya Leach.
Living on a prayer
Melbourne Airport hosts the largest taxi rank in Victoria - and possibly the saddest looking outdoor prayer area for taxi and rideshare drivers.
In February, CBD reported on complaints about the “ramshackle” prayer area, which is located next to a toilet beneath an underpass and near the long-term parking.
The prayer area at Melbourne Airport in January this year.Credit: Wayne Taylor
Alas, nine months later, the outdoor prayer area remains. “This is an unsatisfactory situation that I would assume is in the interests of the airport to resolve,” said Adel Salman, president of the Islamic Council of Victoria. “I don’t imagine they are thrilled with the current setup.”
Not thrilled, maybe, but not hustling either. The outdoor prayer area will remain for at least a couple more years. “There’s no short-term fix,” says Melbourne Airport spokesman Andrew Lund. A new and improved facility will be built but not earlier than 2027, as part of a massive upgrade of the airport.
Meanwhile, poorly paid drivers have the option of paying the public parking rate to use prayer rooms inside the terminals. Ka-ching.
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