Inside the Plymouth Brethren’s secret Queensland empire
Documents reveal a vast network of schools, supermarkets and multimillion-dollar businesses linked to the Plymouth Brethren across Queensland.
Exclusive schools, secretive grocery stores, properties and companies linked to the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church are spread throughout South-East Queensland, an exclusive Sunshine Coast Daily investigation has revealed.
The evangelical Christian sect, led by Australian businessman Bruce Hales, has copped criticism of late on a number of fronts, including from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese who labelled the group a “cult” in the recent federal election campaign.
Since then Mr Hales’ sons, Dean and Charles Hales, have gone public defending the reclusive church and its 16,000 worshippers.
The brothers spoke about the strict rules regarding social media and television, the ban on eating meals with people from outside the church and views on homosexuality.
They asked for a “fair go” for the church because recent reporting was hurting the Brethren, its schools and businesses.
The organisation is well established on the Sunshine Coast with a school at Nambour, a new church planned for Glenview and multiple properties and businesses tied to the organisation.
Most recently the church submitted plans to Sunshine Coast Council to transform a block of land at Glenview into a worship space for the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church.
Documents show the plans were submitted on behalf of the registered charity, Nambour Gospel Trust No. 2, in 2024.
Property searches showed the land for the church was bought by Trevor Craig Collett, Lindsay John Rook and Kester James Roulston for just more than $1m in 2022.
The men are also listed on the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission profile as the people responsible for the trust.
Campus and Co
The Exclusive Brethren supermarket Campus and Co, run entirely by volunteers, has a website with a map of Australia pointing to 70 store locations at different sites across the country.
The online map shows seven of these stores are in South-East Queensland but does not include any addresses or the exact suburb or town the stores are situated in.
The only physical address given is for a distribution centre in Victoria.
However, The Daily believes two of the stores are located in Bundaberg and Maryborough.
The website did include an announcement that the store was moving to an online model.
“As announced earlier this year, following extensive community feedback and a strategic review of the business model, Campus & Co. will be transitioning to an online model,” the website stated.
“Campus & Co. will progressively withdraw its brand from physical stores by December 2025, with transitions managed by each store trading entity.”
The only contact for the Australian stores is Geoff Napier.
He is listed on the website as the Team Australia contact, which includes a Universal Business Team (the Brethren accounting entity) linked email address.
Mr Napier shared on LinkedIn the “family friendly” supermarket was volunteer-run.
“The key to our success is family participation. Our superstores are run by a global team of volunteers, with all profits given back to the community, making us unique to any other supermarket chain worldwide,” Mr Napier stated.
Australian Securities and Investments Commission documents show a New South Wales Campus and Co store with a OneSchool Global address listed at the principal place of business.
Sunshine Coast linked entities and businesses
Nambour Gospel Trust No. 2
The trust submitted plans to Sunshine Coast Council for the development of the Glenview property into a place of worship.
The summary of activities of the trust, supplied to the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission, stated the trust works to operate church halls in service to God.
According to the last financial report the trust had five volunteers.
Trevor Craig Collett, Lindsay John Rook and Kester James Roulston are listed on the ACNC profile as the responsible people for the trust.
A governing document supplied to ACNC lists Raymond John Jensen, Graeme James Hungerford and Kenneth Norman Bartlett as the trustees in 2001.
Safetylyne
The large-scale Sunshine Coast-based company is operated by Trevor Collett, along with employees Jim Collett, Huxley Collett and Aldo Collett.
Mr Collett is one of the men responsible for the Nambour Gospel Trust.
He is also the co-owner of multiple Sunshine Coast properties associated with the Brethren.
According to the business LinkedIn, Safetylyne designs, manufactures and installs roof access and safety systems across Australia.
The business has been operating for 25 years and completed work on major projects such as the Kangaroo Point Bridge in Brisbane and CBD ferry terminals.
Between 11 and 50 staff members are employed by the company, according to the LinkedIn profile.
Acequip Solutions
Kester James Roulston is listed as the holder for an entity named Acequip Solutions on the Australian Business Register (ABR).
Mr Roulston is one of the men responsible for the Nambour Gospel Trust.
He is also the co-owner of multiple Sunshine Coast properties associated with the Brethren.
The company’s main business location is shown as the Sunshine Coast, and the ABR stated the company was started in 1999.
Roof & Building Service (AUS)
Scott Jensen’s company Roof and Building Service (AUS) is based in Brisbane and was established in 1928.
National Technician Manager for the company, Albert Jensen, according to his LinkedIn profile, also states he attended Agnew College in Brisbane.
The Eagle Farm based company specialises in fixing water leaks in commercial buildings and has between 11 and 50 employees, according to the company’s LinkedIn profile.
Scott Jensen was the former director of the Brethren’s Rapid Relief Team, according to his personal LinkedIn profile.
Ironbark Timber
The largest timber supplier on the Sunshine Coast has its headquarters in Buderim, but its ABN is registered under the Gympie Region postcode of 4570.
Nathan and Karl Baker, who are on the DynaGroup leadership board, are listed as the managing director and products specialist for Ironbark Timber, respectively and have many Brethren connections.
Schools
OneSchool’s Sunshine Coast campus in Nambour has 32 students and eight staff members, according to the facility’s website.
Properties
Although the Brethren is secretive about churches, five properties have been found through property data, each co-owned by Mr Collett, Mr Rook and Mr Roulston:
Ballantyne Court, Glenview
Perwillowen Road, Burnside
Palmwoods-Montville Road, Palmwoods
Webster Road, Nambour
Hill Street, Woombye
Wide Bay
DynaGroup
DynaGroup partners with a range of local timber merchants and suppliers throughout the state.
The company’s headquarters were owned by Alison Munro Baker and Kenneth John Baker until January 2024, and are now led by Nathan and Karl Baker, according to RP Data and the DynaGroup website.
Karl Baker was educated at UBT, and attended OneSchool Global-affiliated school Agnew Maryborough, according to his LinkedIn.
SiteMax
Sitemax, with headquarters at Monkland, is an Australia-wide construction equipment supplier, marketed as “a leading provider of signage solutions in Australia, built on 20 years of trust”.
Sitemax is run by the Eade family, including managing director Drew Eade, a OneSchool Global alumnus, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Mr Eade also worked at Scafclad, which later rebranded to Sitemax in 2014 (and is now a registered trademark of Sitemax), as did Susanna Eade and Anna Fooks, both Exclusive Brethren members in Gympie.
BendPro
The metal fabricator in Maryborough West, run by the Rowland family, has been in operation since 1984, specialising in “advanced bending, rolling, and laser cutting services”.
Alvin Rowland, a key individual at Bendpro, and its current sales director Joe Rowland also hold leadership and volunteer roles in the church’s OneSchool Global and Rapid Relief Team, as well as leadership positions at railing contractor business Moddex Group, closely associated with Bendpro.
Daywalk
Daywalk’s corporate office is located at a known Plymouth Brethren business hotspot in Sydney.
The Menzies family, including Gary, Steve and Eugene Menzies, have leadership roles within Daywalk.
Steve, Daywalk’s general manager, was also educated at OneSchool Global, and volunteers for the Rapid Relief Team, according to his LinkedIn.
Eugene, a sales support member at Daywalk, was also educated at Oneschool Global, according to his LinkedIn.
According to RP Data, in May 2001, Kenneth John Baker sold the property to the current owner, ‘SMS Omni-Feed Pty Ltd’.
Moddex group
Nationwide manufacturing company Moddex Group is billed as a “leader in no-weld modular handrails and balustrades”, with locations across all Australian capital cities and territories.
Another Rowland-run company, Moddex was founded by CEO Alvin Rowland, who is a director at OneSchool Global Maryborough, and volunteers for RRT.
According to the Moddex website, sales director Joe Rowland also works as a volunteer for Maryborough’s OneSchool Global base.
Modsel and Select Patient Care
Modsel, the medical equipment manufacturer based in Maryborough West is, according to its website, “Australia’s leading medical equipment supplier to hospitals and medical centres”.
Managing director Darren Rowland, sharing the Rowland family name, is also a local team leader for the RRT.
Lance Rowland, head of global sales for Modsel, is also an RRT volunteer, and was educated at OneSchool Global, according to his LinkedIn.
Trendline Group
The family-owned furniture wholesaler group, with headquarters in Bundaberg Central, is Australia’s leading hospitality and commercial furniture supplier, according to its website.
Trendline Group, founded in 1999, is also run by the Rowland family.
The group is the mother company of Nextrend, Furnlink, Online Hospitality Furniture and Kinso, all furniture companies sharing the same primary business location in Bundaberg.
With public support for the RRT and embedded connections to the church, Trendline Group is one of the biggest companies associated with the Plymouth Brethren in Queensland.
GX Outdoors
The outdoor furniture company, GX Outdoors has been renamed and rebranded several times, and is now managed by Martin Rowland, and works with architects and councils around Australia.
The brand has become an “industry leading” expert on park infrastructure, with Mr Rowland’s father founding the company under the name Megatoy in 1990.
Also a public sponsor of RRT, GX Outdoors is positioned within the Rowland family business.
Coating Industries Australia
The powder coating service based in Svensson Heights is led by managing director Harvey Rowland, who began his career working for his father at Megatoy, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Another Rowland-led business, Coating Industries Australia is one of the several successful Brethren-associated companies throughout the Wide Bay.
Mr Rowland was also educated with UBT, and volunteers for the RRT, according to his LinkedIn.
Schools
OneSchool Global is described as a “truly global school” on their website, with more than 8000 students worldwide and four campuses in Queensland.
Nambour
OneSchool’s Sunshine Coast campus in Nambour has 32 students and eight staff members, according to the facility’s website.
Brisbane
The Brisbane campus is on the city’s bayside, 25 minutes from the CBD, according to the website.
Enrolment numbers show 49 primary school students and 80 secondary students, with 26 staff members.
Maryborough
The school’s website shows the Maryborough campus has 23 students in the primary school and 23 in high school.
Toowoomba
The Toowoomba campus is located in Middle Ridge, with 40 primary school-aged students and 37 secondary students.
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