It is confirmed. The committee's programme for Friday lists two witnesses and nobody else.
| Time | Witness |
|---|---|
| 11.30 am | Mr Gareth Hales |
| 1.00 pm | Mr Bruce Hales |
| 2.30 pm | Close |
Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, inquiry into the 2025 federal election. Public hearing, Friday 16 October 2026, Committee Room 2R1, Parliament House, Canberra. The chair is Jerome Laxale MP.
Three hours, two witnesses, and a ninety-minute gap between them. They are being heard separately.
Why it matters
Bruce Hales is the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church's worldwide leader — the Elect Vessel, in the church's own language. He is a Sydney businessman who has never, in more than twenty years at the head of the church, answered questions under the authority of a parliament. Gareth Hales is his son, and a principal of the Santé group of companies.
The committee resolved in September to invite both men, along with election organiser Lester Sharples, Andy Hornbuckle and the authors of two anonymous submissions, and said it would issue summonses if they refused. It described reports that Brethren members had paid agitators to disrupt the 2025 campaign as "deeply disturbing", and said they "need to show up and fess up."
They are showing up.
What the committee has already been told
On 21 August 2026 the committee heard from Lloyd Grimshaw, appearing for the church. His evidence set out a particular account of how the Brethren are organised, and it is the account Friday's witnesses will be measured against.
Grimshaw told the committee that the church has "no constituent governing document other than the Holy Bible". He said its assemblies are "autonomous". He said there are "no official positions or titles". And he said that "there is no such thing as a Brethren business".
Each of those propositions is testable, and each of them is one the committee can now put to the man at the top.
The questions on the table
- Who organised and paid for the campaign activity reported by The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald — and who authorised it?
- How does an organisation with no governing document and no official positions come to have an Elect Vessel whose written declaration, under a trust deed approved by the Charity Commission in England, conclusively determines who may be a trustee of a gospel hall?
- If assemblies are autonomous, why does the church's central property charity intend to become "sole corporate Trustee of all Locality Gospel Hall Trusts"?
- If there is no such thing as a Brethren business, what is the relationship between the church and the companies whose owners gave $655,000 to Advance?
- And what is Bruce Hales' own role in the finances of the businesses he has audited?
The Australian Electoral Commission has confirmed it is examining the church and related entities and individuals. The church denies any involvement in the campaign conduct reported.
How to watch
JSCEM public hearings are broadcast live and transcribed. The committee's page is at aph.gov.au/em. We will be watching both sessions and will publish our analysis the same day.
Hearing times, venue and witness list are taken from the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters' published public hearing programme for Friday 16 October 2026. Mr Grimshaw's evidence is taken from the committee's transcript of 21 August 2026. The committee's September resolution and the quoted phrases from it are taken from the Parliament of Australia media release of 16 September 2026. Reporting of payments to campaign agitators is by Sherryn Groch and Michael Bachelard in The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, 21 August 2026. This article makes no allegation that any person named in it has acted unlawfully.