Canberra, Australia - AUSTRALIAN Greens leader Bob Brown will push for a senate inquiry into the religious group Exclusive Brethren.
In a motion expected to be presented to the Senate tomorrow, Senator Brown will call for examination of the Exclusive Brethren's role in the last federal and Tasmanian elections, and the group's treatment of former members.
The Greens were riled during the March Tasmanian election, when two Exclusive Brethren members placed anti-Greens advertisements in local newspapers.
The men, Roger Unwin and Trevor Christian, both from Scottsdale in Tasmania's north, maintain they were acting as individuals.
But the Greens say the material was similar to advertising used during the 2004 federal election, when the Brethren was linked to a campaign in favour of Prime Minister John Howard.
Former Brethren preacher Mark Humber yesterday backed Senator Brown's motion, saying it was vital the government investigate his former religion.
"Australians should be very concerned about the influence the Exclusive Brethren now has on politics," he told The Sunday Tasmanian newspaper.
Senator Brown said he did not expect the government to back his motion, which has been postponed several times in an effort to gain political support.
"These are matters of conscience and the need for transparency at election time is a fundamental to our democracy ... the longer that's taken sometimes, with these matters, the better members become informed," he told ABC radio.
The Exclusive Brethren is a separatist Christian group whose current leader, called the "elect vessel", is Australian businessman Bruce Hales.
Members of the Exclusive Brethren shun mainstream society and modern technology.