The Electoral Commission has finally referred the matter of the Exclusive Brethren cult’s involvement in the funding of pro-Government election ads at the last election to the Australian Federal Police.   A company linked to the cult spent more on pro-Government, anti-Greens advertising than the Australian Conservation Foundation or the Wilderness Society spent on their ads.  [...]

This is an extraordinary story which gives some real insight into the Bush White House – while the Attorney General lies in hospital gravely ill and hallucinating, Bush’s political heavies show up to try to force him to sign off on a piece of legislation that would grant extraordinary powers to intelligence agencies to spy [...]