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infringement of religious freedom and attacked on the basis that ―such persecution has its
roots in Nazi Germany where the Jews were targeted as ‗cults.‘‖xvi According to this view,
any group that can capture the legal designation of ―religion‖—an ever-expanding
category—would simply not be accountable to parliament. Happily for me, a Jewish Rabbi
retorted that
I would ask you to do all in your power to ensure that an enquiry takes place
and that appropriate legislation be enacted. I do not believe that such
legislation will affect the religious or civil liberties of any honest individual or
religious faith—only those who practice deceit and mind control will be
disadvantaged. Further, to draw a parallel between the suffering of Jews and
others during the Nazi Holocaust and NSW … legislation is not only grotesque
and vulgar but is an indictment against those who enunciate such ideas.xvii
However, despite such support, I was subjected to a considerable campaign of personal
vilification and intimidation by more than one group which became intense when I referred
serious complaints of sexual abuse made by former members of one group to the NSW
police and ended up giving evidence in court on behalf of the prosecution. Ongoing
harassment included the following: spurious allegations made against me anonymous
defamatory letters about me distributed to the media and my parliamentary colleagues
(which I am sure raised a few eyebrows) in a bizarre incident my wedding was invaded by
members of a group I was followed I received veiled threats against myself and my
family and I had one of the most vicious and slanderous dirt sheets imaginable distributed
anonymously over the Internet. Sadly, some of this garbage was also used by political
competitors who selectively distributed adverse publicity based on it to members of my
preselection panel.
While I don‘t blame this incident for having ended my parliamentary career, it certainly
didn‘t help. Unfortunately, I suspect that my experience had a chilling effect on other
potential parliamentary champions. However, the events of 9/11 have heralded a new
consciousness that has dramatically altered the climate in which we can with greater
confidence raise concerns about destructive religious cults. Therefore, we must seek new
parliamentary champions to become policy entrepreneurs in this vital area, and develop a
plan of action to educate them, provide them with specific action plans, encourage them,
support them, and protect them to the best of our abilities.
Research Methodology
It is interesting that when I raised the Kenja issue in state parliament, I relied extensively
on testimonies from former group members and the complaints of family members and
friends of people in the group. As a lawyer, I instinctively adopted the role of advocate,
knowing full well that other parliamentarians would take up the cause of the group
complained about. Indeed, when my speech calling for a select committee of inquiry was
interrupted by a Member of Parliament who was vociferously defending the group, I
suggested in all fairness that she should get herself on the proposed committee. As an
example of my commitment to free speech, I even tabled a pile of letters from members of
the group that contained outrageous attacks upon me personally and that were part of an
orchestrated letter-writing campaign. However, being apprehensive about the nature of the
organisation, I did not seek access to the group itself or personally approach the group for a
response. Although I might have been criticised for this modus operandi, later attacks upon
me by the group revealed my instinctive wisdom in not allowing myself to be compromised
in any way by making personal contact with current group members.
It is fascinating to me how so many so-called social scientists dismiss out of hand the
accounts of leavers or complainants, or apostates, if you want to call them that. Some cults,
sects, and/or new religious movements like to cite sociologists to damn apostate accounts.

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Indeed, one controversial group cites an eminent sociologist of religion, I am presuming
correctly, as stating,
The apostate is generally in need of self-justification. He seeks to reconstruct
his own past, to excuse his former affiliation, and to blame those who were
formerly his closest associates. Not uncommonly the apostate learns to
rehearse an ―atrocity story‖ to explain how, by manipulation, trickery,
coercion, or deceit, he was induced to join or remain within an organisation
that he now forswears and condemns. Apostates, sensationalised by the
press, have sometimes sought to make a profit from accounts of their
experiences in stories sold to newspapers or produced as books … Neither
the objective sociological researcher nor the court of law can readily regard
the apostate as a credible or reliable source of evidence. He must always be
seen as one whose personal history predisposes him to bias with respect to
both his pervious religious commitment and to his former associates.xviii
With all due respect, this is nonsense. How can anyone even pretend to be an objective
researcher when he is prepared to dismiss, out of hand, the evidence of complainants? Of
course witnesses can be biased. I am sure the victim of a rape has a jaundiced view of the
perpetrator. Some rape victims have even been known to embellish or fabricate—but
nobody with any common sense at all is going to peremptorily dismiss the testimony of any
witness. Even prison inmates are brought into court as witnesses.
In the case of the testimonies I gathered from former members of Kenja, I would bet my
bottom dollar on their veracity. Indeed, an incredibly perceptive and empathetic article has
recently been written by Australia‘s leading public intellectual, political scientist Robert
Manne, which is a devastating indictment of the Kenja organisation and which attributes the
breakdown of Cornelia Rau, the subject of an infamous mistaken internment case in
Australia, to the disgraceful psychological treatment she received in Kenja.xix
It gives me little satisfaction at all to say ―I told you so‖—indeed, I spent several hours back
in 1992 and 1993 (years before Cornelia Rau even joined the organisation) detailing
comprehensive allegations against Kenja, and I remain to this day dismayed that the
government of the day neither had the wit nor wisdom, nor cared enough about the
suffering of individuals, to seriously investigate what should be done about the organisation
as such and the methods employed within. Action was taken by the police to lay criminal
charges against the leader of Kenja this action arose from the complaints of several young
women—because I personally presented evidence to them and became a witness for the
prosecution. The leader was convicted on some counts, but then the convictions were set
aside by the Australian High Court and subsequently a decision was made not to have the
matter tried all over again. However, it is worth noting that the leader has now again been
committed to stand trial on a number of other charges for alleged offences against other
young women.
I don‘t have the time here to outline the types of action I think should be taken with respect
to groups like Kenja, and the methods they employ. What I do want to talk about is the
type of research methodology I believe should be adopted when one is dealing with
controversial and sometimes dangerous groups—and I mean dangerous to the researcher.
It seems to me that scholars will tend to specialise in one or other of the different research
approaches viable in this fraught area. I cite with approval Eileen Barker when she says, ―it
is important to understand the movement from a variety of perspectives, which,
themselves, need to be understood as part of the ongoing process of the situation.‖xx
However, I believe that it is difficult for any individual scholar to attempt successfully to
gain access to a controversial new religious movement and at the same time study the
accounts of leavers. Even further, I think that some scholars may have to choose to