A SENATE inquiry into Scientology will not go ahead after the Rudd Government told the church it believed the Tax Office and police were the most appropriate authorities to investigate any complaints. A staff member for Government Senate leader Chris Evans has emailed Scientologists who wrote to him after independent senator Nick Xenophon made a series of explosive allegations in the Senate last month, saying it would be inappropriate to conduct an inquiry into a private, religious organisation. The email, from ...

NSW police are investigating allegations of abuse and bullying in the Church of Scientology made in a series of letters from former members tabled in Federal Parliament by independent senator Nick Xenophon. The most senior executive to defect from the church, US-based Marty Rathbun, has said the allegations, including coercion to have abortions and donate money, were unwritten church policy, dictated from its head office, according to a speech by Greens MP John Kaye in the NSW upper house. "My office ...

Senator Nick Xenophon's stunning attack on the Church of Scientology this week has shone a light on a worldwide group many former members accuse of ruining their lives through fear and abuse. SCIENTOLOGISTS lured Dean Detheridge off the street using their tried and tested technique of offering a personality test. He wasn't much interested, but they were extremely skilled and persistent persuaders, and he found he couldn't say no. Seven days later he was on staff in what turned out to ...

Senator Nick Xenophon is a lawyer. So he understands the difference between allegations and facts. Yet when he spoke in the Senate on Tuesday night he presented unsubstantiated allegations as if they were factual evidence of what he labelled "criminal" behaviour. He spoke under Parliamentary privilege, so as to avoid the risk of defamation. But in the sense that he presented spurious allegations as if it were evidence, he abused the privilege that Parliament offered him. Advertisement: Story continues below This ...

DANGEROUS dismissal of psychiatry and mental health problems must be part of a Senate inquiry into the Church of Scientology, a Melbourne cult counsellor said yesterday. Cult Counselling Australia director Raphael Aron said Scientologists put vulnerable people at risk by taking them off psychiatric drugs and treatment, instead treating them with vitamins and E-meter readings. Mr Aron supported Senator Nick Xenophon's call in Federal Parliament on Tuesday for a Senate inquiry into the Scientologists. The senator tabled letters citing forced abortions, ...

The Church of Scientology says independent senator Nick Xenophon ignored an invitation to meet with church officials before he used parliamentary privilege to attack the organisation. Church of Scientology Australia president Reverend Vicki Dunstan said Senator Xenophon "made no effort to ascertain the truth or falsity of the allegations he made in the Senate on Tuesday night". Senator Xenophon used parliamentary privilege to raise allegations of criminal misconduct on behalf of ex-members of the church, and called for an inquiry into ...

FORMER members of the Church of Scientology have made explosive allegations about forced abortions, child abuse and financial extortion, prompting calls for a parliamentary inquiry. Letters tabled by independent senator Nick Xenophon reveal claims of vulnerable people preyed on by a coercive and ruthless organisation that punished and shamed dissenters by physical incarceration, withholding food or intimidation. But the Church of Scientology hit back, arguing the claims came from seven ''disgruntled former members who use hate speech and distorted accounts of ...

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has concerns about Scientology but says the government will exercise caution in examining allegations of abuse levelled against the church. Mr Rudd says the government will consider the need for a formal inquiry into the church - and its tax-free status. South Australian senator Nick Xenophon used parliamentary privilege on Tuesday to castigate the church, labelling it a criminal organisation hiding behind so-called religious beliefs. Advertisement: Story continues below Tabling letters from eight former followers, he said ...