Three days after Pentecostal pastor Brian Heath joined the Victorian Liberal Party in August 2019, he invited an international guest to address his congregation.
Malaysian pastor Jonathan David – the founder of an international apostolic network that encourages churches to "penetrate" and "conquer" the nation around them in preparation for the second coming – came with a message.
"The next three terms of election in this nation are very crucial because it's going to chart the course for the end time," Dr David told the crowd.
"The church must awaken."
Mr Heath's City Builders Church, in the regional Victorian town of Sale, is reported to be among several conservative congregations in the sights of those looking to expand the influence of the religious right over the Liberal Party.
The church is opposed to abortion and its pastors have campaigned against same-sex marriage.
By 2021, the church venue was hosting the annual general meeting for members of the Liberal Party's Gippsland federal electorate conference.
Mr Heath, a former Family First candidate, is now the vice-president of the Liberal Party's Morwell branch and actively encourages his church members to get involved in politics.
In a sermon delivered on June 12, Mr Heath told his congregation: "We're city takers, we're giant killers.
"We're nation builders.
"We're a church on assignment.
"We are here to create a change in the atmosphere."
Traditional membership in decline
Party members say dwindling membership bases have left local branches vulnerable to groups seeking to build their power base.
"Our current membership is ageing, unable to recruit younger members, and therefore leaves a door open for the sorts of things that's been happening," veteran Liberal Party member and delegate for its Gippsland East local branch, Peter Wilson, said.
"I think there are a lot of us who just feel disenchanted."
Mr Wilson helped get former Upper House MP Edward O'Donohue elected in 2005 and has been a stalwart campaigner for the Victorian Liberals for almost two decades.
But he said for three years he had watched the City Builders Church and its Pentecostal allies take over local party branches in the state's east.
The ABC has sighted email correspondence between Gippsland Liberal Party officials, the state director and state president that highlights concerns about membership activities dating back to 2017.
The "majority of the new members over several years are connected through a single faith community", an email from August 2020 states.
"Most of the new members contacted and requested to assist in the 2018 state election campaign declined to assist in any capacity."
The emails also raised concerns "that a significant number of new members" were transferring in as "members at large" from other electorates.
In 2021 the Liberal Party concluded an audit of its membership that resulted in the expulsion of 150 members.
But formal complaints by local branches about the authenticity of membership applications in Gippsland continued throughout 2021 and 2022.
State director Sam McQuestin did not wish to be interviewed but said in a statement "that processes had been strengthened to ensure the integrity of our membership" since the 2021 audit.
In July, Mr Heath's daughter, Renee Heath – an active church member and chiropractor – was preselected for the Liberal Party's Upper House ticket for Eastern Victoria to contest the November election.
"Heath is an outstanding candidate, a young professional woman working in health and with a passion for her local community," Mr McQuestin said in a statement.
"Like any Victorian, Ms Heath deserves to be judged on her character and record, not those of others."
Voice in parliament
Ms Heath was pre-selected by a vote of 53 to 55, ousting sitting member Cathrine Burnett-Wake.
Both declined to be interviewed, but Ms Heath has publicly maintained that she respects the separation of church and state, and said in a statement: "I am not my father. To suggest that I am is offensive, as it belittles me."
"I am running for state parliament because I believe we need a fresh, new government that barracks for us all, as valued members of the Victorian community," the statement said.
"Only the Liberal team, including our strong, competent women, can help deliver the government Victorians truly deserve."
The ABC asked Ms Heath for her stance on abortion and same-sex marriage, given her church's views, but she declined to respond.
Accusations of branch stacking
The Liberal Party has local administrative branches, known as state electorate conferences, scattered across Victoria.
Party members cast internal ballots to decide on delegates who vote on party issues and candidates.
"If you comprise the majority of the membership of the state electorate branch, then you appoint your people as delegates — that's how simple it is," Mr Wilson said.
Several Gippsland Liberal Party branches have membership bases of between 30 and 50 people.
Mr Wilson said they had seen an influx of dozens of new members over the past three years.
"They've completely taken over South Gippsland. They've completely taken over Morwell. They've completely taken over the Gippsland federal electorate," he said.
Mr Wilson said his Gippsland East branch had received a number of unusual membership applications, in some cases from individuals who had previously campaigned against the Liberal Party in other electorates.
Some members had been rejected by the local branch, only to have their application approved by party headquarters as members at large.
"These people were not genuine Liberal Party member applicants," Mr Wilson said.
"But they target electorates like ours, where the Liberal Party membership is in decline.
"We're very disappointed that the state administration has not taken action against this group."
The ABC is not suggesting the allegations of branch stacking are true, only that they have been made.
'It was cooked'
The ABC has spoken to a dozen current and former Liberal members who have alleged that what is happening in Gippsland amounts to branch stacking.
A former office bearer at one local branch, who did not want to be named out of fear of reprisal in the community, claimed he had witnessed members signing up who he had never heard of before, who would arrive to cast an internal ballot while wearing sunglasses inside.
"The only time we'd see them was at meetings to vote for delegates," the former office bearer said.
"It was cooked."
Another long-serving Liberal Party member said she knew of 15 other members who had departed from the party in Victoria's east in response to growing "infiltration" by church groups.
She resigned from the party last month after 30 years and said she sent an email to the party headquarters alleging that it was due to branch stacking by religious groups in eastern Victoria.
Several leaders of the City Builders Church were among those nominating for an internal ballot over the weekend for positions on the Liberal Party's internal state assembly.
"It's very unnerving," the former party member said.
"That's what's worrying me, they're starting to infiltrate that side of it."
In a statement, Mr Heath said he had a long and sound history of encouraging members to grow their capacity and make a positive impact in his community.
"Over 30 years of community and church leadership I have proudly witnessed many overcome addictions, mental health issues and painful circumstances to achieve great things," he said.
"They are mums and dads, doctors, nurses, social workers, accountants, teachers, young professionals and business owners.
"Their hardworking and persistent contribution to local organisations and fields of work should not be devalued.
"They have as much right to follow their dreams in any area of community and public life as anyone else."
150 expulsions after audit
Steve Holland is a local government councillor with the Mornington Peninsula Shire and has been a member of the Liberal Party for 13 years.
After he spoke out in 2019 with concerns about branch stacking from the far right, the party instigated an audit into the party's "membership records, practices and rules".
The investigation resulted in the expulsion of 150 members after forensic accountants found 170 memberships were paid for by another person's credit card, which is against party rules.
Mr Holland said the alleged conduct taking place in branches in Eastern Victoria did not represent the majority of Liberal Party members.
"I'm not sure that it is branch stacking and this is part of the problem," he said.
"Where do you cross the line from membership recruitment, genuine membership recruitment, into branch stacking?
"At the moment, in both major parties, I'm not sure that the line is actually clear."
Mr Holland said if members were being recruited "for the purposes of winning internal ballots", it was a problem.
"It doesn't help us win votes," he said.
"It doesn't help us win campaigns, it doesn't contribute to the coffers."
Long-standing veteran Liberal member Terry Barnes has served as an advisor to two federal ministers.
"The Liberal Party is the centre-right party of mainstream centre-right values," he said.
"Those centre-right values include tolerance and acceptance of difference in our community.
"Those who wish to infiltrate the party … that go beyond that, are totally unwelcome."
