From Kiwi-land comes more sordid tales of theocratic thuggery; the educational abomination known as “The Exclusive “Brethren”.

We all know that they walked hand-in-hand with Johnny Howard, and the leaders of the party in Australia, (split into two indistinguishable factions labelled Labour & Liberal) having, as they do, a dangerously pathological infantile obsession with invisible friends, could well hold the Brethren in awe, to the detriment of Australia.

First a teacher was sacked for teaching a Shakespeare text. Now, Joseph Barratt investigates what happened behind the high gates of the Government-subsidised Exclusive Brethren schools.

Imagine a school whose books had words blacked out or pages removed and large parts of the curriculum – particularly anything to do with puberty and sex – was simply not taught.

A school where teachers received unexpected late-night visits at home to check on their moral probity.

And where all aspects of school life are governed in every detail by a sacred text, but a committee has absolute discretion in deciding how to interpret it.

It may sound like the worst excesses of the Taleban in Afghanistan or the Iranian mullahs, but this is the prevailing orthodoxy in 15 Westmount schools across the country run by the Exclusive Brethren.

These mentally disturbed folk are dangerous. They ruin children’s lives. They are very strong in Australia. They must be stopped.