Let's have a parliamentary inquiry into the affairs of the Rhema Church and its founder, Ray McCauley, former bodybuilder, nightclub bouncer and failed hairdresser

This follows a scathing attack on the "religion" by a senator there, bloke by the name of Nick, who claimed the organisation was involved in a range of crimes, including forced imprisonment, coerced abortions, physical violence and blackmail.

Nick, whose surname is Xenophon (which sounds, bizarrely enough, like something that could have leapt at warp speed from the pages of Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard's more entertaining scribblings), tabled letters in parliament from former members that contained allegations of abuses that were "truly shocking".

"These victims of Scientology claim it is an abusive, manipulative, violent and criminal organisation," he said, adding that the organisation was largely driven by paranoia.

In turn, the wackos have claimed that these allegations are "about as reliable as former spouses are when talking about their ex-partner", and they charge that the senator has abused the privilege of parliament. But Xenophon is no dingbat. Had he made his claims outside parliament, he would no doubt have been sued by the Hubbardites, this being their customary way of dealing with critics.

The PM (whose surname is Rudd, in case you're wondering) has responded by saying many Australians have real concerns about Scientology - and he shares some of them.

The point of all this, though, is that we can learn from the Aussies. Let's have a parliamentary inquiry into the affairs of the Rhema Church and its founder, Ray McCauley, former bodybuilder, nightclub bouncer and failed hairdresser.

On the face of it, Pastor Ray's bunch are not as loopy as the Hubbard lot, but they're much more scary - especially now that their relationship with the Love Pants presidency has, much to the consternation of civil liberties groups, seriously blurred the separation of church and state.

The cosiness of it all is vomit-inducing.

Love Pants has appointed Pastor Ray leader of the National Interfaith Leaders Council, which was formed last year. One of its functions is to advise the government on the "delivery of social services".

You'd think, here in the 21st century and in a problem-racked country like ours, that the government would seek the advice of any number of scientists, doctors, town planners, educationists, nutritionists and the many other professionals and experts in the delivery of social services that we have on the books before calling on these charlatans and peddlers of superstition, but you'd be wrong. Carl Niehaus would sooner repay his debts before that would happen.

In turn, Pastor Ray has publicly prayed for Love Pants, even declaring that his presidency has been ordained by God.

Worse still, is that Pastor Ray has wasted little time in sharing with us the tenets of his particular brand of steroid evangelism now that he has responded to the president's retarded call for church leaders to be, in McCauley's words, "more proactive in offering interventions on policy issues" within the context of a "moral dimension".

Those who foresee a possible repeal of abortion and same-sex marriages laws, the return of the death penalty and a clampdown on freedom of expression are not without justification.

We should stop listening to people like Pastor Ray. They have no business advising the government of anything, and quite frankly, they probably have no business in church as well.

Come to think of it, Pastor Ray has no business in business either, and is in considerable debt, according to a recent report in this newspaper, thanks to the lavish lifestyle he enjoys.

A man of the cloth, you could say - cashmere.

Elsewhere, the Love Pants presidency may also wish to consider following the lead of the Cambodian government.

The PM there, bloke by the name of Hun Sen, this week declared that only he and two other senior politicians may use sirens to clear the streets of the capital, Phnom Penh. All other officials, including his government, are banned from doing so, because they caused monstrous traffic jams in the past.

What joy if we could also ban the blue-light thing.

There are those who argue the VIP treatment is for security - although, arguably, there's probably more safety in anonymity.

However, it's not about safety, is it? It's about being Mr Big Stuff.