Marion Maddox’s Final Research Published

A newly published book chapter by two religious affairs scholars argues that Australia’s religious right has become normalised in Australia's opposition party.

Featuring the final research conducted by the late Dr Marion Maddox, ‘Burning for you: how the Christian Right is setting the Liberal Party’s Agenda’ was published in September.

Rev. Dr Elenie Poulos is an Adjunct Fellow at Macquarie University and a non-executive member of Uniting NSW.ACT’s board. She was coauthor on the recently published book chapter.

Rev. Dr Poulos told Insights that the chapter was, “a postscript to Marion’s groundbreaking 2005 book, God Under Howard, an impeccably researched and, as it turns out, prescient work, which identified some of the most significant drivers of what would become the Liberal Party’s journey towards today’s chaos.”

The research found the religious right had engaged in branch stacking, “‘in every state and at every level within the party; and helped by the alignment between the policy positions of high-profile Christian MPs and the priorities of the Murdoch media and conservative think tanks including the Centre for Independent Studies and the Institute for Public Affairs.”

The chapter contains the final research from Dr Maddox, who passed away on 16 September 2025.

“Marion was my PhD supervisor and dear friend,” Rev. Dr Poulos said.

“She generously and thoughtfully nurtured and supported many scholars of religion and politics here and internationally. I am so grateful for all Marion taught me, and it was a profound privilege to work with her on this, her last piece of academic writing.”

According to Rev. Dr Poulos, the two finished drafting this chapter well over a year before a public inquiry now being conducted by the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption. The inquiry is investigating allegations of branch-stacking and attempts to shirk donation caps, allegedly carried out by a Christian Right sub faction within the NSW Liberal Party.

“In 2005, Marion sounded the alarm about the growing influence of a narrow Christian Right, populist-aligned agenda on the ideology and identity of the Liberal Party of Australia,” she said.

 
“The existential challenge it now faces risks leaving the country without a functioning mainstream opposition party at a time when we need it most.”

‘Burning for you: how the Christian Right is setting the Liberal Party’s Agenda’ is part of The Australian Liberal Party, a two volume work edited by Zareh Ghazarian, Marija Taflaga, and Matteo Bonotti. The book can be read through library collections.