I thank Michael Symons and Dr Paul Rule for comments on this paper; and Channel 10’s Chris Kenny and Grant Heading for access to the uncut tape of Mr Kenny’s interview with Mr Milera.

A Sydney-based megachurch with global reach, well-known for its “prosperity gospel” of financial acquisition, has developed an additional strand: a detailed theology of consumption. The affinity between a theology of guilt-free—indeed, obligatory—consumption and late capitalism goes some way towards explaining the attraction this minority strand of Christianity holds for politicians, including those without personal religious commitments, in a secular electorate.