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MAKING THEIR MARK (From left) MASS CEO Simone Reeves, MP Jacyln Symes, Max Hennessy, and Kerrianne Barnes got down and dirty to kick off the next phase of MASS’ Operation Gamechanger. Full story on page 2. PHOTO: Hannah Kennelly
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The Family of secrets WRITING about your childhood experience of growing up in a cult involves cathartic reflection, meticulous research, and a whole lot of butcher paper. At least that’s according to cult survivor Ben Shenton. “A few years ago, I basically took a huge roll of butcher paper and laid it down on a lunch table and just started scribbling down thoughts,” he said. “I used mind-mapping apps to try and connect my memories and spoke with other family members to clarify what I remembered
discerning how Anne L k Eild Lake Eildon cult lt survivor i Ben B Shenton Sh t talks t lk about b t was Hamilton-Byrne managed to successfully operate a cult evade detection for over power, silence, and the upcoming Disney+ series and 20 years. BY HANNAH KENNELLY hkennelly@ nemedia.com.au
was accurate.” Ben grew up in The Family, a notorious doomsday cult residing in Lake Eildon between the 1960s to the 1980s. Led by matriarch Anne Hamilton-Byrne, the cult acquired approximately 28
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children - some through adoption scams and others who were biological children of other cult members. Dressed identically with bleached platinum hair, the children were isolated from the rest of society and believed Hamilton-Byrne was their mother. Ben’s upcoming book, Life behind the Wire, delves into his childhood memories
of the cult and explores his subsequent rescue and transition into society. The chapter titled Liberation Day, recounts the moment police rescued him and his siblings in 1987. Ben said sifting through his childhood memories for the book was an enlightening yet deeply confronting experience. “People always want to know ‘what did you go
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through?’, so I had to dig through all the memories, trauma and emotions of what happened,” he explained. “You can’t just write things down mechanically, you’ve got to put life into it and put flesh and blood on it “ “So in a sense I was moving around the skeletons in my closet.” An integral part of Ben’s research approach
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“I really wanted to get my head around how Anne did it,” he said. “How did she manage to convince academic geniuses and professionals to follow her?” A previous yoga teacher, Hamilton-Byrne preached a concoction of apocalyptic prophecies and claimed she was the reincarnation of the Messiah. ■ Continued page 3
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