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- [QAnon] Have you ever
wondered why we go to war?

Or why you never seem to
be able to get out of debt?

Why there is poverty,
division, and crime?

What if I told you there
was a reason for it all?

Fellow slaves, it's time
to buckle your seat-belt.

- [Louise] The QAnon
conspiracy theory

has taken off
around the world.

- [QAnon] And we are all
enslaved by a hidden enemy.

- [Louise] The
bizarre ideology

has attracted millions
of believers worldwide,

including a large
number in Australia,

fueled by the lockdowns
during COVID-19.

- [QAnon] To
achieve this victory

against the greatest force of
evil the world has ever known.

- I really look at it as
like a force of nature.

It's like a coronavirus
of the mind.

- [Crowd] USA!

USA!

- [Louise] In America,

QAnon's dark
and divisive politics

have fueled ugly conflict.

In Australia, it has led to
families being split apart.

- We've watched the
change over these last years

be quite dramatic.

That's what
raises our concern,

that we do have family
members who are involved.

(solemn music)

- [Louise] The Stewart
family in Sydney

are among those deeply
concerned over QAnon spread,

as they've watched
their son and brother,

Tim Stewart, become
immersed in its beliefs.

- Tim believes that the world

has really been taken
over by satanic paedophiles,

or Luciferian paedophiles,
they call them,

and that is represented by
the left, so the radical left.

And if you don't believe
in the QAnon perspectives,

then you're a
paedophile enabler.

- [Louise] Tim Stewart has
been a close family friend

of Prime Minister
Scott Morrison,

and has reportedly boasted
about his access to the PM.

- I would think that someone

in a position like
Prime Minister Morrison

would want to
condemn those views

and indicate
strongly to the public

that they have no bearing
on his official actions,

on his responsibilities,
nor on his world view.

- I find it deeply offensive

that there would
be any suggestion

that I would have any
involvement or support

for such a dangerous
organization.

I clearly do not.

- Tonight on Four Corners,

we hear for the first
time from a family

who have watched
with alarm as their son

has descended into an
extremist political conspiracy,

and they share their
concerns about his relationship

with the Prime
Minister of Australia.

(inquisitive music)

On Sydney's suburban fringe,

the Stewart clan
sits down to dinner.

- First toast of the evening,

here's to life's
journey, still going on.

- Yes.
- Still going on.

- And we're all in it.

- Yeah.
- We sure are.

- [Val] It's good
to be together.

- [Louise] Over recent years,

the conversation during
these family gatherings

has often been
tainted by a dark topic,

the apocalyptic ideology of
the far right conspiracy theory,

QAnon, which
has split this family.

- Yep, definitely.
- Cheers.

- [Val] We have watched the
change over these last years

be quite dramatic, and a lot
of that was to do with QAnon.

- It's not often
that I get home.

- [Louise] You are a mother
who still loves her son.

- Yes.

- [Louise] And
would like to maintain

a relationship with him.

How is it as a
mom, watching this?

- It's not pleasant,
and you know,

the relationship has
become quite strained

over this last year.

- It's like a conversion,

and there is that religious
undertone to QAnon.

And so, constantly
donning the armour of God

and things like that,
because they are out there

having to fight
against the Satanists

that have taken
over the world.

(solemn music)

- [Louise] Val and Brian Stewart
and their daughter, Karen,

have decided to speak
out as a warning to others.

What has prompted
them is witnessing

51-year-old Tim Stewart
descend into the world of QAnon.

- Tim believes that the world

has really been taken
over by satanic paedophiles,

or Luciferian paedophiles,
they call them,

and that that is
represented by the left,

so, the radical left.

- [QAnon] Keeping the public
informed when the deep state war

breaks out onto the surface.

- [Karen] They believe
there's a spiritual warfare

being waged and that
they have knowledge of this.

And so, that
they're on a crusade

to make sure that the
Satanists are overthrown

and things like that.

- [QAnon] The world is
currently experiencing

a dramatic covert war
of biblical proportions,

literally the fight for earth,

between the forces
of good and evil.

- [Miles] QAnon really
came onto the radar screen

in October of 2017 on
a website called 4Chan.

- [QAnon] May
God bless America.

- Where individuals propagated
this conspiracy theory

that the United States
government

was secretly being run

by a cabal of
Satan-worshiping,

cannibalistic child predators

who were running a
global sex trafficking ring

and were hell-bent on
undermining Donald Trump

while he was in office.

Now, this conspiracy
theory was not only untrue,

it was, in my view,
indiscriminately crazy.

- [QAnon] That's
why we have Q.

- [Louise] The
conspiracy theory

was started by an anonymous
online figure known as Q,

who has never been identified.

- [QAnon] Came to be
called The Great Awakening.

- Someone started
posting as a secret insider

in the U.S. government,
calling themselves Q

as a reference to the
Q-level security clearance,

which doesn't actually exist

outside of the
Department of Energy.

And in the initial Q Drop,
saying that Hillary Clinton

would be arrested
the next day,

which obviously
did not happen,

but over time, this individual
or this group of individuals,

and it's still not clear
who exactly it was,

continued to post and
continued to gather a following.

(ominous music)

- [Louise] Miles Taylor
was the chief of staff

at the U.S. Department
of Homeland Security

in the Trump administration.

- It was clear to me in
late 2018 and early 2019

that these conspiracy
theory trends like QAnon

were a danger to the country,

and that the
vitriolic rhetoric

on some of these
message boards

could jump the tracks into
violence very, very easily.

We were worried about that,

and it wasn't just a law
enforcement concern.

We started to view it as a
real national security threat.

- [Louise] In the United States,
the FBI has declared QAnon

a potential domestic
terrorism threat,

but that hasn't
happened in Australia.

According to the Institute
for Strategic Dialogue,

Australia is the
fourth largest country

for QAnon-related
activity online.

- In March 2020,
we had, obviously,

the outbreak of COVID-19,

and along with
that came a lot of

sort of associated
mental health pressures.

And we know that belief
in conspiracy theories

is quite closely
linked to, you know,

various mental
health stresses.

And so, we saw an
explosion of conspiracy activity

around the world,
including in Australia.

And as part of that,
we did see QAnon

come to Australia in
a more significant way

than it had been before.

- I think people forget
that coronavirus, initially,

when it first came out, it was

very traumatic
for a lot of people.

No one knew where this virus
had really come from, right?

There was very
little information.

It came on so fast,
governments were shutting down,

people were scared,
it was traumatic,

and they go
searching for answers.

- [Louise] Recent university
graduate Jitarth Jadeja

is a moderator
of an online forum

for people who've
lost family members

to what they call The Cult.

The QAnon
casualties Reddit group

has about 160,000 members,
including in Australia.

- The power of QAnon is not
even really about the beliefs.

The power is the
behavioral change

that it causes in a believer.

It's destructive to the
person themselves

and their relationships,
their family and friends.

Every day, I see stories of
families being ripped apart,

people's children

being kicked out of the
house by their parents,

people having to call off
marriages after decades,

people's parents, you know,

accusing them of wanting
their children to die.

So, it is the saddest
place on the internet.

- [Louise] Jitarth was
completely engrossed

in the conspiracy theory
for a year and a half.

One of his biggest regrets

is that he got one of
his relatives involved.

- And we would talk for
hours, four or five hours,

just standing in front of the,

standing in the
kitchen, just talking.

And the moment I
got out, I realised,

like, what have I done?

What have I done?

And I tried, I've
tried to talk to him.

I've tried to get him out.

It doesn't work.

(ominous music)

- [Louise] Tim Stewart, a town
planner and former bankrupt,

was an early follower
of QAnon in Australia.

Around 2017, he started a
blog called Sideways Step,

for expansive thinkers
and spiritual explorers.

One of the posts is titled
"The Reason for the Treason",

a conversation for
The Great Awakening.

- [Tim] The Great
Awakening is revealing

that dark forces
have found their way

into the highest
levels of influence.

- So, the idea of The
Great Awakening,

and also of The Storm,
is sort of linked to the idea

that there will be some sort
of cataclysmic awakening

of all the people
around the world,

as sort of the scales drop
from their eyes and they see,

they see this global
satanic paedophile cabal

for what they truly are.

And the idea is that that
Donald Trump, in some way,

was going to
bring on The Storm,

which would lead to
The Great Awakening.

(quizzical music)

- [Louise] Tim Stewart's blog

lays out a central
belief of QAnon,

that leftist elites are
running a paedophile ring

that harvests
children's blood.

- [Tim] The true
nature of these crimes

shows that humans are
being treated as a commodity,

and human energy is being
harvested without permission.

Furthermore, it is
focused on children,

who are more
innocent and unaware.

Why do evil people
wish to rob a young child

of their virginity?

Why do they drink blood?

Why do they need
to sacrifice humans?

- [Louise] In Australia, Tim
Stewart rose to prominence

in local QAnon circles
when his Twitter account,

@BurnedSpy34, was
included in a post by Q,

known as a Q Drop that
users have to decode.

- That's how a lot of
these QAnon influencers

got their start and sort of
first came to the attention

of the rest of the
QAnon community.

And so, we know
from archived versions

of the BurnedSpy Twitter
account that in early 2019,

he had sort of
around 1700 followers,

and that by late 2019, had,
you know, 20,000-odd followers.

- [Louise] The Stewart
family watched in alarm

as Tim's beliefs
became an obsession.

- It's really outlandish,

and we've heard
things, from the queen

being a shape-shifting
lizard to all sorts of things,

where a being a might come
down and do some training

in astral projection
and time traveling

and things like that.

- [Louise] Your son that
believes that Donald Trump

is saving the world
from leftist paedophiles.

- Yes, that is so.

- [Louise] And your son
believes and has said to you

that he believes that
both Jacinda Ardern,

the New Zealand
Prime Minister,

and Michelle Obama, the former
First Lady, are actually men.

- Yes, that has
been said to me, yes.

- If people wear red shoes,
then they're wearing red

so that, when babies
are slaughtered

and the blood
falls on the ground,

that no one will see
the blood spatter.

And there's been
tweets from them that say

if you don't believe in
the QAnon perspectives,

then you're a
paedophile enabler.

(bird caws)

(gentle music)

- [Louise] At the same
time that Tim Stewart

was descending into QAnon,

one of his old
friends ascended

to the highest
office in the land.

Scott Morrison became
Prime Minister in August 2018.

Tim Stewart's wife, Lynelle,
has been best friends

with Scott Morrison's
wife, Jenny, for decades.

The two couples
cemented their friendships

at their local Baptist
church in the early 1990s.

- It was a close one,
there's no doubt about that.

The two girls in particular
have known each other

for high school onwards.

And then, the two men
who married the two girls

became friends as
well along the way.

- [Val] They've had a
lifelong friendship together.

- [Louise] Would
you say best friends?

- Oh, yes, I would
say best friends, yes.

- [Val] Jenny was
Lynelle's maid of honor,

and Lynelle was Jenny
and Scott's bridesmaid.

(solemn music)

- [Louise] Jenny Morrison
describes Lynelle Stewart

on her Facebook page
as her dear old friend.

Lynelle says Jenny
is a precious treasure

and a forever friend.

When Mr. Morrison
entered parliament,

the Stewarts were delighted.

- Tim was invited to attend
Scott's maiden speech.

He was excited.

So was I, when
Scott was elected.

- The member for Cook.

- Mr. Speaker,
it is with humility.

- I thought it was
rather a privilege

that Tim was one of those
who received the invitation.

I would imagine
that any incumbent,

speaking for the first time
would ask people to attend

who were in some
way special to him.

- [Louise] When Tim
and Lynelle Stewart

celebrated their 24th wedding
anniversary in August 2017,

then-Treasurer Scott Morrison
sent his congratulations

on Lynelle's Facebook page.

"Happy anniversary, guys.

Still remember
you telling Jen and I

a very long time ago
in our little flat in Bronte

that you had an amazing guy.

You were right."

These photos, which
they shared on Facebook,

are from the following year,

when the Morrison family
holidayed with the Stewarts

on the New South
Wales south coast.

When the Morrisons moved into

the Prime Minister's residence
in Sydney, Kirribilli House,

Lynelle Stewart was hired to
work as a household attendant.

- Lynelle was looking after
the children and the dog,

even before she was employed,
so certainly was helping out.

She's technically employed
by Prime Minister and cabinet,

and her role has
been to assist

in looking after the
children and things like that.

- [Louise] Lynelle Stewart has
frequently posted photographs

from Kirribilli on
her social media,

including this one of
her and her husband,

Tim Stewart, in 2018.

The families even celebrated
New Year's Eve together

at the Prime
Minister's residence.

In January 2019, Tim
Stewart shared these photos

from Kirribilli, saying
he was house sitting.

The little boy is his son.

- I didn't think it was
an uncommon thing

for them to be
there, not at all.

I can see there's photos
from New Year's Eve there

and things like that.

We've seen that, yep.

(ominous music)

- Tim Stewart liked to boast

about his friendship
with Scott Morrison.

One associate who says
he heard these boasts

was Eliahi Priest,

a self-styled online
anti-corruption crusader,

who was questioned by
counter-terrorism police

after social media
posts where he said

he'd successfully hacked
the Prime Minister's office.

Priest, who met Tim
Stewart once in 2018,

claims Stewart said he could
pass information to the PM.

- Tim had said that he
could make evidence I had

about government corruption
available to the Prime Minister

and have the Prime
Minister of Australia

act on that evidence.

- [Louise] Priest says Tim
Stewart sent him this picture

of Tim and Scott
Morrison together.

- I can't emphasise
enough how close

Tim said the families were,

which was why he
said there was a way,

due to that closeness,

that he could influence
the Prime Minister.

- At the time, Scott
Morrison was preparing

for one of his first
acts as Prime Minister,

a national apology
to survivors

of institutional
child sexual abuse.

Eliahi Priest set up a meeting

with Tim Stewart and others.

The group wanted the
phrase ritual sexual abuse

included in the
national apology.

- So, when the
QAnon conspiracy

is using the
term ritual abuse,

they're using it as
synonymous with child torture,

cannibalism, really
the most gross

and vivid and
graphic allegations

of child abuse that
you can imagine.

It has been folded
into a set of beliefs

about the United
States government

in which there are high-powered,
high-profile individuals

who secretly engage in these
strange satanic ceremonies.

- [Louise] Eliahi Priest
showed Four Corners

messages he says
Tim Stewart sent him,

referring to his attempts

to get the words ritual
abuse into the apology.

- [Tim] I am organizing an
intimate strategy for the PM,

RE: the ritual phrase.

Okay, mate, I'm just
preparing a message

to Scott now RE: Monday.

Once he's awake,
mate, he will kick ass.

- [Louise] Priest says he
also received a text message

Tim Stewart said he had
sent to his wife, Lynelle.

- [Tim] An army of
victims and therapists

would specifically
love it if Scott's apology

referenced ritual
abuse victims.

This exact wording is
a key phrase for victims.

Think of this like a
code that sends a direct

and clear message that
they have been heard

by Scott, specifically.

(bird caws)

- [Journalist] Hundreds of
survivors of child sexual abuse

in the nation's institutions

will gather at Parliament
House in Canberra this morning

for an apology from
the Prime Minister.

- [Louise] On the
22nd of October, 2018,

Parliament House opened
its doors to abuse survivors

and their supporters for the
apology by Scott Morrison.

- There was a lot of people
waiting for a long time

for this apology.

We felt like we
were a part of history.

We wanted it to be
the moment of change.

We really believed that
this was the turning around

of the tragedy
of sexual assault

against children
in the nation.

- [Louise] That morning,
Tim Stewart's texts

to Eliahi Priest suggested
he was feeling confident.

- [Tim] Good morning, mate.

I think Scott is
going to do it.

Pretty sure speech is at 11.

I hope he says it.

Scott is very aware of
the enormity of today.

- Government business,
notice number one,

motion that relating
to the national apology

to victims and survivors

of institutional
child sexual abuse.

- [Louise] At 11 a.m.,
the Prime Minister rose

to deliver the
historic speech.

- I move that the
house apologise

to the victims and survivors

of institutional
child sexual abuse.

It happened
anywhere a predator

thought they could
get away with it,

and the systems within
these organizations

allowed it to happen
and turned a blind eye.

It happened day after
day, week after week,

month after month,
decade after decade,

unrelenting torment.

- The speech was received,
I think, tremendously well.

It was taken in the
spirit that it was offered,

which was, I think
a spirit of generosity,

a spirit of repentance
and regret.

And that's something that
survivors of sexual abuse

don't often get.

They don't often
get someone saying

I'm sorry that this
has happened to you.

I regret that this
has happened to you.

- The crimes of ritual sexual
abuse happened in schools,

churches, youth
groups, scout troops,

orphanages, foster homes.

- [Louise] But close
observers of the process

were taken aback by
the use of the phrase

ritual sexual abuse.

- Ritual child sexual abuse

wasn't a focus of
the royal commission.

It wasn't evident in the reports
or in the recommendations,

and so, certainly there
were questions about

where did this
phrase come from?

How did it arise?

How did it come to be in
the Prime Minister's speech

in the manner that it was?

I'm in contact with
international networks

of mental health workers,

particularly who treat
children and adults

who have been subject
to sexual exploitation,

and I was contacted,
I was emailed.

People reached out
about this phrase.

It is a phase that
we're aware of.

It's a very sensitive phrase.

- The use of the
phrase ritual sex abuse

would have been
taken as validation

of the conspiracy theory
by QAnon followers,

because it's a person in
authority using this phrase,

which appears to directly
reference the conspiracy theory.

- [Louise] Despite
being asked repeatedly,

the Prime Minister has not
answered Four Corners' questions

on the record about
whether Tim Stewart

passed on information to him

about the wording
of the apology.

Immediately after the apology,

Tim Stewart began
tweeting triumphantly

using his Twitter
account @BurnedSpy34.

- [Tim] What a great
speech, @ScottMorrisonMP,

acknowledging the
victims of ritual abuse.

A new conversation
began today in Australia.

It was a stepping
stone to be sure,

but we took the step.

@ScottMorrisonMP took control
of the narrative powerfully

and commenced phase
one of our restoration.

- [Louise] Tim
Stewart's son, Jesse,

who is also a QAnon follower,

celebrated on Twitter using
QAnon codes and hashtags.

- [Jesse] You know The
Great Awakening is in full swing

when the Australian Prime
Minister, @ScottMorrisonMP,

mentions ritual abuse.

Scott is a patriot.

- So, within the
QAnon community,

when it was first reported
BurnedSpy and Scott Morrison

had some kind of relationship

or moved in the
same social circles,

that was taken
as a tacit approval

or tacit proof of this plan

of the conspiracy of
The Great Awakening,

of where the good
guys would take over,

that maybe Scott
Morrison's on board.

You know, and as much as,

I wish I didn't
have to say this,

but it's true that the
lack of condemnation

and the lack of response

to that relationship
by Scott Morrison,

and I don't like saying that,

because I don't-
I actually like him,

that was, like, people
just thought that it was,

it was low key
approval, that's it.

And it boosted the
authenticity of the movement.

- [Louise] Eliahi Priest
texted Tim Stewart

about other issues he
wanted Stewart to raise

with the Prime Minister,

such as his claim
that school students

were being taught
about homosexual sex.

Tim Stewart replied.

- [Tim] I'm in shock.

This is going
straight to Scott.

- [Louise] The Prime Minister
did not respond on the record

to Four Corners'
questions about why

the words ritual abuse
were included in the apology.

A spokesperson for the Prime
Minister has previously said.

- [Spokesperson]
The term ritual is one

that the Prime Minister heard

directly from the
abuse survivors,

and the National
Apology to Victims

and Survivors of Child
Sexual Abuse Reference Group

he met with in the
lead up to the apology,

and refers not just
to the ritualized way

or patterns in which so
many crimes were committed,

but also to the frequency
and repetition of them.

- [Louise] Four Corners has
spoken to most of the members

of the reference group and seen
their formal written advice.

The phrase ritual
abuse is not mentioned.

- We honor every
survivor in this country.

We love you, we hear
you, and we honor you.

- [Louise] Watching Scott
Morrison's apology at home

was Tim Stewart's
sister, Karen,

who had their parents,
Val and Brian by her side.

- When I heard the
word ritual in that speech,

my phone next to me buzzed,

and it was a family member
saying, did you hear that?

Did you hear that? That's the
first time that's ever been said

in the Australian parliament.

- [Louise] The apology
had particular significance

for Karen Stewart, who says
she was sexually assaulted

when she was a child.

- A speech that
was to empower us,

to make us feel like
we'd been heard,

to take us seriously,
we achieved all that.

So, in the one
speech, I received that,

and then the word
ritual pops in there,

and I felt that that
snatched it away,

because it was a signal
to another group of people

that are not there
for my healing.

- [Louise] Karen Stewart's
experience echoes that

of so many survivors,
in both the abuse

and how the
institution responded.

Karen was 14 when she says

she was repeatedly
sexually assaulted

by two young men from
her church community.

She told her parents
and her brother, Tim,

who supported her
through the aftermath.

- Even though we
didn't know the details,

the details, at the
time, didn't matter to us.

What mattered was something
horrible had happened

that was emotionally
destroying.

- I noticed a girl who had
lost a softness of character

that had previously
been there,

somebody who became hard,
somebody who sought values

that were not those that
we'd instilled within her.

There was a change
that took place.

- [Louise] And looking
back on it now,

like, as an adult
who sort of knows

a lot more about the world,

what do you think that
young girl was going through?

- Trauma.

Trauma that I
didn't understand.

Sorry,

I'm doing what I
don't want to do,

so just give me a moment.

- [Louise] The pastor of the
church eventually conceded

that a serious crime was
committed against Karen.

In 2011, Karen reported
the assaults to police.

They decided there was
insufficient

evidence to proceed.

- The emotional
effect and the trauma,

we have since learned,
is never out of her mind.

And for us, as a whole family,

we've had now 30 years

of what has been
trauma and traumatic.

It's huge, it doesn't
go away, ever.

(thunder rumbles)

(suspenseful music)

- [Louise] Karen Stewart's
experience as a survivor

has amplified her distress

over her brother's
obsession with QAnon

and its discredited theory
about ritual sexual abuse.

- They talk about
saving the children,

but I was that child.

I was once the child that
they claim they're saving.

My life is the worse
for having QAnon in it.

That was one of the
moments where I recognised

that my brother cared
more about QAnon

than about the
healing of people

in relation to their
own child sexual abuse.

- QAnon hasn't made the world
a better place for survivors.

It hasn't made the world
a better place for children.

We can't point to one positive
development or advancement

that has been driven by QAnon,

and it risks submerging,
you know, legitimate issues,

legitimate disclosures
within a conspiracy culture.

(solemn music)

- [Louise] In the
past couple of years,

Karen Stewart has become
estranged from her brother, Tim,

and their political beliefs have
become even more polarized.

Karen ran as a state
candidate for the Greens,

while Tim Stewart's
views became extreme

and sometimes bizarre.

- Tim would be in a place
that I knew I couldn't follow.

And so, that's what began to
create a division between us,

because I couldn't
go to the same places

that he would
consider he was in,

and believe what he believed
and support what he supports.

(typing on keyboard)

- [Louise] For families
affected by QAnon,

it's a common experience.

- When I was deep into QAnon,

it destroyed
beyond repair a lot,

if not most, of
my relationships,

because, at some point, you
can't not talk about QAnon.

You're like this homeless
guy on the street,

shouting about judgment day.

And even then,
it's not a discussion.

You're not talking to the
person, you're talking at them,

and they're standing
there and sitting there

and you can see, like,
the disinterest in their eyes.

You can see the almost
disdain and the pity,

but you cannot stop yourself.

- [Louise] Tim Stewart
and his son Jesse

have become increasingly
well known in the QAnon world.

- There's quite a
story with you two.

- [Louise] In November,
they were interviewed

on a YouTube QAnon talk show.

- [Jesse] Thanks for having me
on. It's an honor to be here.

- [Louise] Both appeared
using their online personas,

Burn Notice for Tim
and Negan HQ for Jesse.

The hosts applauded
the father and son duo.

- [Tim] It was
actually kind of good.

We could really start
looking at things together

and exploring stuff together,
once we knew who we were.

- [Host] What a great bond.

I mean, that's
just the great thing.

You're both, like,
separate patriots

that found out you were
patriots in the same war,

in the same troop
and the same battalion.

- [Tim] (chuckles) Yeah.

- [Host] You didn't answer a
question, Burn, who Q was.

Who do you think Q is?

- [Tim] Whether
it's a, you know,

cosmic social
experiment on humanity,

or a really clever
person from the NSA,

that's just, you know, gone
out on their own and gone rogue.

- [Host] Yeah.

- [Tim] Whatever the case is,
it's worth keeping an eye on.

(suspenseful music)

(crowd cheers)

(crowd sings)

(horn blows)

- [Louise] Before
the U.S. election,

Tim Stewart
re-posted a comment

on the far right social
media platform, Gab, saying.

- [Tim] It is our
obligation to overthrow

the tyrannical ruling class.

- Two more days.
- After Joe Biden

won the election,
Tim Stewart posted.

- [Tim] The Deep State have
committed open electoral fraud

in full view of the world.

Things are about
to get very messy

for those who commit treason,

and for those who aid and
abet those committing treason.

- [Louise] Jesse
Stewart wrote.

- [Jesse] We shall
go on to the end.

We shall fight
on a global scale.

We shall fight in the
fields and in the streets.

We shall never surrender.

Our movement beyond the seas,

armed and guarded
by the QAnon Fleet,

would carry on the struggle.

- [Louise] The subject
of Tim Stewart's beliefs

and his relationship
with the Prime Minister

has been raised in
the Senate three times.

- Please don't make
assertions about what I'm doing.

- [Louise] In October 2019,
Labour Senator Penny Wong

raised questions about
Lynelle Stewart's employment

at Kirribilli House.

- Is a close friend
of the Prime Minister

one of Australia's
leading proponents

of the QAnon
conspiracy theory?

Is a partner of that person
on the Prime Minister's staff?

Has a QAnon
conspiracist been invited

to either the
Kirribilli or the lodge?

And another assertion
in the story is that

information from this person

has been passed directly
to the Prime Minister.

Has the department, in this-

- So, I'm taking all of
these questions on notice.

- Yeah, I understood that.
Yeah, I understood that.

- [Louise] The Prime Minister's
department later responded,

saying that the personal
relationships of the PM's staff

were not a matter
for the department,

and that it had no knowledge
of the other issues raised.

Soon after this
Senate hearing,

Scott Morrison posted
a jovial comment

on Tim Stewart's
Facebook page.

"Happy birthday, Tim Stewart.

Nice to see the mullet
out of the time capsule."

Tim replied, "Thanks, mate."

- I don't understand
why the Prime Minister

would want to be seen
to be with someone

who has such radical beliefs.

That's not who I would
want any Prime Minister,

regardless of who they
are, hanging around with,

hearing the sorts of things
that come out of Tim's mouth

in relation to QAnon.

- [Louise] The Stewart
family recall how, that year,

Tim and Lynelle
Stewart told them

that they were hoping
to holiday in Hawaii

with the Morrisons
over summer.

- Tim and Lynelle
were just sharing

that there was a holiday
planned in Hawaii,

and my impression was
that it was going to be

a heap up of quite a few
families,

which would include many

who've been going
to Hawaii for years.

They would have
all been involved.

Scott and Jenny were
going to go as well.

That was mentioned.

(helicopter blades whirr)

(ominous music)

- [Louise] In December 2019,

during the Black
Summer bush fires,

the Prime Minister went on
leave and flew to Honolulu.

- [Journalist] Prime
Minister Scott Morrison

has attracted criticism
for holidaying in Hawaii

as blazes continue to
burn across the country.

- [Louise] After photographs
emerged on social media,

Mr. Morrison rang
in to a radio station.

- [Scott] The girls and Jen,
they love holidaying in Hawaii,

and so, we've had
a few nice days here.

- [Louise] Mr. Morrison was
forced to cut short his trip,

the same day as Tim
Stewart's family flew to Hawaii.

- [Scott] The girls
and Jen will stay on,

and stay out the rest of the
time we had booked here,

but I know Australians
will understand this,

and they'll be pleased
I'm coming back, I'm sure.

But they know that, you
know, I don't hold a hose, mate,

and I don't sit in
the control room.

- [Louise] The Prime
Minister did not respond

on the record to Four
Corners' questions

about the Hawaii trip.

(solemn music)

In the past year,

as part of a global crackdown
on QAnon accounts,

Twitter has
permanently suspended

Tim and Jesse
Stewart's accounts

for engaging in
coordinated, harmful activity.

- It's public interest-
- In October last year,

the concerns about Tim Stewart

were again raised
in the Senate.

- Are you aware that the
Prime Minister's close friend

has been banned from Twitter

for what the social
media platform describes

as coordinated,
harmful activity?

- I mean, I'm not sure that

you can characterize
that person,

whom I don't know,

based on the fact that
the wife is employed,

having gone through
all of the relevant checks.

I mean, I don't know
that that's reasonable.

The only thing that
I'm aware of is that,

as has been confirmed
by Ms. Foster,

is that the woman concerned
has been employed.

There doesn't seem
to be any suggestion

that there is
anything concerned.

- [Louise] The Department
of Prime Minister and Cabinet

was also asked
about the inclusion

of the phrase ritual
abuse in the 2018 apology.

- So, there's an
allegation that

there were changes
to the speech,

including, and this
seems farfetched,

but I think it would be
useful to put it to you,

to make sure it's refuted,

that this close associate
had urged a change

to the Prime
Minister's speech,

to use a different word,
the word being ritual.

So I'm just
thinking, I'm asking,

can we use this
opportunity to make clear

that isn't the case?

- So, Senator, I don't know.

I've just asked all
of my staff openly

if anyone has any information.

It would appear
that the answer is no.

So, the best I can do
is take that on notice.

- [Senator] Okay, that's fine.

- [Louise] No answer to
that question was provided.

Jesse Stewart blamed
members of his family

for the Twitter ban,

and sent them
threatening text messages.

- [Jesse] You better
tread lightly, also.

Wanna play with fire,
and you will get burned.

Watch yourself, buddy.

I'll make you lot
famous, all of you.

Fuck around and find out.

- [Louise] Your
grandson, Jesse,

has sent threatening messages
to the rest of your family.

- Yes, very much so.

Yeah, that's been for a
period of just over a year

that that's been
happening, yes.

Things escalated.

- My mother, a
lovely woman, was,

I don't know if I
can swear on this,

but called it a
cowardly mother fucker,

so these are not your standard
responses to a grandmother.

And so, they were
quite concerning,

and at that point we
recognised, all right,

there's a level
of radicalization

that is very different to
even a year prior to that.

- [Louise] Late last year,

the Stewart family
became so concerned

they took the
extraordinary step

of reporting Tim
and Jesse Stewart

to the National Security
Hotline several times.

- So, it was at that
moment that we decided

we can make excuses
for lots of things,

but if we're under threat
and our safety is a concern,

we have to legitimately
inform somebody,

'cause we no longer
know these people.

So, we did make a
report to the authorities

to ensure that we were
doing the right thing

as community members.

- I don't know what
might happen in Australia,

but that's what
raises our concern,

that we do have family members
who are involved in something

that could finish up
being a threat to Australia.

- [Louise] The director
general of ASIO,

Australia's top spy chief,
has also been informed

about the activities of
Tim and Jesse Stewart.

Tim Stewart told Four Corners.

- [Tim] I am too busy
to read questions

relating to the nonsense
that's been put out there,

which are just hit pieces.

I don't promote or support
any kind of violence.

- Four Corners has
learned that Lynelle Stewart

stopped working
at Kirribilli House

at the end of last year.

Scott Morrison did not
respond on the record

to Four Corners' questions

about whether he and
Tim Stewart are still friends.

- I think it's important
for the Prime Minister

and any other national
leader to disavow individuals,

either within their orbit
or outside of their orbit,

who harbor these
types of extremist views.

That's really important,
and look, I understand,

again, we all have
friends and family members

that have unorthodox views,

but when you're put in
a position of public trust,

you have to maintain
the public's trust.

- [Louise] In recent months,
Tim Stewart has shared posts

of Donald Trump calling
the U.S. election The Big Lie,

and has reposted conspiracies

equating vaccines
with Nazi-ism.

Jesse Stewart has started
criticizing

Scott Morrison online.

- [Jesse] If governments
start going the route

of vaccine coercion, mandates,

restrictions for those who
refuse, vaccine passport,

or any other draconian idea,

then mother fuckers
are getting lynched.

Call me extreme, crazy.

I don't give a fuck.

Fuck around and find
out, Australian government.

- [Louise] On April 28,
in response to a post

about corrupt politicians,
Jesse Stewart said.

- [Jesse] I'd pay two grand
to see certain people hanged.

- [Jesse] In an email to Four
Corners, Jesse Stewart said

he was referring to
traitors and paedophiles.

He described himself as
a shitposter and satirist,

and said, "I never have, nor
will participate in violence."

- The experience of watching
someone become radicalized

is the most unusual thing.

We know how we
get to know a stranger,

and bit by bit with
every conversations,

you become to either
like them or not like them,

and you can start a long-term
relationship with a friend

because of how
that's panned out,

but we never talk
about what might happen

if it goes in reverse.

So, the loving and caring
brother and nephew,

it went in reverse.

They became strangers.

- This is a question for
you, Senator Birmingham.

- [Louise] Three weeks ago,

questions were again
raised in Senate estimates

about the Prime Minister's
view of Tim Stewart's beliefs.

- So, the questions
relate to whether or not

the Prime Minister had
anything to say about comments

by his friend and QAnon
proponent, a Mr. Tim Stewart,

describing the day of
the Capitol Hill attack

as one of the
greatest days on earth.

Crikey also asked
the PM what measures,

if any, were in place
to prevent Mr. Stewart

having access to
confidential information

about the Prime Minister.

What are the answers
to those questions?

- Well, Senator
Wong, in terms of,

if you want to pose
those questions,

I'll happily take them
on notice for you

in terms of a response
being provided.

- Do you agree that a
friend of Mr Morrison's

who adheres to these theories

is a possible vector
for foreign interference?

- Senator,

I am not aware of the
nature of the relationship,

so in that sense,

it's to some extent
a hypothetical,

but I can certainly
assure you that

the Prime Minister takes

his security
obligations seriously,

and is alert to all threats

that security
agencies brief him on.

- [Louise] There has
still been no response

to the questions
taken on notice.

Four Corners contacted
the Prime Minister

with a detailed list of
questions five weeks ago,

and followed up with his
office more than 20 times.

- Last question.

- [Louise] On June the fourth,

the Prime Minister was
asked at a press conference

about Four Corners' story.

- Are you concerned
the ABC's involved

in so-called
vigilante journalism?

Were the
allegations put to you,

and what is your
connection to the man

at the center of that story?

- I find it deeply offensive
that there would be

any suggestion that I
would have any involvement

or support for such a
dangerous organization.

I clearly do not.

It's also just very
disappointing that Four Corners,

in their inquiries,

would seek to cast this
aspersion, not just against me,

but by members
of my own family.

I just think that's
really poor form.

- [Louise] Two days later,

a spokesman for
the Prime Minister

provided a one
paragraph statement

on the record to
the program.

- [Spokesperson] This is
a personally motivated slur

against the Prime
Minister and his family

by a Four Corners program

that is already facing
serious questions

about the accuracy, bias, and
credibility of its journalism,

that is now giving credence

to irrational Twitter
conspiracy theorists,

and raising the profile
of what the Prime Minister

clearly deems and discredited
and dangerous fringe group.

(suspenseful music)

- You'll have to
serve each other.

Pass it around.

(family chatters)

We popped over to see
them all the other day,

so it was quite lovely
to get a few photos

and feel part of that
very extended family

that we don't
always get to see.

- [Louise] The Stewart
clan is deeply troubled

by the breakdown
of their family.

They haven't given
up on Jesse and Tim.

- I'm not a psychologist,
I'm his mum.

And I hope that, one day, some
of this might be in the past,

but I know that there are just
concerns that we would have

in hearing and watching
some of what has happened

over, particularly,
this last year or so.

- I think almost all of us have
broken down on the phone,

trying to explain the
loss of a family member.

And I know my
mother has viewed it,

she's described
it as grieving,

grieving the loss of
someone who's still alive.

And that's a very
confusing emotion,

and I feel for her
in that, and Dad.

(dramatic music)