Dumbleton–Powles Report
The Dumbleton–Powles Report is a report on Scientology prepared for the government of New Zealand by E.V. Dumbleton and Sir Guy Richardson Powles, and published on 30 June 1969.[1]
Scientologists existed in New Zealand from at least 1954.[2] In 1959 L. Ron Hubbard set up the Church of Scientology's new headquarters at Saint Hill Manor, a few miles from East Grinstead in Sussex, England. The practice of Scientology spread to a number of English-speaking countries, and because of its controversial teachings, policies, and activities Scientology soon attracted attention. Several official inquiries took place into Scientology in England, Australia, and elsewhere, and the respective governments published a number of reports in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
In 1968 a petition with 716 signatures called upon the Parliament of New Zealand to set up a board of inquiry into Scientology. The Commission of Inquiry into the Hubbard Scientology organisation in New Zealand issued public notice that it would hear evidence in Auckland and Wellington in March and April 1969. The commission aimed to "hear about and examine cases where it is said that Scientology has in New Zealand led to the estrangement of families, affected the control of persons under 21, or put unreasonable pressure upon former Scientologists who have left it, or other persons".[3]
After hearing evidence, the Commission found against Scientology, concluding that "the activities, methods, and practices of Scientology did result in persons being subjected to improper or unreasonable pressures".[4] However, on receiving assurances that Scientology would change its practices, the Commission recommended that - subject to those assurances - no immediate action be taken against Scientology.
Similar reports
- "The Foster Report" United Kingdom, 1971 Enquiry into the Practice and Effects of Scientology
- "The Anderson Report" Victoria, Australia, 1965 Report of the Board of Inquiry into Scientology
- "The Lee Report" Ontario, Canada, 1970 Sectarian Healers and Hypnotherapy
This list of reports is not exhaustive.
References
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- ^ "Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Hubbard Scientology Organisation in New Zealand". 3 February 1969. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
- ^
Atack, Jon (1990). A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics, and L. Ron Hubbard Exposed. A Lyle Stuart book. Carol Publishing Group. p. 138. ISBN 9780818404993. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
In New Zealand, the Auckland Scientology group also became a Church in February 1954.
- ^ "Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Hubbard Scientology Organisation in New Zealand".
- ^ "Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Hubbard Scientology Organisation in New Zealand".