Well I finished reading the report, though I am not too sure what to make of it.
There was certainly some great and and hard-hitting statements made by the FWO in relation to CoS practices, they are trading corporations bound by the FW act etc, however I was disappointed only 8 witnesses (ex's) came forward for the report, none of which apparently can have their claims forwarded. What happened to the 100's who left in the Australian exodus? Why were their voices and experiences not heard? Of course we now have the Class Action lawsuit, but if they didn't come forward for the investigation why participate now?
And then of course there are the CoS finances. WTF! Having serious trouble trying to wrap my head around this. The Leichhardt mission makes enough sense... $39418 income, $38478 expenses, $910 profit... easy and simple enough and clear indication that business is slow to say the least (a few hours auditing a week???).
But the 'Church of Scientology Australia Inc' statements... $8 million surplus for 2009? Where is the (Sydney) Ideal Org? Why is it suddenly up 800% from 2008?
$32 million in cash in the bank, and its UP from last year? Again where is the Ideal Org?
Why is all this money building up and not being invested back into the church?
The external picture (through leaks and otherwise) is one of hardship and crisis for the church (at least in Sydney), these financial records show otherwise. Methinks there is some playing going on with the finances that regular Scientologists are not suppose to know about...
Heres another gem: $29 million liability in 2009 for 'Members contributions received in advance' - WTF!!
Anyway, I would like to hear some in-depth discussion from others on the finer points of this report