[3] However, prior to the 1998 election he lost Liberal preselection to Bruce Baird "amidst accusations of local branch stacking and despite strong personal support from the Prime Minister [John Howard]".
[8] In March 1993, Mutch moved a motion in the Legislative Council calling for a select inquiry into cults, which the Church of Scientology subsequently described as akin to Nazi Germany.
[9] In the same year he publicly alleged that Kenja Communication was an "insidious manipulative cult" and that one of its co-founders Ken Dyers had physical, mentally and sexually abused its members.
[10] As a result members of Kenja subsequently began a targeted campaign of harassment against Mutch, including disrupting his wedding and stalking him.
[11] After leaving parliament, Mutch took up a position as an honorary fellow at Macquarie University, teaching courses on Australian politics.
He served on the editorial board of the International Journal of Cultic Studies, a publication of the International Cultic Studies Association, He was awarded a doctorate by University of New South Wales in 2004 with a Ph.D. thesis titled "Cults, religion and public policy: A comparison of official responses to scientology in Australia and the United Kingdom".