The church said that the claims made by Mr Wilkie were out of context and related to untested allegations made by an employee in an ongoing legal case, reported The Sydney Morning Herald.
HILLSONG CHURCH PASTOR PROFESSIONAL
The leaked documents also claimed that the church employs celebrity songwriters and designates them as pastors, so they receive a portion of their salary tax-free.Ī spokesman for Hillsong said that the church had been “open and transparent with our congregation about past governance failures, and over the past 12 months we have engaged independent, professional assistance to overhaul our governance and accountability procedures”.
“Sending millions of dollars of Australian charitable donations overseas is illegal in some circumstances,” said Mr Wilkie. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in honoraiums were also paid to US pastors overseas, he claimed. Mr Wilkie also claimed that the new head of Hillsong, Mr Phil Dooley, has misled the congregation about his spending. In March 2022, Mr Houston resigned from Hillsong after acting inappropriately towards two women and had covered up sex abuse. “Conversely, the amount spent on helping ‘people in need’ included just A$2,900 for pastoral care direct costs, and A$1,500 on pastoral care visitations,” the whistleblower’s documents alleged. The documents also claimed that the church’s spending include A$82,000 on allowances for pastors and executive staff to purchase meals, A$26,000 on entertainment, A$37,000 on flowers, A$171,000 on gifts, A$288,000 on honorariums to guest speakers, A$13,000 on high tea.
HILLSONG CHURCH PASTOR UPGRADE
For example, in one three-month period, Brian Houston’s trips cost A$55,000, A$52,000, A$30,000, A$22,000 and A$2,000”.Īmong the documents, the Houstons allegedly “failed to disclose it was the tithes incomes” from the Hillsong congregation that paid for their upgrade of hotel quarantine accommodation of A$5,389 on top of the mandatory government quaratine fee of A$4,016, after returning from a United States trip in 2020. Mr Wilkie said that the documents showed Mr Houston “treated private jets like Ubers, again all with church money. He added: “A A$6,500 Cartier watch for Bobbie Houston, A$2,500 for Louis Vuitton luggage, a A$2,500 watch for Phil Dooley, two watches worth A$15,000 for Joel and Julia A’Bell, shopping sprees for designer clothes at Saks Fifth Avenue and even A$16,000 for custom skateboards.” Holding up a piece of paper in Parliament, Mr Wilkie said: “For example, this document shows how in 2021 four members of the Houston family and their friends enjoyed a three-day luxury retreat in Cancun, Mexico, using A$150,000 of church money.”
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