This is part one of a series on the Hillsong whistleblower files. Read part two here.
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has tabled internal Hillsong documents that he alleges reveal the church breaking “numerous laws” in Australia and around the world, relating to “fraud, money laundering and tax evasion”.
The independent MP said the documents had been provided to him by a whistleblower.
Speaking in Parliament Thursday afternoon and under the protection of parliamentary privilege, Wilkie cited several examples that he said were revealed by the internal documents.
They include:
- Members of the Houston family “and their friends” enjoying a luxury retreat in Cancun, Mexico, using $150,000 of church money while Australia was in strict COVID-19 lockdown.
- Hillsong founder and former leader Brian Houston treating private jets “like Ubers”, using tens of thousands of dollars in church money per flight.
- Church money donated by parishioners being used for “shopping that would embarrass a Kardashian”, including a $6500 Cartier watch for Brian Houston’s wife, Bobbie Houston, and $2500 in Louis Vuitton luggage as well as “shopping sprees for designer clothes at Saks Fifth Avenue”.
- Cash gifts for long-serving Hillsong figures.
- Payments of $10,000 each to international pastors Paul de Jong and Chris Hodges, who also investigated allegations of Brian Houston’s 2019 sexual misconduct in a Sydney hotel room involving a female parishioner.
Honorariums
Wilkie claimed the internal Hillsong documents showed how honorariums were used to disguise income and avoid tax.
“For example, US pastor Joyce Meyer enjoyed honorariums of $160,000, $130,000, $100,000 and $32,000,” Wilkie said.
“And US pastor TD Jakes got honorariums of $71,000 and $120,000 with a staggering $77,000 worth of airfares to and from Australia thrown in.
“And in return, Mr Houston goes to America and received his own eyewatering honorariums.
“Sending millions of dollars of Australian charitable donations overseas is illegal in some circumstances,” he said.
Willkie also cited the example of a disgraced former head of the New York Hillsong church, Carl Lentz, being paid a salary of $220,000 in 2016, “most of it tax-free, and tens of thousands of dollars in church donations to run the New York church’s celebrity ‘green room’ to cover catering and the cost of gifts for visiting celebrities,” he said.
“And in the UK, the documents show Hillsong Australia guaranteed a $5.5 million loan to Hillsong London to purchase the former Hippodrome nightclub all from tax-exempt Australian income at a time when London was experiencing serious financial trouble.”
Wilkie also cited Hillsong’s purchase of Festival Hall in Melbourne.
“The documents show a $15.7 million loan from Hillsong, very unlikely ever to be repaid, which funded the purchase of Festival Hall in Melbourne. Now at face value this appears unremarkable, except that this is a commercial venture run by Hillsong’s community venues company and is ineligible to benefit from tax-deductible church donations. And all of this in the context of the documents also revealing Hillsong earns $80 million more in Australian annual income than it reports publicly,” he said.
“I verified that these documents are genuine. And I am shocked that when offered to the ATO, ASIC and ACNC last year, under whistleblower legislation, not one of those agencies acted. And that is a failure of regulatory oversight every bit as alarming as Hillsong’s criminality.” he said.
Hillsong statement
On Thursday night, Hillsong Church released the following statement:
“Hillsong Church has 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.
“Hillsong is a different church now than we were twelve months ago, and we are under new pastoral and board leadership. We are working hard to set a course for the future that ensures our structures are accountable, transparent, and honouring to God. Anything less has the potential to hinder our primary focus, which is to be a community of believers focused on the life-changing power of Jesus, driven to bring hope to the world around us.
“The claims made in federal Parliament by Mr Andrew Wilkie are out of context and relate to untested allegations made by an employee in an ongoing legal case. These allegations, made under parliamentary privilege, are in many respects wrong and it is disappointing he made no effort to contact us first. If he did so we would have answered his questions and provided him with financial records to address his concerns.
“Hillsong has sought independent legal and accounting advice on these matters since the employee involved in the legal case made these claims, and we believe that we have complied with all legal and compliance requirements. We have filed our defence and will provide evidence at the appropriate time. We cannot do so at this stage due to the ongoing legal case. Mr Wilkie would be aware that we are unable to speak publicly about matters before a court. We are fully cooperating with regulatory authorities as part of their enquiries.
“The figures quoted for flights for our global senior Pastor Phil Dooley have been misrepresented, as part of these fares are being paid by him personally and a large portion was reimbursed by a church Pastor Phil visited that is unrelated to Hillsong. Hillsong is a global church and it is the role of our global senior pastor to visit Hillsong churches around the world.
“The past year has been a year of significant transition for Hillsong. Transitions are difficult, uncertain, and sometimes painful. However with new leadership, opportunities, and fresh vision we are focused on being a church that loves people and impacts the world.”
