Pastor Brian Houston, whose name is synonymous with the Hillsong megachurch, has stepped aside from virtually all his directorships in Hillsong entities in a major corporate overhaul before he is due to face criminal charges of concealment early next month.
Crikey has established that Houston’s name has been removed from 18 of 19 Hillsong entities which are registered as charities with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Commission (ACNC).
ASIC records show Houston resigned as a director of Hillsong Church Ltd, one of the original entities, from August 17, 12 days after being charged by NSW Police with concealing information on the crime of child sex abuse committed by his father, Frank Houston, in the early 1970s.
The McClellan royal commission heard that Houston had become aware in 1999 of the crime and had failed to pass on the information to police at the time. Houston has consistently asserted that he was respecting the victim’s wishes.
A friend and mentor to Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Houston has been a fixture on the boards of Hillsong entities — in some cases for more than two decades. Over that period Hillsong has grown exponentially from its base in Sydney’s north-west to become a global phenomenon.
As registered charities the entities are exempt from an array of taxes.
Hillsong has made no public announcement of Houston’s move or the reason for it.
As Crikey reported, it is possible Houston would be ineligible to be a company director should he be convicted of the crime of concealment, which carries a maximum penalty of five years’ jail.
Houston’s case is listed for hearing in a magistrate’s court in Sydney on October 5. Houston has said he will return from the United States to appear in court and will vigorously defend the charge.
Hillsong has also been under siege from the media in the US and the UK. And this weekend Australia’s 60 Minutes is set to air allegations of sexual harassment and assault from two young women.
Compare and contrast, father Bob, humility, poverty and generosity, and this mega rich farcical god botherer, a rorter, a scoundrel, without a charitable bone in his body
Don’t think he should ever be listed as a director of any charity. Irrespective of the concealing of information, he used the charity to fund his lifestyle choices. The mansion he lives in is equal to the pope’s residence, except that the pope doesn’t own his place of abode.
Once upon a time in the faraway land of Oz, there lived a human who went about her/his business caring for people and getting help from volunteers who would make sure people were fed and sheltered until they could find a place to live in government housing.
Then came privatisation.
The Pope actually lives in a monastery within the Vatican – a simple room and meals with the monks
May I interpose that Pope John-Paul I was found, 33 days into his august station of the Papacy by his serving nun?
There is an Order, the sole duty of which, is to see to the chamber of the pope.
Charity by name only, the art of pulling money out of people pockets to finance the lavish lifestyle of the self-appointed pastors in reality.
The removal of Brian Houston’s name from his tax exempt global business empire may have something to do with liability issues regarding victim compensation?
An organisation whose hidden mission is the accumulation of wealth under the guise of religion is a betrayal of humanity that searches for meaning and for the Good. It looks like it provided the perfect cover for its Founder in his pursuit of power over the vulnerable and the betrayal of their trust. This organisation does not have the Foundation of solid rock but rather of slippery slime.
Typical pentecostal organisation!
Assemblies of God now Australian Christian Churches, still the same old carnival of corruption, tax exempt pilfering of the fool’s pockets
Slime sleaze crime corruption it’s par for the course for this lot; and what’s worse the NSW Coalition in 2018 passed legislation
— in what may be a complicating factor for the prosecution — NSW Parliament amended s316 to specify a series of “reasonable excuses” for not informing the police of child sex abuse. One of these was if the victim was an adult when the person learnt of the abuse, and there was reason to believe the victim did not want to involve police. This is the very defence which Brian Houston and Hillsong have advanced for not passing on information about Frank Houston’s offending. ..Crikey
Brian Houston admitted at the Royal Commission into child sex abuse that he withheld information relating to his father’s alleged sexual abuse of young boys from the police. If he pleads not guilty in his up-and-coming trial, it will contradict the evidence he gave at the royal commission.
It’s difficult to understand why it has taken the NSW police over three years of investigation before charging Houston for a crime that he has already admitted to. It will be interesting to see who will be the judge overseeing this trial, given the numerous allegations of pedophile judges and magistrates within the NSW judiciary.
It’s difficult to understand why it has taken the NSW police over three years of investigation before charging Houston for a crime that he has already admitted to.
The long road to prosecution: why did it take six years for police to charge Brian Houston?Despite a royal commission referral, it took years for NSW Police to act. Was it a matter of building a case, or was something else at play?
https://uat.crikey.com.au/2021/08/26/six-years-charge-brian-houston/
It is also noteworthy that he was appointed by the conservatives.
They even asked him to linger beyond his intended retirement date.