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...

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