‘Corrupt institution’: Tame unleashes on PM over Hillsong claim

Former Australian of the Year Grace tame has slammed Prime Minister Scott Morrison over the latest Hillsong scandal.

Grace Tame has once again hit out at Prime Minister Scott Morrison, this time over his connections to disgraced Hillsong founder Brian Houston.

Houston sensationally resigned from the church on Wednesday this week over allegations of misconduct from two women.

“Irrespective of the circumstances around this, we can all agree that Brian and (wife) Bobbie have served God faithfully over many decades,” the church wrote in a statement released after a meeting on Wednesday.

“This is a time of humble reflection and we are committed to doing what is necessary to ensure God is honoured, and our eyes are fixed on Jesus.”

The following day, Prime Minister Scott Morrison claimed he was “disappointed” and “shocked” by the scandal, but moved to distance himself from Houston by insisting he had not been a member of the church for 10 years.

Speaking to reporters, Mr Morrison said Houston’s resignation was “entirely appropriate”.

“I must admit we were very disappointed and shocked to hear the news,’’ he said.

“My first thoughts were with the victims, as they’ve been rightly described. And the actions that have been taken are entirely appropriate.

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Grace Tame has weighed in on the Hillsong scandal. Picture: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

“And I’m sure they will continue down that path as a church. I mean, I haven’t been at Hillsong now for about 15 years. I go to a local church in my own community, a Pentecostal church.”

However, the furore has seen Mr Morrison’s connections to Houston and the church put under renewed scrutiny, given the Prime Minister previously invited the mega-church founder to the White House.

He and wife Jenny also famously attended a Hillsong conference in 2019 where they prayed for the drought to end, and spoke of the “miracle” of the birth of their daughters after 17 years of fertility problems.

Now, former Australian of the Year Grace Tame has weighed into the drama on social media, after a Twitter user posted that she was “expecting as much media condemnation about having once been photographed praying with Brian Houston as there was about having once been photographed holding a bong”.

It was a pointed reference to an old photo of a young Grace Tame pictured alongside a bong in 2014, which was published by the Daily Mail earlier this year, with the publication claiming it had been “unearthed” by her “critics” who had delved into her Instagram timeline.

PM Scott Morrison and his wife Jenny on stage at Hillsong with founder Brian Houston.

In response to the tweet, Ms Tame replied that she was also expecting “ … the same level of ownership over his past from Scott”.

“Then again, defending your deliberate alignment with the corrupt institution of Hillsong as Prime Minister is slightly different to defending your proximity to a 2 foot bong as a traumatised 19-year-old private citizen,” she continued.

Shortly after the publication of the infamous photo, Ms Tame released a powerful open letter about the “demons” she had battled in the wake of the sexual abuse she suffered as a teen.

“At every point – on the national stage, I might add – I’ve been completely transparent about all the demons I’ve battled in the aftermath of child sexual abuse; drug addiction, self-harm, anorexia and PTSD, among others. You just clearly haven’t been listening,” she wrote.

And the same level of ownership over his past from Scott.

Then again, defending your deliberate alignment with the corrupt institution of Hillsong as Prime Minister is slightly different to defending your proximity to a 2 foot bong as a traumatised 19-year-old private citizen. https://t.co/4cyqFjgi6G

— Grace Tame (@TamePunk) March 24, 2022

It’s not the first time Ms Tame has clashed with the PM.

Earlier this year a frosty exchange between the two went viral after photographers captured an awkward moment at The Lodge in Canberra ahead of a morning tea for this year’s Australian of the Year finalists.

The tense pictures show an unsmiling Ms Tame refusing to make eye contact with the PM during a handshake, and posing alongside him looking visibly unimpressed.

In December 2021, she also slammed the Prime Minister’s response to the damning Jenkins Report into the culture of Australian Parliament, saying “Scott (Morrison) doesn’t get it” after the government failed to commit to the 28 recommendations outlined by Kate Jenkins in the Set the Standard report.

The report had found one in three workers at Parliament House were sexually harassed, and one per cent had been sexually assaulted.

The photos of the PM and Grace Tame went viral. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

In September 2021, Ms Tame hit out at the PM over his decision to appoint Lorraine Finlay as Australia’s next human rights commissioner, after she previously spoke out against consent reforms.

Ms Tame described the call as a “grave mistake” and accused the government of having a “lack of understanding”.

In August, she also criticised Mr Morrison’s decision to temporarily promote Christian Porter to leader of the House of Representatives while fellow Coalition MP Peter Dutton was in mandatory Covid-19 quarantine.

Mr Porter, the former Attorney-General, is the subject of historic rape allegations, which he strenuously denies.

And in May last year, Ms Tame also blasted the PM’s response to her groundbreaking and emotional Australian of the Year acceptance speech in an interview with the Betoota Advocate.