By Jon Pierik and Caroline Schelle
Essendon’s decision to hire Andrew Thorburn as the club’s chief executive despite his role with a controversial church made the founder of the Bombers’ LGBTQI supporter group “sick to the stomach”.
Thorburn’s appointment at the end of a tumultuous season for the club has generated unwanted headlines, primarily because he is also chairman of the City on a Hill church movement.
New Essendon chief executive Andrew Thorburn has opened up about his faith, and his stance on diversity.Credit: Eddie Jim
Thorburn, also a former NAB chief executive, admits the church has views which are offensive and upsetting to some, but insists his business record shows he is welcoming and endorses diversity.
In sermons published on its website, the church likens abortion to a concentration camp, and says practising homosexuality is a sin.
“Whereas today we look back at sadness and disgust over concentration camps, future generations will look back with sadness at the legal murder of hundreds of thousands human beings every day through medicine and in the name of freedom,” a 2016 sermon reads.
Another sermon from 2018 reads: “Lust is a sin, sex outside of marriage is a sin, practicing homosexuality is a sin, but same-sex attraction is not a sin.”
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, a Bombers supporter, had a strong response when asked on Tuesday about the views expressed by Thorburn’s church, but acknowledged the CEO’s appointment was a matter for Essendon’s board.
“Those views are absolutely appalling. I don’t support those views; that kind of intolerance, that kind of hatred, bigotry is just wrong,” Andrews said.
“All of you know my views on these things. Those sort of attitudes are simply wrong, and to dress that up as anything other than bigotry is just obviously false.”
However, the premier said he would continue as an Essendon member next season.
One of Thorburn’s chief tasks at Essendon is to unite a fractured club. Those divisions emerged over the sacking of Ben Rutten as coach, the departure of former chief executive Xavier Campbell, and the appointment of new coach Brad Scott, when board member Kevin Sheedy publicly declared he had backed James Hird.
Thorburn’s personal beliefs could upset the Bombers’ AFLW side, which preaches diversity and inclusiveness, as well as the Purple Bombers, the club’s official LGBTQI supporter group.
Purple Bombers founder Jason Tuazon-McCheyne said the new boss’s views didn’t match the club’s vision of being the most inclusive in the AFL.
“On the surface it’s an incredibly disappointing, and a bad call for us,” he told The Age.
Essendon president David Barham was impressed with Andrew Thorburn’s background and knowledge of the AFL industry.Credit: Getty Images
“I have been sick to the stomach since people started texting me about: ‘Do you realise this is what is happening?’”
Tuazon-McCheyne founded the group in 2014 and said it made little sense for Thorburn to represent two organisations with very different value systems.
He called for the new chief executive to resign from his role with the City on a Hill church.
“How can you still chair an organisation that is actively campaigning against my community? That does not make sense to me,” Tuazon-McCheyne said.
The group was still keen to meet Thorburn and reached out to the club to clarify things, especially ahead of the AFLW’s pride round. Tuazon-McCheyne said it was important the chief executive championed the inclusion of the club’s LGBTQI membership.
Thorburn, a lifelong Essendon supporter, defended the church on Tuesday, saying “different views” should be respected in the community.
“I understand that some of these views – and I’ll come to them – are offensive to people and upset people and I really respect that,” Thorburn said.
“Firstly, my faith is a very personal thing. I think my faith has helped me become a better leader because at the centre of my faith is the belief you should create a community and care for people and help people be safe and respect them as humans. That’s actually helped me become a better leader.
Andrew Thorburn in 2019 in his then role as chief executive of the National Australia Bank.Credit: Arsineh Houspian
“Second is, I’ve been a CEO for 13 years, this is my third CEO job. I was CEO of a bank that had 5000 people, I was a CEO of a bank that had 35,000 people, now I’m going to a different organisation but in all those, there’s a diversity of people.”
Speaking on SEN, Thorburn, who begins in his new role on November 1, said his record showed he was “inclusive and welcoming and caring and diverse”.
“I think that makes us a more human organisation and makes us a higher performing organisation. My commitment – and it’s always been this, and I think my record stands – is that I will create that organisation and lead that organisation. Personally, I feel I have role-modelled that,” he said.
“I haven’t been a perfect CEO, but I think my respect for people, my care, my love, my welcoming style, I welcome all those people, everybody is welcome. That’s really what I want people to look at, look at my actions, look at my words as a leader and the organisations I’ve created to enable safe, diverse, inclusive workplaces, that’s my record I want people to look at and have confidence in.
“I would say … I respect and care about you, and you’re welcome in this organisation and I want to hear what you think to ensure you feel safe and can speak out.”
Bombers president David Barham was contacted for comment. In a statement on Monday when confirming Thorburn’s appointment, Barham said the new chief executive impressed the club board with his understanding of the AFL system and global sport.
“Most importantly though, Andrew has demonstrated throughout his business career that he can execute the priorities that the organisation has,” Barham said.
Thorburn suggested he did not endorse the church’s stance on all issues.
“But I also want to say in the church – like any diverse society – there are very different views on all these matters. I have different views on some matters, I’m not a pastor, my job in a governance role is to make sure it’s run well,” he said.
“I don’t always agree with what’s said, but in a way that’s not the point. If we want a diverse society it also means there’s going to be people with different views, and I think as we go forward in Australia, it’s not whether those views exist because they do, the question for harmony is whether we can co-exist and hear each other and respect each other’s views.
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