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Essendon’s new CEO Andrew Thorburn has resigned one day after he was appointed after his ties to a church with divisive views around abortion and homosexuality.
In an embarrassing step for the club, the club’s board decided it could not have Thornburn take up his role.
Earlier Tuesday Thorburn promised to lead an “inclusive” AFL club. The former NAB boss, who resigned from that job in 2019 after receiving scathing criticism during the banking royal commission, was on Monday announced as the Bombers’ successor to Xavier Campbell. But within hours of his appointment, Thorburn’s links to a controversial church organisation were thrust into the spotlight.
Late Tuesday the club released a statement on behalf of president Dave Barham.
“The Board of the Essendon Football Club has accepted the resignation of Andrew Thorburn as CEO.
“As soon as the comments relating to a 2013 sermon from a pastor, at the City of the Hill church came to light this morning, we acted immediately to clarify the publicly espoused views on the organisation’s official website, which are in direct contradiction to our values as a Club.
“Essendon is committed to providing an inclusive, diverse and a safe Club, where everyone is welcome and respected.
“The Board made clear that, despite these not being views that Andrew Thorburn has expressed personally and that were also made prior to him taking up his role as Chairman, he couldn’t continue to serve in his dual roles at the Essendon Football Club and as Chairman of City on the Hill.
“The Board respects Andrew’s decision.
“We are deeply committed to our values and support wholeheartedly the work of the AFL in continuing to stamp out any discrimination based on race, sex, religion, gender, sexual identity or orientation, or physical or mental disability.
“I want to stress that neither the board nor Andrew was aware of the comments from the 2013 sermon until we read about them this morning. I also want to stress that this is not about vilifying anyone for their personal religious beliefs, but about a clear conflict of interest with an organisation whose views do not align at all with our values as a safe, inclusive, diverse and welcoming club for our staff, our players, our members, our fans, our partners and the wider community.
“Acting CEO Nick Ryan will continue in his role whilst we commence the process to appoint a new CEO.”
Thorburn is chairman of City on a Hill, a church that condemns homosexuality, and has an article on its website from 2013 titled ‘Surviving Same-Sex Attraction as a Christian’.
“If you struggle with same-sex attraction, it is vital to speak to a mature Christian whom you trust, so you can receive the support and accountability you will need in the long term to survive these temptations,” the City on a Hill article reads.
In his first interview after being appointed to lead Essendon, Thorburn said he understood some of the church’s views “are offensive and upset people”.
“My faith is a very personal thing, and my faith has helped me become a better leader,” the 57-year-old told SEN on Tuesday.
“At the centre of my faith is the belief that you should create community, care for people, help people’s faith and respect them as humans.”
Before leading NAB between 2014 and 2019, Thorburn was in charge of Bank of NZ for six years. He pointed to those jobs where he led thousands of “diverse” people as evidence he was the right person to take Essendon forward.
“My role as a CEO is to ensure the organisations I lead, which I think my record stands for this, are inclusive, and welcoming, and caring,” Thorburn said.
“That makes us a more human organisation and makes us a higher-performing organisation.
“I haven’t been a perfect CEO, but my respect for people, my care, my love, my welcoming style – I welcome all those people.
“Look at my actions, and look at my words as a leader and the organisations I’ve created to enable safe, diverse workplaces.”
Thorburn joined City on a Hill in 2014, and he says some of the articles and readings on the church’s website pre-date his involvement.
“I’ve never heard these things expressed in my time, I’ve been on the board two years,” he said.
“I’m not a pastor, my job in a governance role is to make sure it’s run well, I don’t always agree with what’s said.
“If we want a diverse society, it also means there’s going to be people with different views.”
Thorburn said the church does some “great things” for disadvantaged people and plays an important role in Australian society.
Victorian premier Daniel Andrews labelled the church’s views “absolutely appalling” but said he would continue to support Essendon and renew his membership.
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“That kind of intolerance, that kind of hatred, bigotry. It’s just wrong,” Andrews told reporters on Tuesday.
“To dress that up as anything other than bigotry is just obviously false.
“I hope we (Essendon) can get ourselves on the back page of the paper a bit more often than we’re on the front page.”
© AAP
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