'Gossip': Morrison sidesteps claim Hillsong pastor snubbed by White House
Gossip: Morrison sidesteps claim Hillsong pastor snubbed by White House
Prime minister dismisses reports he lobbied unsuccessfully to have Brian Houston attend state dinner
Katharine Murphy Political editor in Washington DC
@murpharoo
Sat 21 Sep 2019 21.39 EDT
Scott Morrison has sidestepped questions about whether he wanted the Hillsong Church pastor Brian Houston to be a guest at Friday nights glittering black-tie state dinner hosted by Donald Trump, characterising the reports as gossip.
Asked whether it was true that he had lobbied to have Houston attend the dinner and been knocked back by the White House, the Australian prime minister told travelling reporters: I dont comment on gossip. Its all gossip.
Pressed several times whether that characterisation meant the story wasnt true, Morrison repeated his formulation. Its gossip. I think Ive answered the question.
The Wall Street Journal revealed Morrison had wanted the Hillsong Church pastor to be a guest at the state dinner at the Rose Garden in the White House, which included special guests Lachlan Murdoch (but not his father, Rupert), the billionaire box magnate Anthony Pratt, miners Andrew Twiggy Forrest and Gina Rinehart, and the golfer Greg Norman.
But according to the Journal, the White House declined Morrisons request.
Houston, the founder of the evangelical Hillsong Church, failed to alert the police about allegations his father, Frank, had sexually assaulted children, and had a conflict of interest when he assumed responsibility for dealing with the accusations, according to the findings of the 2014 royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/22/gossip-morrison-sidesteps-claim-hillsong-pastor-snubbed-by-white-house
secondwind
(16,903 posts)from Australia. Oh my god, I had just read about these people yesterday!!
Hes looking for land, as usual. OMG
AJT
(5,240 posts)Well, we ended up with Murdoch, they can have 45.