ScoMo is hiding from his pedo buddy

Prime Minister Scott Morrison joins growing chorus of Hillsong Church allies to distance themselves from founder Brian Houston

Three years ago, Hillsong Church founder Brian Houston tweeted: "Failure is never wasted if you are teachable, humble and transparent enough to grow and change."

Yet it was a lack of transparency from Hillsong that has sparked a major rift within the mega-church and led to the unravelling of Mr Houston's legacy.

The 67-year-old’s inappropriate behaviour towards two women has sent shockwaves throughout Hillsong and its 150,000 weekly attendees across the world.

On Thursday morning, after days of silence, Prime Minister Scott Morrison commented on the controversy surrounding a man he thanked in his 2008 maiden speech in Federal Parliament.

"My first thoughts were with the victims, as they’ve rightly been described, and so very concerned," Mr Morrison told reporters.

The friendship made international headlines in 2019 after it was revealed the Prime Minister’s bid to include Mr Houston on an exclusive guest list at the White House was rejected.

Mr Morrison stood by Mr Houston then, but he has now become the latest, and unlikely the last, Hillsong ally to distance themselves from him.

Mr Houston and his wife Bobbie established the church in 1983 in Sydney's north-west.

Today, it is a global empire with ministries, a 24-hour television channel and colleges across six continents and has attracted celebrity worshippers such as Justin Bieber, Chris Pratt and Kylie Jenner.

In January, Mr Houston announced he would step aside as the church leader to defend a criminal charge that he had concealed his father's child sexual abuse.

He made no mention at the time of two women's complaints about his own inappropriate behaviour.

This angered a group of Sydney-based church elders, who believed it amounted to a "cover up" by the board.

Last week, one elder resigned after reading a letter from one of the female complainants to his leadership team.

Unable to contain the leaks, acting Hillsong senior global pastor, Phil Dooley, decided to act.

On Friday, he called an emergency meeting of 800 global staff to detail what he described as Mr Houston's "indiscretions".

The extraordinary revelations have rocked the church, with some asking why Mr Houston was permitted to resign and was not sacked.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-24/hillsong-church-founder-brian-houston-fall-from-grace/100934680

>>15931807

2018

Why is Scott Morrison protecting Hillsong Pastor Brian Houston?

https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/why-is-scott-morrison-protecting-hillsong-pastor-brian-houston,12123

US and Australia accuse Russia of war crimes, as Moscow and Washington expel diplomats

The United States has assessed that members of Russia's forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says, adding that Washington's conclusion is based on a "careful review" of available information from public and intelligence sources.

Key points:

The US is tracking and sharing reports about alleged war crimes

Russia says it will throw out an unspecified number of American diplomats in response to an identical move in the US

The Australian federal government says it may yet expel the Russian ambassador

Mr Blinken said there had been "numerous credible reports of indiscriminate attacks and attacks deliberately targeting civilians, as well as other atrocities" by Russia's forces in Ukraine, specifying attacks in the besieged city of Mariupol.

Russia has denied targeting civilians.

In a statement, Mr Blinken said the United States would continue to track reports of war crimes and share information it gathered with allies and international institutions.

A court of law would be ultimately responsible in determining any alleged crime, he said.

"We are committed to pursuing accountability using every tool available, including criminal prosecutions," Mr Blinken said.

US President Joe Biden last week said Russian President Vladimir Putin was "a war criminal" for attacking Ukraine, which Russia's foreign ministry said was a statement "unworthy of a statesman of such high rank".

LIVE UPDATES: Read our blog for the latest news on the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Moscow has yet to capture any of Ukraine's biggest cities since launching its invasion on February 24, the largest assault on a European state since World War II.

Putin calls his offensive a "special military operation" to demilitarise and "de-Nazify" the country.

The civilian casualties are thought to be in the thousands while the United Nations estimates more than 3.5 million people have fled.

Investigators from the International Criminal Court set off earlier this month to start looking into possible war crimes in Ukraine.

Washington has welcomed the move, although it has no cooperation duties since it is not a member of the court.

Beth Van Schaack, ambassador-at-large for Global Criminal Justice at the State Department, said Washington was looking at the broad range of activities that Russia's forces were engaged in within Ukraine.

The destruction of a theatre in Mariupol last week "appears to have been a direct attack upon a civilian [target]", she said.

"This was very clearly marked with the word 'children' … It's not a military objective," she said at a briefing at the State Department.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-24/us-russia-war-crimes-diplomat-expelled-war-ukraine-australia/100935434

==Jamaican PM tells Prince William and Kate Middleton 'we are moving on' following anti-colonialism protests

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness told the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge the nation is "moving on" as the couple's week-long visit to the Caribbean Islands was dominated by anti-colonialism protests.

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness told the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge the nation is "moving on" as he signalled cutting ties with the British royal family during a meeting on Wednesday afternoon.

Prince William and wife Kate Middleton arrived in Jamaica as part of a week-long tour of the Caribbean Islands, visiting Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II for her Platinum Jubilee.

The pair received an official welcome from Mr Holness just one day after anti-colonialism protesters called the for the royal family to apologise and redress for the suffering of their ancestors.

https://www.skynews.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity-life/jamaican-pm-tells-prince-william-and-kate-middleton-we-are-moving-on-following-anticolonialism-protests/news-story/b52ced25cb49d946ea1c49967f0ca9f1

>>15931807

March 3, 2020

PM admits he asked White House to invite Brian Houston to state dinner

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has confirmed he asked the White House to invite Hillsong founder andhis spiritual mentor Brian Houstonto a state dinner in Washington last year.

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/pm-admits-he-asked-white-house-to-invite-brian-houston-to-statedinner-20200303-p546i9.html

>>15931807

2021

NSW Police charge Hillsong Pastor Brian Houston with concealing his father’s sexual abuse of a child

https://kangaroocourtofaustralia.com/2021/08/05/nsw-police-charge-hillsong-pastor-brian-houston-withconcealing-his-fathers-sexual-abuse-of-a-child/