Former National Australia Bank chief executive Andrew Thorburn is calling it quits from the church at the centre of his abrupt exit from Essendon Football Club, where he was to be chair. As was reported at the time, Mr Thorburn resigned from the AFL club one day after he was appointed to the position, after it emerged the City on a Hill church had controversial views on homosexuality and abortion. Essendon president Dave Barham said the club acted swiftly to review revelations that the City on a Hill church, of which he was Chairman, posted a 2013 sermon to its website that said acting on same-sex attraction was “a sin” and another likening abortion to concentration camps. Barham and the Essendon board told Thorburn he had to pick between the club and the church, where is also chairman. For what it is worth, Thorburn says he does not hold the same views as the pastor who had written the sermon. Thorburn, however, chose City on a Hill over Essendon.
Now he’s given the church up too. In fact, he is quitting all his other corporate engagements, including For Purpose Investment Partners, which is run by Michael Traill, formerly of Macquarie and a director at Sunsuper and MH Carnegie & Co. Thorburn was an executive director there. He’ll also exit Sentient Investments, where he is chairman and where the board includes former PwC chief executive Luke Sayers. A spokesman for Thorburn said that the businessman would “be stepping down from all his formal responsibilities, effective February 2023. He will take a year off to spend time with family, and to rest and reflect.”
Source: Compiled by APN from media reports
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