Essendon’s tumultuous off-season has continued, with new CEO Andrew Thorburn resigning only a day after he was appointed, The Age has confirmed.
Thorburn’s appointment at the end of a dramatic season for the club had generated unwanted headlines, primarily because he is also chairman of the City on a Hill church movement.
The new Essendon boss came under significant criticism due to his role with the controversial church. In a sermon published on its website, the church likens abortion to a concentration camp, and says practising homosexuality is a sin.
Andrew Thorburn has stepped down as Essendon chief executive, coming after premier Daniel Andrews criticised the beliefs of a church Thorburn is chairman of.Credit:Eddie Jim, Alex Ellinghausen
Thorburn, also a former NAB chief executive, had admitted the church has views which are offensive and upsetting to some, but insisted his business record shows he is welcoming and endorses diversity. But the situation was criticised by Victorian premier Daniel Andrews and the Bombers’ LGBTQI supporter group.
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.
Thorburn’s personal beliefs were likely to 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,” Tuazon-McCheyne told The Age before Thorburn stood down.
“I have been sick to the stomach since people started texting me about: ‘Do you realise this is what is happening?’”
He founded the group in 2014 and said it made little sense for Thorburn to represent two organisations with very different value systems.
Speaking on SEN, Thorburn, who had been due to start his new role on November 1, insisted 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.”
The Bombers, under new president David Barham, had hoped their off-season dramas were over, with Brad Scott appointed new coach and Thorburn replacing Xavier Campbell, who stepped down after the sacking of coach Ben Rutten. But the club must now begin a new search for another CEO.
MORE TO COME
