Political Influence
Hillsong Church has attracted support from high profile politicians, especially from the Liberal Party of Australia. In 1998, Brian Houston met with then Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard, and most of his Cabinet, at Parliament House in Canberra before sharing prayers. In 2002, John Howard opened the Hillsong Convention Centre at the Baulkham Hills location. In 2004 and 2005, the then Treasurer of Australia, Peter Costello, spoke at its annual conferences. Mark Latham, the former Leader of the Opposition, declined Hillsong's invitation to the 2004 conference, although Bob Carr, the then Premier of New South Wales (from the Australian Labor Party), did attend the 2005 conference.
Liberal MP for Mitchell, Alan Cadman, and two Family First Party senate candidates, Joan Woods and Ivan Herald, who failed to win senate seats, were featured in a Hillsong circular during the election, with members being asked to pray for them.
Hillsong's high profile involvement with political leaders has been questioned in the media, and publicly, the church has distanced itself from advocating certain political groups and parties, including the fledgling Family First party. Brian Houston has replied to these criticisms by stating, "I think people need to understand the difference between the church being very involved in politics and individual Christians being involved in politics."
In 2008 it was claimed by a Sydney inner city newspaper, Central Magazine, that Hillsong had donated A$600 to a Member of Parliament, Kristina Keneally, for the tickets of a fundraising dinner, featuring the New South Wales' Planning Minister, Frank Sartor, as a guest speaker one month before the 2007 state election, despite Hillsong's own statement of corporate governance declaring that 'Hillsong Church does not make financial contributions to or align itself with any political party or candidate'. A Hillsong staff member, Maria Ieroianni, claimed that no donation had been made and that the dinner was not a fundraiser. Hillsong also issued a statement on their website denying that the money was a donation. According to the Central Magazine article, Keneally has described the dinner as a fundraiser and the money from Hillsong as a donation. The article also claims that these descriptions are confirmed by the records of the Electoral Commission.
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