Lavish renovations to “Bishopscourt” mansion, a host of unregistered trusts and other financial irregularities, present the new Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne with a raft of earthly challenges. Stephanie Tran and Michael West report.
When The Right Reverend Dr Ric Thorpe, Melbourne’s new Archbishop delivers his first sermon at St Paul’s Cathedral, he is unlikely to tee off with an exegesis of the famous biblical passage Mark 12:41.
This is the parable where Jesus tells the disciples about the poor woman who gave two small coins, all she had, to the Temple offering.
Anglican parishioners in Melbourne have cause for concern over the administration of Church finances. An investigation by Michael West Media has unearthed details about expensive renovations to the $40m Bishopscourt mansion in East Melbourne and long-running governance failures including dozens of unregistered trusts that may be subject to millions in potential tax liabilities.
The revelations come at a time when the finances of establishment churches in Australia are on the wane; are unlikely to please parishioners who part with a fraction of their earnings in the offering plates on a Sunday.
“A vanity project”
According to documents obtained by MWM, the former Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne, Philip Freier, wanted to host the Archbishop of Canterbury at Bishopscourt when he came to Australia for a visit in 2022.
Rather than putting him up in a hotel at lesser expense to the Diocese, the Bishopscourt Trust Management Committee (BTMC) contracted Virtue Construction to renovate the 1850s bluestone mansion. But things did not go as planned and documents show the costs blew out from $190,000 to around $350,000.
A whistleblower familiar with the Church finances claims the works were unnecessary and pushed through without proper authorisation, describing them as “a vanity project”. The whistleblower also alleges the construction contract was split into two to avoid the BTMC’s $200,000 financial delegation limit, and that the Archbishop did not appropriately manage potential conflicts of interest.
Church denies archiepiscopal conflict
“The Archbishop, as the occupant of Bishopscourt, had a conflict of interest in relation to any material improvements or expenditures on Bishopscourt … The works in question included a renovation of a bathroom and bedroom.”
The Diocese strongly disputes these claims. In a statement, a spokesperson said:
“While there is a residence for the Archbishop at Bishopscourt, the overwhelming construction and cost of those renovations have been to the community facilities and upgrade of quarters for visitors to the Diocese.
“While the Archbishop of Canterbury did visit Bishopscourt, there were no substantive renovations conducted in anticipation of this visit, and no splitting of contracts as suggested in your question.”
Internal documents reviewed by MWM confirm that the Bishopscourt trust was not registered with the ACNC at the time. They also record that the construction contract was issued in two parts, though the Diocese denies this was done to circumvent the financial limit.
Read it all at Michael West Media