New Essendon AFL chief executive Andrew Thorburn has resigned a day after he was appointed, due to his position in a church with divisive views around abortion and homosexuality.
The former NAB boss, who resigned from that job in 2019 after receiving scathing criticism during the banking royal commission, was on Monday announced as the Bombers' successor to Xavier Campbell.
But within hours of his appointment, Thorburn's links to a controversial church organisation were thrust into the spotlight, and by Tuesday evening, the embattled Bombers were left searching for their third CEO in less than two months.
Thorburn is chairman of City on a Hill, a church that condemns homosexuality and has an article on its website from 2013 titled 'Surviving Same Sex Attraction as a Christian'.
"If you struggle with same-sex attraction, it is vital to speak to a mature Christian whom you trust, so you can receive the support and accountability you will need in the long term to survive these temptations," the City on a Hill article reads.
In a statement on Tuesday, Essendon president Dave Barham said the board had accepted Thorburn's resignation after they had made it clear he couldn't hold positions at both his church and his football club.
"As soon as the comments relating to a 2013 sermon from a pastor at the City of the Hill church came to light this morning, we acted immediately to clarify the publicly espoused views on the organisation's official website, which are in direct contradiction to our values as a club," Barham said in a club statement.
"Essendon is committed to providing an inclusive, diverse and a safe club, where everyone is welcome and respected.
"The board made clear that, despite these not being views that Andrew Thorburn has expressed personally and that were also made prior to him taking up his role as chairman, he couldn't continue to serve in his dual roles at the Essendon Football Club and as chairman of City on the Hill.
"The board respects Andrew's decision."
In his first interview after being appointed to lead Essendon, Thorburn had said he understood some of the church's views "are offensive and upset people".
Thorburn joined City on a Hill in 2014, and he says some of the articles and readings on the church's website pre-date his involvement and he had never heard such sentiments during his time there.
Barham stressed both the board and Thorburn had been unaware of the 2013 article before reading about it on Tuesday morning.
"At the centre of my faith is the belief that you should create community, care for people, help people's faith and respect them as humans," Thorburn told SEN on Tuesday.
Before leading NAB between 2014 and 2019, Thorburn was in charge of Bank of NZ for six years.
He pointed to those jobs where he led thousands of "diverse" people as evidence he was the right person to take Essendon forward.
"My role as a CEO is to ensure the organisations I lead, which I think my record stands for this, are inclusive and welcoming and caring," Thorburn said.
Victorian premier Daniel Andrews had labelled the church's views "absolutely appalling" but said he would continue to support Essendon and renew his membership.
"That kind of intolerance, that kind of hatred, bigotry. It's just wrong," Andrews told reporters on Tuesday.
"To dress that up as anything other than bigotry is just obviously false."
