Herft legal fees stun Perth priests

By Nick Butterly
West Australian
July 02, 2017

https://thewest.com.au/news/perth/herft-legal-fees-stun-perth-priests-ng-b88524567z

Archbishop Roger Herft faced the royal commission into child abuse over his role as bishop of Newcastle. Photo by Bill Hatto

Anglican priests in Perth are demanding answers after it was revealed the Church spent almost $500,000 on legal fees to defend Archbishop Roger Herft at the royal commission into child sexual abuse.

Priests attending a retreat in Margaret River late last month were shocked after being told insurance was unlikely to cover Archbishop Herft’s legal bills as had been expected.

Instead, clergy were informed the Archbishop’s bills totalling $474,000 had already been paid by the Church’s head office without formal authorisation.

In a statement, the Anglican Diocese of Perth said it was “generally known” and reported through the budget that significant funds were being spent to support the Archbishop.

But the diocese admitted “that stronger governance regarding this support by the passing of a specific resolution of the diocesan council and/or the Perth diocesan trustees should have been applied”.

Archbishop Herft resigned from his position as Perth’s most senior Anglican after admitting he had let down survivors of sexual abuse during royal commission hearings into historical abuse at the Diocese of Newcastle.

Archbishop Herft, who served as bishop of Newcastle between 1993 and 2005 before heading up the Church in Perth, is on leave and ends his term on Friday.

It is understood about 100 priests attending the Margaret River retreat were told of the legal fees and the questions around authorisation during a special information session held by diocesan secretary Keith Stephens.

“Diocesan leaders were working on the assumption that most of the legal expenses relating to preparing for and attending the various public hearings ... would be recovered through a claim on the Diocese of Newcastle’s insurers,” the Anglican Church in Perth said. “Subsequent investigations have concluded that such a claim is unlikely to be successful and, as such, will not be pursued.”

Until recently, former premier Richard Court effectively led the executive arm of the Church as chair of the diocesan trustees. That role was taken over by former Rio Tinto boss Sam Walsh after Mr Court was appointed ambassador to Japan.