Gloriavale reports $860k deficit, finds new bank after being dumped by BNZ

Friday, 4 April 2025

Gloriavale has posted a deficit of more than $860,000 and has a new bank after being dumped by BNZ - although which bank has taken on the controversial West Coast community remains a mystery.

In December, the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of allowing BNZ to terminate 83 Gloriavale accounts on the grounds of the bank’s human rights policy.

Gloriavale’s lawyer told the court without bank accounts the community’s ability to provide the basic needs of its people, including medical care and education would be at risk, as would the continued existence of the community.

Gloriavale’s charitable trust’s annual return for the year ending July 31, 2024 filed to Charities Services says the matter was closed and new banking services were found from March.

“The trust and its related entities have established alternative banking arrangements, ensuring continuity of operations.”

Charities Services confirmed it has completed an investigation into the Christian Church Community Trust, the tax-free registered charity behind the community.

Its findings was referred to the Charities Registration Board in September but the board has yet to issue a decision on whether the trust should keep its charitable status.

The trust’s annual report shows the community’s deficit was more than $860,000 down from a surplus of $3.4 million two years ago. Its total assets were $47.7m, including land worth $8.6m, which was down from $48.7m in the 2023 financial year.

The report also says “key management personnel”, which includes the chief executive, former banker and health boss Philip Jamieson who was appointed in 2022, earned remuneration of $315,000, up from $215,000 in 2023. It is unclear if Jamieson, who is one of two employees, is the only “key management personnel”.

Jamieson said the increase was due to him starting in the role part way through the financial year. He believed that figure included a honorarium to the trust’s external trustees. The trust also employed an external teacher at the school, he said.

He said it had been a tough year for the trust but it had made significant improvements in the area of health and safety and child protection. He was working on a plan to move all the workers of the trust’s businesses to an employment from a contractor model following the Employment Court ruling which found they were employees and not volunteers.

He would not say which bank Gloriavale was now using, as it was “commercially sensitive”.

According to the annual report, the trust spent almost $750,000 on improving regulatory compliance and “defending itself from legal attacks in a number of cases as well as defending the right of the people to live in community”.

The report also noted ongoing legal cases against the trust, including two cases yet to be heard, one over its assets and another claim before the Human Rights Review Tribunal alleging unlawful discrimination and victimisation.

“The Trust has understandably faced and is facing significant challenges stemming from external concerns primarily relating to historical issues within the Gloriavale community. It is hoped that in the coming year, some closure can be reached with all the stakeholders concerned.“

The report says the trust owns eight companies, employed one person and made almost $14.5m revenue from providing goods and services. Its dairy and pet food companies provided no net surplus.

It has funded land improvements on Brunner Station land, which was purchased by the community in 2021.

“Planning work around the long-term use of the property for residential purposes remains a work in progress,” the report says.

The trust spent $73,000 on providing goods, food, or cash donations for a large number of charitable organisations, ranging from healthcare to domestic support and community development agencies. It also invested in farm equipment and community accommodation.

Legal battles

• Gloriavale honey producer Forest Gold Honey went into voluntary liquidation in November owing more than $1 million.

• In January, the Overseeing Shepherd issued a formal apology for allowing physical and sexual abuse to happen, allowing offenders to continue abusing while seeking forgiveness from victims and not reporting abuse to police following The Royal Commission into Abuse in Care’s final report’s recommendations. The inquiry’s redress report recommended the establishment of a single, independent redress system to compensate for the average cost of abuse in a survivor's lifetime of $857,000.

• Six Gloriavale men appeared in court during 2024 for physical and sexual abuse against children, women and men.

• The Overseeing Shepherd Howard Temple has pleaded not guilty to indecently assaulting 10 girls over two decades and his judge-alone trial will take place in July.

• The Employment Court found women and men who worked in the community were entitled to workers’ rights and were employed by Overseeing Shepherd Howard Temple, or whoever held that role at the time of their employment. Temple has been ordered to pay more than $274,000 in legal costs. While the women’s case is under appeal, a $5.2m compensation and lost wages claim is before the Employment Court.

• Four former members, representing other Gloriavale leavers, filed a $10m civil case against five government agencies for failing to protect them, and Gloriavale leaders for holding them as slaves. A hearing date has not been set.