by Ean Higgins
6th June 2006

THE federal Government paid salaries and office subsidies to Hillsong Church's benevolent arm for indigenous development programs that generated only a trickle of funds for Aborigines.

The Government has admitted that Hillsong Emerge chief Leigh Coleman received $80,000 of federal indigenous development funds to top up his salary, despite having only indirect involvement in the projects.

It also paid Hillsong Emerge $82,500 to fit out its office in the Sydney suburb of Redfern. Mr Coleman uses the office to run the Christian Business Directory, which touts for advertising worth up to $2000 an item.

The revelations were contained in answers to questions on notice in federal parliament and prompted the Opposition, which is suspicious of links between Hillsong and the Liberal Party, to question the funding arrangements.

Labor spokesman on indigenous affairs Chris Evans told The Australian: "Mr Coleman has paid himself a surprisingly large portion of the grant, for someone clearly occupied elsewhere with other responsibilities. This, and the other grants, raises the questions of whether taxpayers have been funding the activities of the church."

Mr Coleman would not take calls from The Australian and Hillsong spokeswoman Maria Ieroianni did not return calls or emails.

The new material shows Mr Coleman received $80,000 in annual salary for his part in administering two indigenous business development programs. Hillsong Emerge's federal funding in both programs, by Indigenous Business Australia, was discontinued this year after revelations in federal parliament that only a tiny portion of the millions of dollars in taxpayers' money reached the Aboriginal community.

The vast majority of the funds went to employing Hillsong Emerge staff, including $315,000 to cover the salaries of seven workers in Redfern.

In one year, the program made just six "micro-enterprise development" loans to Aborigines, which were worth an average of $2856 each.

The discontinuation of the IBA funding programs came only weeks after Hillsong Emerge was stripped of a separate $415,000 federal grant for community crime prevention.

NSW Labor MP Ian West had alleged in parliament that Hillsong misused and misled a local Aboriginal community to get the money for itself. Hillsong denied Mr West's allegations. It insists all its projects using federal funds were run successfully and with probity.

Liberal MP Louis Markus, a Hillsong church member who once worked with Mr Coleman, won the seat of Greenway in Sydney's northwest at the last election with the campaign support of Hillsong members. Labor MPs have alleged in federal parliament that the commonwealth grants to Hillsong Emerge were a reward for Hillsong's political support.

In a Senate estimates committee hearing in February, IBA assistant general manager Ivan Parrett admitted that part of the IBA funds had been spent on Mr Coleman.