Let’s start with the pedophile scandals. Destiny Church has been rocked by allegations of sexual abuse, with a disciple charged in 2024 for sexually assaulting teenagers in a South Auckland Destiny Church youth group. Tamaki’s response? Minimise and deflect, claiming he didn’t even know the guy, despite numerous photos showing him anointing and being friends with the accused.
The "church" banned the pedophile only after police got involved, and Tamaki had the gall to slam the cops for not acting fast enough. Multiple victims, years of alleged abuse, and yet Tamaki plays an innocent shepherd who knew nothing. Yeah right! This isn’t just negligence; it’s a pattern. Back in 2010, Tamaki’s “spiritual father,” US preacher Eddie Long, faced lawsuits for coercing teenage boys into sexual relationships. Tamaki called it “shocking” but stayed cozy with Long. Smells like a cover-up culture to me.
Today, 1 News reported:
Today John Campbell launches Under His Command, a five-part TVNZ+ investigation into Destiny Church and the women who live in its shadows.
For more than 25 years Destiny Church and its controversial leader Brian Tamaki have occupied a small, if loud, fundamentalist corner of New Zealand’s religious culture.
But recently, the church has made fresh headlines due to its active stance against the LGBTQI community, with members of its Man Up division (and other Destiny offshoots) targeting rainbow events and most notably storming the Drag Story Hour at a West Auckland public library in February, resulting in injuries to the public and seven Destiny arrests.
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She also talked about Destiny’s use of haka against the LGBTQI community – and how utterly inappropriate it is to weaponise the haka in such a harmful way.
One former insider, the only man I spoke to, said “rage is Tamaki’s marketing tool”. I’ve watched hours of Brian Tamaki sermons – the incendiary tone, the homophobia, the transphobia, the xenophobia, it’s staggering and it’s not healthy, it’s not good for your heart to be assailed with that.
Then there’s the question of legality. Tamaki’s empire thrives on tax-exempt status, raking in tithes while he lives it large in a Drury mansion he conveniently doesn’t own. His Freedoms New Zealand political party and anti-vaxx crusades, including threats to blow up mobile vaccination clinics in 2021, and numerous threats and covert actions against the LGBTQ+ community, skirt the edges of incitement. Yet, despite arrests and bail breaches, he's never been truly held to account.
From dodging Covid protest charges in 2024 to getting off Scott free for getting people beaten up at children's reading events, Brian Tamaki appears to be performing miracles in avoiding accountability. How does a man who leads a religious cult linked to violent Pride protests keep slipping past the law? Is it charisma, connections, or just a system too timid to take on a gangster in bishop’s robes? Tamaki’s no pastor; he’s a thug in a suit, running Destiny like a mafia don. His Man Up crew, decked out in patches and roaring on motorbikes, looks more like a criminal gang rather than an actual ministry.
Campbell’s excellent series captures the fear insiders feel...testimony to Tamaki’s iron grip. He’s not just fleecing followers; he’s bullying them into submission, all while preaching “family values.” His rhetoric, like blaming cyclones on gay rights, fuels hate, yet he cloaks it in scripture. Campbell’s investigation is a wake-up call. Destiny Church isn’t a quirky outlier; it’s a dangerous disinformation machine profiting off misery. The real scandal? That Tamaki’s still preaching, still dodging, still inciting. When will the justice system stop letting this conman hide behind a cross?
