Destiny Church defends taking Covid-19 awareness grants despite anti-vaccine stance

Destiny church leaders Brian and Hannah Tamaki. The anti-vaccine pair claimed $40,000 for their church in government grants for Covid-19 awareness. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

• Destiny Church received $40,000 in Covid-19 awareness and preparedness grants from the Government in April 2020.
• The Ministry of Social Development grants were aimed at community resilience during the pandemic.
• Hannah Tamaki says multiple churches received similar grants, not just Destiny.

Destiny Church has defended claiming tens of thousands of dollars of Government money for Covid-19 preparedness despite its stand against lockdown and mass vaccinations.

Destiny Church pastor Hannah Tamaki has confirmed the church received a $5000 grant each for eight Destiny branches.

“Across the Destiny Churches, we received $40,000, and we were thankful that the money was given to help the community, and not to Brian and Hannah Tamaki’s pockets,” she said.

“We can account for where every dollar went, and we are still anti-vaccination.”

Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki at a Covid-19 lockdown and vaccination protest at Auckland Domain in October 2021. Photo / Brett Phibbs

“There were quite a few churches — not just Destiny Churches — who received grants,” Tamaki told the Herald.

She said the money was used to boost food parcel packs with bread and milk.

Tamaki said all the money went back into the community.

“We distributed hundreds and hundreds of boxes of food parcels, and I’ve got the pictures to prove it,” she said.

“The Government deliberately put a piggy bank out there [the grants] knowing full well we were the only leaders speaking out against the vaccine.”

The Covid-19 grants came with a requirement for Destiny Church to report back on how the money was spent.

Stuff has reported it asked the ministry for copies of the reports from Destiny Church and learned they do not exist.

Brian Tamaki at a Man Up event in 2020. In March police stopped referring people to the programme. Photo / Doug Sherring

“In both contexts, the urgency and speed in which the ministry was expected to respond outweighed standard reporting requirements. Instead, in these situations, we worked collaboratively with our regions utilising their knowledge and existing relationships with community groups,” community programmes manager Serena Curtis said in a statement to Stuff.

Hannah Tamaki told the Herald the ministry never pursued reports.

Police announced in March this year that it would no longer refer people to Destiny-affiliated programmes, including Man Up, following a violent protest at a West Auckland Pride event.

Tamaki said Man Up would survive without police referrals, which “amounted to a minuscule number anyway”.

“We will continue to fund the Man Up programme ... ourselves,” Tamaki said.

“Who needs the Government money, anyway?”