Opposition Leader Matthew Guy Says Preselected Candidate Renee Heath, Linked to City Builders Church, Won’t Sit in Party Room if Elected

Clare and Patrick McIvor married on May 12, 2012, in the Victorian town of Sale. Clare’s father, Pentecostal pastor Brian Heath, encouraged the wedding, according to a 2022 report in The Age, although he knew the groom was gay. The couple’s marriage ended two years before that report in an amicable separation. They later spoke publicly for the first time to expose harmful practices at City Builders Church, the institution in which they had grown up, standing up for those harmed by its practices (Proverbs 31:8-9).

The Age reported that a joint investigation uncovered fresh evidence of disturbing conduct within City Builders and closely affiliated churches in Victoria. According to the report, City Builders teaches dominionism, a doctrine that seeks to take over seven societal “mountains.” The church says this goal is metaphorical.

Renee Heath, Clare’s sister, had been preselected at the top of the Liberal Party’s ballot for a safe upper house seat at the state election. Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said she will not sit in the Liberal party room if elected on November 26. Renee Heath, her father Pastor Brian, and the church declined multiple requests for interviews. Their lawyers categorically denied support for gay conversion therapy and for discrimination against non-heterosexual people.

A separate report by ABC said Brian Heath joined the Victorian Liberal Party in August 2019. Three days later, Heath invited Malaysian pastor Jonathan David to address his congregation at City Builders Church in Sale. Heath, a former Family First candidate, is vice-president of the party’s Morwell branch. The ABC reported that City Builders is among several conservative congregations seeking to expand the influence of the religious right over the Liberal Party. By 2021, the church venue was hosting the annual general meeting of the Liberal Party’s Gippsland federal electorate conference.

Peter Wilson, a veteran Liberal Party member and delegate for the Gippsland East local branch, told the ABC that for three years he had watched City Builders Church and its Pentecostal allies take over local party branches. The ABC said it had sighted email correspondence from Gippsland Liberal Party officials raising concerns about membership activities dating back to 2017. An email from August 2020 states that the majority of new members over several years