Read the write-up of Brian Tamaki net worth, biography, age, height, family, parents, wife, children, petition, politics, church as well as other information you need to know.
Introduction
Brian Tamaki is a New Zealand Fundamentalist Christian religious leader and right-wing political activist. A member of the Ngati Ngawaero and Ngati Maniapoto tribes, both part of the Tainui confederation, he heads Destiny Church, a Pentecostal Christian organisation in New Zealand which advocates strict adherence to fundamentalist biblical morality and is notable for its position against homosexuality, its patriarchal views, and for its calls for a return to biblical conservative family values and morals.
He has also stated the COVID-19 pandemic is a sign the world has “strayed from God”, which led to widespread condemnation, with one New Zealand Anglican vicar describing Tamaki as “dangerous”. This, alongside many comments he has made, and how he has amassed a large fortune by preaching the prosperity gospel to a mostly working-class audience, has made him a controversial figure in New Zealand.
Early life
| Name | Brian Tamaki |
| Net Worth | $5 million |
| Profession | Religious Leader, Politician |
| Height | 1.83m |
| Age | 64 years |
Bryan Raymond Tamaki was born on February 2, 1958 (age 64 years) in Te Awamutu, New Zealand. He grew up in Te Awamutu in the Waikato region as the eldest in a family of five, Tamaki spent his childhood years on the family farm, called “Te Manuka”, in the rural area of Te Kopua. His mother was “devoutly religious”, taking her sons to the Te Awamutu Methodist Church on Sundays. Tamaki describes his father as an alcoholic who showed no interest in fatherhood.
During Tamaki’s childhood, the family moved from the farm to Te Awamutu and then on to Tokoroa in 1970. While in Tokoroa, Tamaki became interested in rugby union and a little later came to enjoy pig-hunting and participating in a rock band playing the pub circuit. Two of Tamaki’s brothers, Doug and Mike, are tourism venture operators in Rotorua.
Brian Tamaki dropped out of secondary school at fifteen, after, as he describes in his autobiography, dabbling in drugs, before completing the fourth form and taking a labouring job in the forestry industry. Tamaki became heavily involved with the church after pastor Manuel Renata baptised him in December 1979. Since Tamaki and his partner had not married, Renata would not allow him to carry out all the functions of the church. Tamaki and Lee then married at the Tokoroa Presbyterian Church on 22 March 1980. Fourteen months later they had their second child, a girl named Jamie.
In 1982 the Tamaki’s attended the Apostolic Church’s Te Nikau Bible College in Paraparaumu, and also had their third child, Samuel. Tamaki became an ordained elder, and then (in September 1984) a pastor in the Tokoroa Apostolic Church. Tamaki went on to establish the Rosetown Community Church in Te Awamutu, the Lake City Church in Rotorua, City Church and then Destiny Church in Auckland.
On 18 June 2005 kaumatua and Destiny Pastor Manuel Renata ordained Tamaki as bishop of the Destiny Church movement (which at the time totalled 15 churches throughout New Zealand and Australia). Tamaki advocates prosperity theology, which has been criticised as immoral and potentially dangerous.
In mid-April 2018, it was reported that Tamaki had sustained two second-degree burns to his face and body after a botched attempt to burn rubbish. Tamaki announced to members of his congregation that he was recovering and praised his wife and hospital staff for aiding his recovery.
Church and politics
In 2003 several members of the Destiny Church started the Destiny New Zealand political party, led by Richard Lewis. The party ran candidates in most electorates in the 2005 general election but garnered less than 1 per cent of the vote, well short of the 5 per cent threshold required to enter Parliament without winning an electorate seat.
Destiny New Zealand was promoted by a nationwide tour and DVD labelled “A Nation Under Siege”. Tamaki features in the DVD and accompanied the tour. The DVD shows Tamaki decrying what he sees as four problems with New Zealand society: “a Government gone evil, a radical homosexual agenda, the media: a modern day witchcraft” and “the retreat of religion in New Zealand”.
In 2004, Tamaki predicted the Destiny Church would be “ruling the nation” before its tenth anniversary in 2008. Destiny Church claimed a close relationship with New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta, USA, the church of Bishop Eddie Long, until at least September 2010. In his autobiography, Tamaki wrote a chapter titled “Spiritual Father – a long time coming”, in which he described meeting “my spiritual father”, Eddie Long, in 2002. In October 2003, Long visited New Zealand after Tamaki invited him to address Destiny Church members.
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Brian Tamaki wrote, “the ease of our connection and the confirmation of a date was entirely in line with Kingdom principle – when God speaks, do it”. Long travelled to New Zealand again subsequently and Tamaki usually met him each year at church conferences.
On 23 May 2019 Tamaki launched a new political party, Coalition New Zealand, led by his wife Hannah Tamaki. Coalition New Zealand would not be an explicitly Christian party but would oppose abortion and homosexuality. The name of the party was deemed potentially misleading by the Electoral Commission and was subsequently renamed Vision New Zealand.
Media engagement
At the Nelson meeting of the Destiny New Zealand “A Nation Under Siege” tour, Tamaki attacked the media, the government, the Green Party and Grey Power (a lobby group for the elderly), referring to the Greens as “pagans”, Grey Power as “self-centred” and the media as “modern-day witchcraft”.
In 2004 the Sunday Star-Times reported that Mr Tamaki “hijacked” $450,000 from elderly couple Barry and Marian Wilson. The Wilsons lent the money, which they had received from the sale of nautical clothing label Line7 in the mid-’90s, on the understanding that it was to be used to purchase a block of land in Rotorua for the construction of a church. It was reported that after almost 10 years and countless attempts to contact Mr Tamaki and his wife Hannah, the Wilsons had given up hope of ever recovering the full amount. The Sunday Star-Times asked Mr Tamaki for a response to a series of questions regarding the loan, but he declined to respond.
In 2004 Sunday broadcast a documentary of Tamaki and of the Destiny Church. Dr Philip Culbertson of the University of Auckland said: “As far as I can tell it’s a cult”. In July 2005 Tamaki had directed “highly offensive abuse” at Newstalk ZB host Mike Yardley while off-air during an interview on 20 July. In his autobiography, Tamaki denies that the abuse happened.
In May 2006 a poll ranked Tamaki the least-trusted of 75 prominent New Zealanders. In June 2006 Tamaki expressed opposition to Sue Bradford’s private members Child Discipline Bill, which removed the legal defence of “reasonable force” for prosecutions of parents who have assaulted their children.
In May 2007 the Reader’s Digest “Most Trusted People”‘ poll again ranked Tamaki as New Zealand’s least trusted of 75 prominent persons, followed by Ahmed Zaoui and Don Brash. He was again ranked least-trusted in 2012 in a list of 100, this time followed by Hone Harawira and Kim Dotcom.
In July 2008 TV3 broadcast “Inside New Zealand: The Life of Brian”, a documentary by reporter Ross Jennings. Jennings claimed to “go inside the head of the Destiny Church’s home, inside his boat, inside his church and yes, even inside his flashy wardrobe.”
Views and controversies
In a Close-Up TV interview on the subject, Tamaki denied that his church is a cult claiming that “if we are a cult then the Catholics, the Presbyterians, the Methodists, the Baptists, and the Pentecostals are all cults as well. Because we believe – we have the same actual orthodox tenets of belief.”
Richard Lewis, spokesperson for Destiny, earlier in the same interview deflected the criticism by re-defining the term in a pejorative sense saying “Well a cult is umm some exclusive community out in the backdrops of nowhere, but Destiny is the opposite of that; we’re in the middle of Mt Wellington, our doors are always open, as Bishop says; we broadcast live, we’re an open book”.
Views on sexuality and marriage
Radio Pacific host John Banks aired an interview with Tamaki that attacked a New Zealand AIDS Foundation’s takatāpui (Māori for LGBT-person) HIV-prevention project, in which Tamaki referred to traditional Māori pre-colonial intolerance for male homosexuality, painting a picture of a society which, he claimed, exterminated gay and lesbian people. However, many Māori academic authorities question the basis for this claim.
The broadcasting of Tamaki’s preaching against homosexuality on Television in New Zealand has led to numerous complaints to the Broadcasting Standards Authority. Television New Zealand pulled the original opening episode of his series Higher Ground because it “had language and phrases that did not meet industry standards of accuracy, fairness and balance”.
Tamaki does not recognise the sex-reassignment surgery of the transgender former MP Georgina Beyer: Tamaki referred to Beyer in his autobiography as a male.
On 16 November 2016, Brian Tamaki drew controversy when he made statements during a sermon that the 2010 and 2011 Christchurch earthquakes were divine retribution for sinful behaviour including murder and homosexuality. These statements preceded the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake by a few hours. Tamaki’s comments were condemned by leading New Zealand public figures including the Mayor of Christchurch Bob Parker, Prime Minister John Key, and the Anglican bishop of Dunedin, Kelvin Wright. One Auckland-based critic Aaron Smithson also organized a Change.org petition calling on Prime Minister Key to revoke Destiny Church’s tax-free status. On 17 November, Tamaki responded by accusing the media of bias and sensationalizing his statements.
On 19 April 2018, Tamaki tweeted his support for Australian rugby union player Israel Folau’s comments condemning homosexuality. In June 2019, he made an ‘apology’ in front of representatives from the LGBT community who were invited on to stage to share their stories and ask for a bridging of the divide between the LGBT community and the church. He told his South Auckland congregation that he is sorry for any past comments that have offended the gay community, claiming that some of his past comments were misinterpreted.
But Tamaki said that he hasn’t changed his beliefs, and doesn’t agree with homosexual acts. This apology came only one week after his wife launched a political party Vision NZ (then called Coalition New Zealand). Only one month before the apology Brian had also used the hashtag on social media #crybabygays while showing support for Australian rugby league player Israel Folau, who among other things said how hell awaited gay people.
Views on women in politics
Brian Tamaki regards the perceived lack of male leadership in New Zealand, including the leadership over one’s family, as “the work of the devil”. He claims that Parliament reflects this alleged lack of male leadership. In his autobiography he defends his attitude towards women by pointing to the role of his wife Pastor Hannah Tamaki in the Destiny Church organisation, and also says “God is very specific about the role and function of men”.
Trans woman MP Georgina Beyer confronted Tamaki at the “Enough is Enough” protest in Wellington in August 2004, charging “Your hatred is totally intolerable”. Beyer also compared Tamaki to despots like Robert Mugabe in a 3 News interview.
Views on Islam
Following the Christchurch mosque shootings in March 2019, Brian Tamaki issued a Tweet protesting at Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s decision to hold an Islamic call to prayer ahead of the two minutes of silence being held for the victims of the Christchurch shootings on 22 March 2019. Tamaki also made remarks attacking Islam as a “false religion” and claiming that Christianity was the national religion of New Zealand.
Responses to the COVID-19 pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand, Tamaki courted media attention and controversy in mid-March 2020 when he announced that Destiny Church would not be closing their churches in response to Government directives discouraging gatherings of more than 100 people. Tamaki stated that he was “not about to let a filthy virus scare us out of having church. To equate fear with common sense is nonsense.”
Brian Tamaki claimed that “… very ignorant Kiwis don’t even realise their rights have been stolen”. Tamaki’s remarks were criticised by infectious diseases expert Siouxsie Wiles for undermining COVID-19 containment efforts.” While Destiny Church held services on 22 March, they subsequently shifted to online services to comply with national lockdown restrictions.
In mid-2020, Tamaki criticized the Government’s alert level two restrictions limiting religious services to 10 people. Describing the Government as “controlling parents,” Tamaki announced that Destiny Church would be holding services in defiance of lockdown regulations and also called upon other New Zealand churches to join him in opposing these restrictions.
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In early March 2021, Tamaki and his wife Hannah attracted media coverage and public criticism after they left Auckland during a Level 3 lockdown and visited Rotorua in the North Island and Te Anau in the South Island, which was both under a Level 2 lockdown. The COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins described Tamakis’ actions as “completely irresponsible.” The Mayor of Invercargill Tim Shadbolt stated that the Tamaki’s were not welcome in the South Island city. That same month, Tamaki had defended Hannah’s Facebook post stating that she would not take any COVID-19 vaccine, claiming they were not “anti-vaxxers” or conspiracy theorists.
In early October 2021, Brian Tamaki along with the Freedoms and Rights Coalition staged an anti-lockdown protest outside the Auckland War Memorial Museum in the Auckland Domain. The protests attracted thousands of demonstrators, including gang members on motorbikes, young children and the elderly, many of whom were not following social distancing rules or wearing masks. The protesters were criticised for flouting lockdown restrictions and endangering public health by ACT Party leader David Seymour, Auckland Council councillors Jo Bartley and Richard Hills, and Jacinda Ardern.
Petition
The New Zealand Police’s delay in laying charges against Tamaki drew criticism, with a Change.org petition calling for his prosecution attracting 65,000 signatures by 4 October. On 5 October, Tamaki was charged with breaching the COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020 and Alert Level 3 restrictions in relation to organising the protest. He appeared in court by video link on 12 October and pleaded not guilty. He was remanded on bail until a further appearance in January 2022. He was also banned from attending protests in breach of anti-COVID restrictions and from using the internet to encourage non-compliance.
Wife
Brian Tamaki is married to his longtime girlfriend Hannah Lee, they had their wedding in 1980. However, in his teens, Brian began a relationship with his wife Hannah Lee and the unwed couple moved to Te Awamutu, where Tamaki worked on a dairy farm owned by his uncle and aunt. An incident occurred where Hannah tried to stab Tamaki to death. It is reported that he had to lock himself in the bathroom but that the blade pierced through the door, nearly wounding him. Tamaki and his wife Hannah Lee had their first child, Jasmine Tamaki, in December 1978 and their second child Samuel Tamaki.
Brian Tamaki net worth
How much is Brian Tamaki worth? Brian Tamaki net worth is estimated at around $5 million. His main source of income is from his church activities. Tamaki’s successful career has earned him some luxurious lifestyles and some fancy cars. He is one of the influential people in New Zealand. However, at 21, Brian Tamaki joined the Ngāruawāhia Apostolic Church. He lost his farm job and he and Lee returned to Tokoroa, where he attended the Tokoroa Apostolic Church.