Salvation Army head Major Brendan Nottle has apologised for giving donated tickets to one of Paul McCartney's Australian shows this month to his daughter, however questioned the donation itself.
Speaking on 3AW (via The Age), Nottle admitted that the charitable organisation "got it wrong".
"We're not Ticketmaster, we're not concert promoters, we don't do that sort of stuff. We get it wrong sometimes, as we've done here," he said.
"In hindsight, we could have handled this a lot better, but under the pressure of a chaotic environment up there I get why it happened."
A diehard Beatles fan, Chris McDonald, donated seven tickets for McCartney's gig to the Salvation Army Melbourne Project 614. However, after arriving at the concert McDonald was shocked to find two of the tickets were taken by Nottle's daughter and her partner, after two of the recipients returned the tickets just hours before the show was to set to start.
It's reported that McDonald, who is unemployed due to a chronic illness, spent over a year saving up for the seven tickets which cost over $2,350.
While Nottle accepted blame for the incident, he suggested that concert tickets were not an ideal donation for homeless people.
"To be blunt - do homeless people need tickets to Paul McCartney or do they need a roof over their head? Do they need assistance with mental health issues and trauma or do they need food in their belly? I think the answer's pretty obvious," Nottle said.
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"Our focus is on getting people accommodation, getting them off the streets, getting them support, absolutely getting them back on their feet and seeing their life change; that's absolutely the drive of what we do. We're not Ticketmaster, we don't always get handing out tickets right.
"We'll learn from this going forward, absolutely."
The Salvation Army has said they will reimburse McDonald for the seven tickets.
"I have no wish to get that money back in terms of personal finances," McDonald responded.
"I donated it with the purest intentions of doing something good for people out there struggling. I plan on putting it straight back into another a charity that I feel will use the donation for what it is intended for.
"I have nothing against the Salvation Army or the Nottle family personally, and I have forgiven them for what has occurred.
"My intention was never to rubbish them as an organisation. We all make mistakes and they do a lot of good work ... all I ever wanted was an explanation."
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