Liberal Party donor Sally Zou could give evidence as cherry lawsuit examines whether her company is solvent
THE Liberal Party’s biggest donor, Sally Zou, could be forced to take the stand to prove her company Aus Food Alliance is solvent as part of a dispute over 32 tonnes of cherries.
- The saga of Sally Zou: 32 tonnes of cherries …
- A mysterious $1.2 million cheque …
- Her ‘Julie Bishop Glorious Foundation’ …
- And a whole lot of cash donated to the Liberals
THE Liberal Party’s biggest donor, Sally Zou, could be forced to take the stand to prove her company Aus Food Alliance is solvent as part of a dispute over 32 tonnes of cherries.
Ms Zou is resisting a move to have the company wound up for not paying a $414,000 debt for 32 tonnes of cherries it bought from South Australian company Torrens Valley Orchards.
The Supreme Court heard on Tuesday afternoon that Ms Zou had argued in an affidavit that the cherries were “not of merchantable quality’’.
The lawyer for Torrens Valley Orchards told the court “there may be an application to cross-examine Ms Zou’’, in order to establish that her company is solvent — able to pay its debts as and when they fall due.
Counsel for Ms Zou told the court that the affidavit, filed this week, included evidence of money held in Hong Kong bank accounts which would cover the debt.
It was also asserted that she had other sources of money which could cover it.
In essence, Ms Zou is arguing her company has the capacity to pay the debt — and therefore should not be wound up — but is disputing the quality of the goods supplied and therefore whether the debt is valid.
Judge Graham Dart adjourned the matter until later this month, in order to allow time for further affidavit material to be lodged with the court.
The court heard two weeks ago that Torrens Valley Orchards had not been paid for the order of 32 tonnes of cherries, which was made in January, and Ms Zou’s company should be wound up immediately for not paying the debt.
Aus Food Alliance was served with a winding up notice in July, following a statutory demand to pay the debt in March.
Torrens Valley is a Gumeracha-based cherry company, which traces its history back to 1840 — just four years after the settlement of South Australia, when the Hannaford family established a small farm in Unley.
The company moved to Gumeracha in 1985 to establish its cherry operations.
Ms Zou — who is listed on company documents as living in New South Wales but has in the past spent a lot of time in SA and has donated large amounts of money to the Liberal Party at both state and national level — has a number of companies which are described as being involved in food exports and the resources sector.
She was the focus of attention before the last state election in March after she tweeted an image of a $1.2 million cheque made out to the state Liberal Party — a donation which never eventuated.
The cheque’s authenticity was called into question after it emerged the sum was comprised of figures which made out Premier Steven Marshall’s 50th birthday on January 21 this year.
Ms Zou was the state Liberal Party’s most generous donor in 2016-17, with her AusGold Mining Group donating $316,064, down on the $360,000 the company handed over the previous year.
Ms Zou also made headlines when The Advertiser revealed mid-last year that she had previously set up a company called “Julie Bishop Glorious Foundation” which the Foreign Minister said at the time she had never heard of.
Ms Zou, who is also a large financial supporter of the Port Adelaide Football Club, also set up a company last year called Australian Earthly Paradise.
cameron.england@news.com.au