Gympie, Fraser Coast, Bundaberg subbies owed $580k in BA Murphy collapse
The high profile collapse of Sunshine Coast-based construction company BA Murphy has carved a financial hole across Gympie, the Fraser Coast and Bundaberg. Read the full list of Wide Bay subcontractors and suppliers impacted, and how much each is owed.
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Wide Bay businesses have not escaped the carnage wrought by the $10.8 million collapse of BA Murphy, with the Sunshine Coast company’s liquidation carving a six figure hole in the region’s economy.
Initial liquidation documents lodged with ASIC reveal more than $580,000 was owed to 16 businesses across Gympie, the Fraser Coast and Bundaberg when the company sank owing almost $11 million in total.
The largest debt in the Wide Bay was owed to Gympie-based Stratec, which documents revealed had been left $440,484 out of pocket.
The financial damage accumulated on the Fraser Coast.
Six Hervey Bay businesses were owed five figure sums.
Plastering company JPI Linings was the worst of these with more than $39,000 still owed to them.
Geotechnical Services (Wide Bay) was owed more than $20,000.
The remaining four companies, CQ Building Supplies, Water Wise Design Hydraulic and Fire Service Consulting, Red the Renderer, and Surveyors at Work, were each owed between $10,000-$14,000.
In Bundaberg, Hoopert Contracting was owed $6205, Reliable Hire was owed $1337.69, and Andersens Carpets were out $1105.
The owner of one business, who requested anonymity, said authorities including the Queensland Building and Construction Commission, needed to step in earlier.
He said they should assess large building companies’ financials every three months.
“They should be on top of it long before it happens,” he said.
“If you can’t fund the job don’t f-----g do it.”
He said there would have been warning signs long before the collapse.
“How can someone end up (that far) in the hole and no-one knows anything about it?”
BA Murphy’s owed more than 550 Australian businesses almost $11m when it went under in December 2021.
This was well above initial reports the debt would be in the ballpark of $3 million.
The Queensland Building and Construction Commission’s records showed BA Murphy had completed 98 projects worth $30.7m in 2020-21 and 100 jobs worth more than $27.5m the previous financial year.
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