Opposition Leader David Crisafulli under fire over $200k ‘hush money’ payment claims

Deputy premier Cameron Dick has slammed Opposition Leader David Crisafulli over claims of a “hush money” payment, accusing him of covering up “crooked behaviour”.

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli during Question Time this week. Picture: Dan Peled

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli is under fire over what the government has branded a $200,000 “hush money” payment related to his time as a director of a failed training company.

The claims were labelled “desperate” by Mr Crisafulli, who accused the government of attempting to distract from itself on the eve of the October 26 state election.

Mr Crisafulli was the director of training agency Southern Edge, trading as SET Solutions, between December 2015 and April 2016 before it went into liquidation on June 30, 2016, owing more than $6m to creditors.

Following claims the company was trading insolvent, a negotiated settlement was reached between liquidators and Mr Crisafulli, who paid $200,000 in three payments between March 2020 and July 2021.

Government ministers lined up on Tuesday to slam Mr Crisafulli’s silence on the matter, with Deputy Premier Cameron Dick using parliamentary privilege to accuse him of making the payment to cover up “crooked behaviour”.

Queensland Deputy Premier Cameron Dick lashed out at Mr Crisafulli’s silence on the matter. Picture: Dan Peled

“These are fundamental and urgent matters, he should front up, front the cameras, front you (journalists) and tell Queenslanders exactly what went on,” Mr Dick then said outside parliament.

Mr Crisafulli said there was no wrongdoing and declared he “met my obligations” as a company director.

The Opposition Leader, who polling predicts will become Queensland premier after the October election, questioned the timing of the government’s attack.

“It’s the desperation of a government that has run out of steam, that has no direction and most importantly, no plan for the future of Queensland,” he said.

“The more the government gets desperate, the more aggressive the government will get.”

Mr Dick accused Mr Crisafulli of leaving creditors out of pocket when the business went broke.

“He ran a business into the ground,” the deputy premier said.

“They have lost money because of how badly he ran that company and he has kept that a secret.

“At every step he has tried to cover it up, paying $200,000 in hush money.

“If you cannot run a small company, how on earth could you run Queensland?”