Liberal Richard Welch blames error within a UK Government Department for his continued connection to the business

Liberal Richard Welch says he was mistakenly listed as a United Kingdom company secretary. The error could see him reprimanded for misleading the parliament.

The Allan government says Richard Welch and the Liberal Party ‘have questions to answer’ Picture: Jason Edwards

A Liberal MP will be referred to the Victorian parliament’s powerful privileges committee for investigation after he failed to declare he was listed as the secretary of a company in the United Kingdom, branded as a potential breach of the strict code of conduct by the Allan government.

The Member for the North Eastern Metropolitan Region, Richard Welch, has confirmed he was aware he was publicly listed by a UK Government agency as the company secretary of a technology business, miSport, which specialises in AI motion sensor tracking, until it was dissolved in December.

However, he has claimed the listing was a mistake, so he never declared it a potential conflict on his Register of Interest.

Mr Welch told the Herald Sun that he had been listed as the secretary for the company he founded, but he said he had stood down as director and secretary in 2017, and attributed his continued connection to the business to an error within a UK Government Department.

Richard Welch will be referred to the Victorian parliament’s powerful privileges committee for investigation. Picture: David Crosling

In a statement Mr Welch said: “I resigned as company secretary in the UK in 2017 and have had no income, financial role, or function in the company since then, apart from a bit of informal advice in 2018 as they transitioned the management team.

“My contract with company stipulated that at exit I was automatically resigned from all company positions, (board, director and secretary alike). I submitted a form to Companies House in aprox Nov 2017 resigning both Director and Secretary.”

Documents on the public record seen by the Herald Sun showed Mr Welch official was delisted from the Director role, but there was no official record of Mr Welch resigning as secretary.

“The fact that my name has somehow stayed on the Companies House register is an error at their end, and at the company’s end, as obviously I haven’t been around for any annual filings for nearly 8 years where the directors should have updated it regardless,” he said.

Under the Victorian Parliament code of conduct, members must declare all conflicts of interest and face being reprimanded for misleading the parliament or failing to declare any concerns.

Mr Welch told the Herald Sun he was aware of the public listing but admitted he didn’t declare the issue to the parliament because it was a mistake.

A Victorian Government spokesperson said the matter was concerning and would be referred to the committee for investigation.

“Mr Welch and the Liberal Party have questions to answer about the Member’s failure to declare his registered interests,” they said.

“We are referring this to the Privileges Committee for investigation. Parliamentarians must be held to the highest standards because that’s what all Victorians expect and deserve.”

Mr Welch has openly talked about his business history in Parliament previously, spruiking the company he founded as one of his strongest accomplishments when he entered parliament in 2023.

He replaced retired frontbencher Matt Bach in the state upper house.

Mr Welch bagged the seat over nine other Liberal candidates.

Among his competitors was former frontbencher Louise Staley who was eliminated in the second round of voting.