Cocoon SDA Care troubles deepen as ex-minister, radio host Gary Hardgrave cuts ties
Former Howard government minister Gary Hardgrave has severed ties with a troubled NDIS provider that he has long been associated with, following more than a week of revelations about the company’s operations.
Former Howard government minister Gary Hardgrave says he has severed ties with a troubled NDIS provider he has long been associated with, following more than a week of revelations about the company’s operations.
Mr Hardgrave, now a Brisbane radio host, was listed in promotional material for Cocoon SDA Care as the “Cocoon Advisory Board Chairman” and has been involved in advancing its interests in both Australia and abroad.
“I’m no longer with them mate, so I’ve got nothing to say,” he told The Australian on Monday.
Asked when he ceased being involved with Cocoon, he said: “Friday.”
He added that “as the business has been suspended, I no longer need to be associated with them”.
The Herald Sun has separately reported on Monday morning that Mr Hardgrave said he was still helping Cocoon, and that he had questioned a decision by federal authorities to temporarily suspend its NDIS operations.
He had been “retained to provide them at their request any advice”, he said of the company.
Mr Hardgrave was pictured with Cocoon co-founder Zaffar Khan, a former bankrupt who has been at the centre of prior consumer warnings, in a meeting with Logan City Council Mayor Jon Raven in January, The Australian discovered.
He was also pictured with Mr Khan meeting with Australia’s senior trade and investments commissioner Stephen Skulley in the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, in a post on the company’s social media sites on September 1 last year, it can be revealed.
“Honoured to have met with Sophie and Stephen from the Australian Embassy in Jakarta during our business trip to Indonesia!” Cocoon posted.
“Their insights and support have been invaluable as we navigate new opportunities and strengthen our global connections.”
Mr Hardgrave was external to the company and it is not suggested he was involved in any wrongdoing.
He hosted events for the company and it is understood he would also chair meetings of a Cocoon management committee, but that hasn’t occurred for about the last 12 months.
National watchdog the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission said Wednesday that it was suspending the registration of Cocoon’s parent company Horizon Solsolutions Australia as of Friday, after serious safeguarding concerns were raised in recent site visits.
Cocoon has been unable to pay staff since the National Disability Insurance Agency started manually reviewing all of the company’s claims for NDIS funding in March, cutting off its cash flow. The NDIA says it is investigating potential fraud.
But the firm’s problems go back much further, with the tax office issuing the company a bankruptcy notice last year before agreeing to a payment plan for a $10m debt to the ATO.
Some staff say the company has not kept up with their superannuation payments since at least last year.
The NDIS commission also fined Horizon more than $50,000 in November 2023 for failing to provide services in a safe and competent manner after NDIS participants with significant disabilities were locked out of their homes when the company became involved in a rent dispute.
Mr Hardgrave was a federal MP from 1996 to 2007, serving as citizenship and multicultural affairs minister from 2001 to 2004, and vocational and technical education minister from 2004 to 2007.
He is host of the 4BC Drive program.
A source familiar with Cocoon’s operations, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Mr Hardgrave had been associated with Mr Khan and Cocoon for some years.
“Zaffar’s words were: `It’s always good to have a well-known figure by your side like Gary Hardgrave’.”
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