David Crisafulli referred to the Clerk of the Parliament over $200k insolvent trading payment
David Crisafulli has been referred to the parliamentary clerk for an alleged failure to publicly declare $200,000 in payments to liquidators investigating him for insolvent trading.
David Crisafulli has been referred to the Clerk of the Parliament for an alleged failure to publicly declare $200,000 in payments to liquidators investigating him for insolvent trading.
Deputy Premier Cameron Dick on Tuesday wrote to Neil Laurie asking him to refer the LNP leader to the parliament’s ethics committee for not disclosing the liabilities in his pecuniary interest register, alleging he had breached parliamentary standing orders.
“It is my view that the liability – either in full or the part payments – should have been disclosed by the member for Broadwater (Mr Crisafulli) pursuant to … standing orders,” Mr Dick wrote to Mr Laurie, in a letter seen by The Australian.
Opposition Leader Mr Crisafulli has previously insisted he met his obligations to the business and parliament when asked about the collapse of Southern Edge Training, a firm of which he was sole director and chief executive between December 1, 2015 and April 1, 2016.
The organisation fell into liquidation in mid-2016, and a liquidators’ report said they would seek compensation from directors “if we determine the company traded while insolvent”. Corporate records filed with ASIC show Mr Crisafulli paid the liquidators $80,000 on March 12, 2020; $60,000 on July 30, 2020; and $60,000 on July 19, 2021, which were recorded as “settlements” of liquidators’ actions.
He has not answered repeated questions about why he made the payments, or how he financed the settlements.
Parliamentary rules require liabilities of more than $19,000 to be disclosed.
Mr Dick said: “Payments to liquidators made by the member for Broadwater, either in full or in part, should have been disclosed.” He asked Mr Laurie to refer the matter to the ethics committee for consideration when it is reinstated after the election.
Mr Crisafulli’s spokeswoman described Mr Dick’s actions as “not only a waste of parliament’s time, it’s the very definition of desperate”.
During Mr Crisafulli’s tenure at the company, the Australian Taxation Office issued a demand for more than $110,000.
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