Voters in dark: Treasurer exposed as former bankrupt

Michael Ferguson now faces questions over why he has never disclosed the bankruptcy to voters, either when seeking election to the House of Representatives in 2004 and 2007, or at five state elections.

Tasmanian Treasurer and acting Premier Michael Ferguson. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

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Tasmania’s embattled Liberal Treasurer, Michael Ferguson, is a former bankrupt but has never declared his past insolvency to voters, The Weekend Australian can reveal.

Mr Ferguson, facing a potentially career-ending no-confidence motion over bungling of a vital wharf project and claims he misled parliament, was declared bankrupt in 1994.

Documents held by the Australian Financial Security Authority show Mr Ferguson lodged a debtor’s petition for bankruptcy, accepted on February 1, 1994.

The bankruptcy remained in place for about six months until being discharged early on August 11, 1994.

Mr Ferguson, also Deputy Premier and current acting Premier, told The Weekend Australian the bankruptcy was the result of debts incurred due to a car accident when he was a 19-year-old university student.

“I was a teenager on my way to a student-teacher prac placement when I was involved in a car ­accident for which I accepted responsibility,” he said.

“The car I was driving at the time was uninsured.

“Given my age and lack of ­income I was advised to apply for bankruptcy. I was afforded an early discharge six months later, the earliest that anyone can be given.

“This has been on the public ­record for more than 30 years and disclosed whenever required, including the Premier’s knowledge of, and through federal and state preselection processes since my first preselection in 2004.”

It is understood Mr Ferguson failed to give way in the accident and that the other drivers involved sought to recover a combined sum of about $20,000 from him as the at-fault driver.

Mr Ferguson, a federal MP ­before he entered state politics, ­described the surfacing of his bankruptcy on the eve of a ­potential no-confidence vote as “nothing more than a shameful political hit job”.

He said there were people “resorting to grubby attacks” to “bring me down”.

“Not satisfied with threats of a politically inspired no-confidence motion, they are dredging up a very traumatic incident that occurred when I was teenager,” he said.

“It shows just how low they will go. Tasmanians demand us to get on with the job of dealing with the real issues that matter to them, not this utterly toxic political pointscoring and desperate attempts to smear and tear people down.”

However, Mr Ferguson is likely to face questions over why he has never disclosed the bankruptcy to voters, either when seeking election to the House of Representatives in 2004 and 2007, or at five state elections.

Appointed Treasurer in 2022, Mr Ferguson has allowed state debt to balloon from $1.5bn in 2021-22 to a projected $8.6bn by 2027-28, prompting alarm among some economists and business leaders.

Exposure of his former bankruptcy comes as the conservative weathers a political storm over the failure to ensure two new $900m-plus Bass Strait ferries have an adequate wharf at which to dock.

“It’s little wonder Tasmania’s finances are such a mess – Michael Ferguson went bankrupt, and now he’s wrecked Tasmania’s finances too,” said Labor Treasury spokesman Josh Willie.

“It’s truly remarkable that the man in charge of Tasmania’s finances was declared bankrupt after causing a car accident and not having any insurance.

“Treasurer Ferguson has demonstrated terrible judgment time and time again. Just in recent months he’s delivered the worst budget in Tasmania’s history and overseen the biggest infrastructure stuff-up in Tasmanian history.”

Labor Treasury spokesman Josh Willie.

The wharf scandal has already seen Mr Ferguson, 50, resign as infrastructure minister, and claimed the jobs of two state-owned ferry company chiefs, amid an ongoing, bruising parliamentary inquiry.

Failure to build a new wharf for the two new Finnish-built Spirit of Tasmania ferries – the first of which is due to arrive later this year – means they will initially at best operate well below capacity.

Mr Ferguson and senior figures in the state-owned TT-Line ferry company and TasPorts have blamed each other for the debacle, which also follows budget and timeline blowouts on the ferries.

Labor has called for Mr Ferguson to be sacked as Treasurer and stakeholder minister or risk being censured next week by parliament, in which the minority Liberal government relies for support on independents.

It appears 17 of the 35 lower house MPs would vote no confidence in Mr Ferguson. If one of two independents yet to declare their hands also backs the motion, it will pass, forcing Mr Ferguson to resign – or risk a no-confidence motion in the government. Mr Ferguson has denied misleading parliament.

One of Tasmania’s new ferries, Spirit of Tasmania IV, at Rauma Marine Constructions yard in Finland. The ship has no where suitable to dock in Tasmania, despite years of notice of its arrival.