Qld politics: David Crisafulli maintains he was truthful on insolvent trading

Premier David Crisafulli maintains he was being truthful when he denied there were insolvent trading claims against a training company he was director of.

Premier David Crisafulli in Question Time on Tuesday. Picture: Tertius Pickard/NCA NewsWire

Premier David Crisafulli maintains he was being truthful when he told journalists there were no insolvent trading claims against a training company he was director of.

It comes after documents provided to the Opposition through Freedom of Information laws revealed Mr Crisafulli offered a $200,000 compensation payment in response to an insolvent trading claim for Southern Edge Training Solutions.

The unredacted creditor reports released by the Victorian Department of Employment and Workplace Relations show Mr Crisafulli, while director of SET between December 1, 2015 and April 1, 2016, initiated the settlement offer.

Mr Crisafulli was issued a “without prejudice” letter “in relation to compensation for the loss resulting from insolvent trading for the period 1 December 2015 to 1 April 2016”, the documents state.

“I have received an offer from the director to settle the claim for $200,000 without admission of liability.”

Mr Crisafulli paid the $200,000 to liquidators through three separate instalments of $80,000 on March 12, 2020, $60,000 on July 30, 2020 and $60,000 on July 19, 2021.

He was leader of the opposition at the time of the final payment.

Mr Crisafulli did not declare the payments on the parliamentary register of interest - that matter is now being investigated by the Parliamentary Ethics Committee.

Asked in September whether SET Solutions was trading insolvent while he was director, Mr Crisafulli flatly responded “no”.

When asked to clarify why he made the payments if the company was not trading insolvent, Mr Crisafulli said he had “obligations”. 

The Courier-Mail on Tuesday asked Mr Crisafulli if he refuted allegations that he misled journalists with those comments, in light of the unredacted documents.

“As previously stated in response to Labor’s questions the report shows there were zero findings against him and he has met all obligations for his short four-month tenure at the company in long-term trouble,” a spokeswoman for Mr Crisafulli said.

Deputy Opposition Leader Cameron Dick called on Mr Crisafulli to front the media and explain “why he wasn’t honest”.

“He publicly denied that (SET Solutions was trading insolvent),” he said.

“I think that is a very serious issue that goes to the integrity and the credibility of the Premier, and he needs to explain himself to the people of this state.”

Originally published as Qld politics: David Crisafulli maintains he was truthful on insolvent trading