Tuesday, 7 March 2023

Ravenhall prison construction

David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (18:00): (78) My adjournment matter tonight is for the attention of the Treasurer Mr Pallas, and it relates to a firm called RPR Trades. The managing director Darren Da Costa has written to me several times, as he has written to the Treasurer. In fact going back as far as May last year he was in communication with the Treasurer seeking to deal with the many issues that are faced by his firm. It is a recruitment and labour hire business, and it incurred a significant debt while supplying labour to the Ravenhall construction project in 2021. Their client CellCon Australia went into voluntary liquidation and, as per the liquidator’s report, had accumulated debts owing to RPR Trades Pty Ltd of almost $650,000 for work carried out on the Ravenhall project. The size of the debt is obviously very significant for a small business, and it has impacted its viability.

I asked questions in the chamber last year about this, but the issue still continues. This phoenix-like firm that has dragged down the one that I am referring to, RPR Trades, is a firm headed up by John Dorning, who is the business and development manager now at Advance Steel Manufacturing. I notice that this fellow Mr Dorning has appeared at a different location in Queensland involved in actually showing his factory off and showing the supply of material to a number of people. He is out there on LinkedIn posting excitedly, but still the debt remains to the earlier firm, and that is the issue here.

Ms Pulford, as minister, was asked to assist with this because this is a small business, but I am aware of the correspondence with the Treasurer. Mr Da Costa in a communication to me on 27 June pointed out a whole series of problems, and the problems as I say continue right up to the present day with a communication on 1 March. He said that as things currently stand RPR Trades is one of many businesses owed substantial debts on the Chisholm Road prison project and that to his knowledge the previous owner of the CellCon business that went into liquidation, John Dorning, remains the beneficiary of a highly suspicious business sale and is happily ensconced in a phoenix arrangement at Advance Steel Manufacturing in Brisbane, doing exactly the same products and services that the former CellCon did, and that he even has the gall to gloat about it. What I ask the Treasurer to do is contact RPR and actually try to solve their problem and work with them to get a fair outcome so that they are paid for the work that they undertook with respect to this state government project.