❓ Hon. Kate Doust questions the Minister for Commerce regarding potential action against Benchmark Designer Homes' directors for insolvent trading after the company entered administration. The Minister outlines the Building Commission's limited role and refers corporate governance matters to ASIC.
AnsweredQoN 393Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
BENCHMARK
DESIGNER HOMES PTY LTD
393. Hon KATE DOUST to the
Minister for Commerce:
I refer to the many
consumer complaints to the Building Commission in relation to Benchmark
Designer Homes. Now that the company has now gone into administration I ask:
will the government lodge a claim with the Australian Securities and
Investments Commission against the directors of Benchmark for insolvent
trading?
DESIGNER HOMES PTY LTD
393. Hon KATE DOUST to the
Minister for Commerce:
I refer to the many
consumer complaints to the Building Commission in relation to Benchmark
Designer Homes. Now that the company has now gone into administration I ask:
will the government lodge a claim with the Australian Securities and
Investments Commission against the directors of Benchmark for insolvent
trading?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the honourable member for the question. It requires
some legal analysis to determine whether there is any scope for the Building
Commission or the government to lodge such a claim against a company that has
gone into administration. The member has talked about many claims and
complaints about that particular operator. As I indicated in my answer to her
when she asked several weeks ago about claims, there had been a number of
complaints; I cannot recall the figure now. Many had been resolved either
through investigation, no longer being pursued, withdrawn or dismissed. Those
that had some foundation were satisfactorily resolved, but that is a very
different issue from the viability of a company and its ability to trade. The
Building Commission, it must be remembered, is not a body that supervises
companies as such; its responsibility is confined to the relevant state legislation
to provide oversight for the building industry and a means of dispute
resolution in respect of builders and the quality of work that they perform.
Responsibility for policing companies as such resides with ASIC, which is a
commonwealth body operating under corporations law. I am not aware of the legal
position with respect to this particular company, Benchmark Designer Homes, and
I am not in a position to give advice or even form an opinion as to what would
be the appropriate means of dealing with it and its own governance, whether its
governance has been satisfactory, and whether it has been trading, insolvent or
otherwise. The Building Commission's responsibility is to determine
complaints within the bounds of its legislative mandate, and all of that was in
hand until it went into administration last week. The issue for the Building
Commission would be to assist those landholders who had engaged Benchmark
Designer Homes to build homes for them with the process of resolving any
insurance claims that are currently in place, perhaps deal with any complaints
that might involve criminal consequences, and otherwise to assist those who
have been harmed by its behaviour as a builder to resolve those difficulties.
The Building Commission's responsibility is not one of corporate
governance more generally.
some legal analysis to determine whether there is any scope for the Building
Commission or the government to lodge such a claim against a company that has
gone into administration. The member has talked about many claims and
complaints about that particular operator. As I indicated in my answer to her
when she asked several weeks ago about claims, there had been a number of
complaints; I cannot recall the figure now. Many had been resolved either
through investigation, no longer being pursued, withdrawn or dismissed. Those
that had some foundation were satisfactorily resolved, but that is a very
different issue from the viability of a company and its ability to trade. The
Building Commission, it must be remembered, is not a body that supervises
companies as such; its responsibility is confined to the relevant state legislation
to provide oversight for the building industry and a means of dispute
resolution in respect of builders and the quality of work that they perform.
Responsibility for policing companies as such resides with ASIC, which is a
commonwealth body operating under corporations law. I am not aware of the legal
position with respect to this particular company, Benchmark Designer Homes, and
I am not in a position to give advice or even form an opinion as to what would
be the appropriate means of dealing with it and its own governance, whether its
governance has been satisfactory, and whether it has been trading, insolvent or
otherwise. The Building Commission's responsibility is to determine
complaints within the bounds of its legislative mandate, and all of that was in
hand until it went into administration last week. The issue for the Building
Commission would be to assist those landholders who had engaged Benchmark
Designer Homes to build homes for them with the process of resolving any
insurance claims that are currently in place, perhaps deal with any complaints
that might involve criminal consequences, and otherwise to assist those who
have been harmed by its behaviour as a builder to resolve those difficulties.
The Building Commission's responsibility is not one of corporate
governance more generally.
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