❓ Question regarding the WA government's response to the Kleenmaid collapse and the assistance offered to affected consumers and businesses. The Minister outlines actions taken by the Department of Commerce and addresses criticisms made by the opposition.
AnsweredQoN 398Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
KLEENMAID PTY LTD — VOLUNTARY ADMINISTRATION
Western Australia is currently being affected by the difficult economic climate and, unfortunately, we have recently witnessed an incident in which people have been caught up in the demise of Kleenmaid Pty Ltd. I was interested to hear the minister’s response to accusations on the issue made last week by the opposition. Will the minister please provide accurate information on the assistance being offered to people being affected by Kleenmaid’s collapse? Mr T.R. BUSWELL
Western Australia is currently being affected by the difficult economic climate and, unfortunately, we have recently witnessed an incident in which people have been caught up in the demise of Kleenmaid Pty Ltd. I was interested to hear the minister’s response to accusations on the issue made last week by the opposition. Will the minister please provide accurate information on the assistance being offered to people being affected by Kleenmaid’s collapse? Mr T.R. BUSWELL
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Wanneroo for his interest in this matter. Of course, the member for Cockburn raised the matter last week in the house. I thought I would use the opportunity, in answering the question, to first outline what the department has been doing and to secondly address some of the comments made by the member for Cockburn. As all members would be aware, the collapse of Kleenmaid has caused significant distress, not only for consumers who have paid up-front for their outdoor kitchen goods or other goods, but also for the four franchises in Western Australia—at Myaree, Osborne Park, Cannington and Joondalup. The issue revolves around consumers having paid in full for goods that, it now appears, will not be delivered, and also around those businesses, many of which are owed large amounts of money by Kleenmaid, and the many business owners who had to open their stores and attempt to explain away the failing of a business that was beyond their responsibility. As I understand it, Kleenmaid went into voluntary receivership on 9 April. Legally, its customers are unsecured creditors, as are the owners of franchises. I should inform the house that Lloyds’ first-pass estimate is that Kleenmaid owes almost $76 million to creditors, $27.6 million of which is owed to Westpac, $27 million at least to consumers around Australia, $16 million to trade creditors and $3 million to employees. As I said, it is under administration. The responsibility of attending to the rights of and the remedies for creditors now rests with Lloyds, the administrator. I would also like to inform the house that I mentioned last week that the department has a contact phone line for people who have consumer-related issues. I have been advised that the department has thus far received 164 calls from Western Australians directly on issues to do with Kleenmaid. All callers have been advised to register with Lloyds. All callers have been advised, especially if they have made recent purchases, to check with their bank on the possibility—I admit that it is a small possibility—that they can charge back their credit card accounts on any of those expenses. Mr F.M. Logan : Some have been successful. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Good. All callers have been registered with the department and will receive regular updates from the department, particularly once Lloyds has finished its preliminary findings. The department has also been liaising, as one would expect a professional agency to do, with its counterparts in other states—the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and administrators. On Thursday of last week in the house the shadow minister, the member for Cockburn, asked a series of questions on Kleenmaid. I want to address a couple of issues he raised, because the second part of the first question that he asked was — Does the minister think it is appropriate that Howard Sattler at 6PR and I, as shadow minister, are the only points of contact for desperate Western Australian Kleenmaid customers …? That is not the truth. Mr F.M. Logan : I said, publicly. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is not what it says. It says that the member for Cockburn and Howard Sattler are the only point of contact. The member was contacted eight days earlier by the department, and a representative of the department told him that the department was taking phone calls on its line. The member for Cockburn’s statement was a dramatic, opportunistic misrepresentation of the efforts of the department. It was absolutely disgraceful. The member knew full well that the department had been acting. The member offered to pass on information to the department. In a supplementary question, the member made an assertion that the minister in Victoria is in exactly the same situation as the minister in Western Australia, as the consumer affairs department in Victoria has a normal phone number. So do we. Mr F.M. Logan : They set up a hotline. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : However, the member claims that, because of the situation, the department in Victoria set up a hotline. It did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : No, it did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The member should go and call the number. It is 1300 558 181. It is the standard line in Victoria. People ring the same number that they call in Western Australia. There is no hotline in Victoria. The member came in here and misrepresented the truth. The agency has produced press releases, and has taken 164 phone calls. The member is trying to use the hardship that these people are facing to score cheap political points, and shame on him.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL replied: I thank the member for Wanneroo for his interest in this matter. Of course, the member for Cockburn raised the matter last week in the house. I thought I would use the opportunity, in answering the question, to first outline what the department has been doing and to secondly address some of the comments made by the member for Cockburn. As all members would be aware, the collapse of Kleenmaid has caused significant distress, not only for consumers who have paid up-front for their outdoor kitchen goods or other goods, but also for the four franchises in Western Australia—at Myaree, Osborne Park, Cannington and Joondalup. The issue revolves around consumers having paid in full for goods that, it now appears, will not be delivered, and also around those businesses, many of which are owed large amounts of money by Kleenmaid, and the many business owners who had to open their stores and attempt to explain away the failing of a business that was beyond their responsibility. As I understand it, Kleenmaid went into voluntary receivership on 9 April. Legally, its customers are unsecured creditors, as are the owners of franchises. I should inform the house that Lloyds’ first-pass estimate is that Kleenmaid owes almost $76 million to creditors, $27.6 million of which is owed to Westpac, $27 million at least to consumers around Australia, $16 million to trade creditors and $3 million to employees. As I said, it is under administration. The responsibility of attending to the rights of and the remedies for creditors now rests with Lloyds, the administrator. I would also like to inform the house that I mentioned last week that the department has a contact phone line for people who have consumer-related issues. I have been advised that the department has thus far received 164 calls from Western Australians directly on issues to do with Kleenmaid. All callers have been advised to register with Lloyds. All callers have been advised, especially if they have made recent purchases, to check with their bank on the possibility—I admit that it is a small possibility—that they can charge back their credit card accounts on any of those expenses. Mr F.M. Logan : Some have been successful. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Good. All callers have been registered with the department and will receive regular updates from the department, particularly once Lloyds has finished its preliminary findings. The department has also been liaising, as one would expect a professional agency to do, with its counterparts in other states—the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and administrators. On Thursday of last week in the house the shadow minister, the member for Cockburn, asked a series of questions on Kleenmaid. I want to address a couple of issues he raised, because the second part of the first question that he asked was — Does the minister think it is appropriate that Howard Sattler at 6PR and I, as shadow minister, are the only points of contact for desperate Western Australian Kleenmaid customers …? That is not the truth. Mr F.M. Logan : I said, publicly. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is not what it says. It says that the member for Cockburn and Howard Sattler are the only point of contact. The member was contacted eight days earlier by the department, and a representative of the department told him that the department was taking phone calls on its line. The member for Cockburn’s statement was a dramatic, opportunistic misrepresentation of the efforts of the department. It was absolutely disgraceful. The member knew full well that the department had been acting. The member offered to pass on information to the department. In a supplementary question, the member made an assertion that the minister in Victoria is in exactly the same situation as the minister in Western Australia, as the consumer affairs department in Victoria has a normal phone number. So do we. Mr F.M. Logan : They set up a hotline. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : However, the member claims that, because of the situation, the department in Victoria set up a hotline. It did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : No, it did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The member should go and call the number. It is 1300 558 181. It is the standard line in Victoria. People ring the same number that they call in Western Australia. There is no hotline in Victoria. The member came in here and misrepresented the truth. The agency has produced press releases, and has taken 164 phone calls. The member is trying to use the hardship that these people are facing to score cheap political points, and shame on him.
I thank the member for Wanneroo for his interest in this matter. Of course, the member for Cockburn raised the matter last week in the house. I thought I would use the opportunity, in answering the question, to first outline what the department has been doing and to secondly address some of the comments made by the member for Cockburn. As all members would be aware, the collapse of Kleenmaid has caused significant distress, not only for consumers who have paid up-front for their outdoor kitchen goods or other goods, but also for the four franchises in Western Australia—at Myaree, Osborne Park, Cannington and Joondalup. The issue revolves around consumers having paid in full for goods that, it now appears, will not be delivered, and also around those businesses, many of which are owed large amounts of money by Kleenmaid, and the many business owners who had to open their stores and attempt to explain away the failing of a business that was beyond their responsibility. As I understand it, Kleenmaid went into voluntary receivership on 9 April. Legally, its customers are unsecured creditors, as are the owners of franchises. I should inform the house that Lloyds’ first-pass estimate is that Kleenmaid owes almost $76 million to creditors, $27.6 million of which is owed to Westpac, $27 million at least to consumers around Australia, $16 million to trade creditors and $3 million to employees. As I said, it is under administration. The responsibility of attending to the rights of and the remedies for creditors now rests with Lloyds, the administrator. I would also like to inform the house that I mentioned last week that the department has a contact phone line for people who have consumer-related issues. I have been advised that the department has thus far received 164 calls from Western Australians directly on issues to do with Kleenmaid. All callers have been advised to register with Lloyds. All callers have been advised, especially if they have made recent purchases, to check with their bank on the possibility—I admit that it is a small possibility—that they can charge back their credit card accounts on any of those expenses. Mr F.M. Logan : Some have been successful. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Good. All callers have been registered with the department and will receive regular updates from the department, particularly once Lloyds has finished its preliminary findings. The department has also been liaising, as one would expect a professional agency to do, with its counterparts in other states—the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and administrators. On Thursday of last week in the house the shadow minister, the member for Cockburn, asked a series of questions on Kleenmaid. I want to address a couple of issues he raised, because the second part of the first question that he asked was — Does the minister think it is appropriate that Howard Sattler at 6PR and I, as shadow minister, are the only points of contact for desperate Western Australian Kleenmaid customers …? That is not the truth. Mr F.M. Logan : I said, publicly. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is not what it says. It says that the member for Cockburn and Howard Sattler are the only point of contact. The member was contacted eight days earlier by the department, and a representative of the department told him that the department was taking phone calls on its line. The member for Cockburn’s statement was a dramatic, opportunistic misrepresentation of the efforts of the department. It was absolutely disgraceful. The member knew full well that the department had been acting. The member offered to pass on information to the department. In a supplementary question, the member made an assertion that the minister in Victoria is in exactly the same situation as the minister in Western Australia, as the consumer affairs department in Victoria has a normal phone number. So do we. Mr F.M. Logan : They set up a hotline. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : However, the member claims that, because of the situation, the department in Victoria set up a hotline. It did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : No, it did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The member should go and call the number. It is 1300 558 181. It is the standard line in Victoria. People ring the same number that they call in Western Australia. There is no hotline in Victoria. The member came in here and misrepresented the truth. The agency has produced press releases, and has taken 164 phone calls. The member is trying to use the hardship that these people are facing to score cheap political points, and shame on him.
Mr F.M. Logan : Some have been successful. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Good. All callers have been registered with the department and will receive regular updates from the department, particularly once Lloyds has finished its preliminary findings. The department has also been liaising, as one would expect a professional agency to do, with its counterparts in other states—the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and administrators. On Thursday of last week in the house the shadow minister, the member for Cockburn, asked a series of questions on Kleenmaid. I want to address a couple of issues he raised, because the second part of the first question that he asked was — Does the minister think it is appropriate that Howard Sattler at 6PR and I, as shadow minister, are the only points of contact for desperate Western Australian Kleenmaid customers …? That is not the truth. Mr F.M. Logan : I said, publicly. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is not what it says. It says that the member for Cockburn and Howard Sattler are the only point of contact. The member was contacted eight days earlier by the department, and a representative of the department told him that the department was taking phone calls on its line. The member for Cockburn’s statement was a dramatic, opportunistic misrepresentation of the efforts of the department. It was absolutely disgraceful. The member knew full well that the department had been acting. The member offered to pass on information to the department. In a supplementary question, the member made an assertion that the minister in Victoria is in exactly the same situation as the minister in Western Australia, as the consumer affairs department in Victoria has a normal phone number. So do we. Mr F.M. Logan : They set up a hotline. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : However, the member claims that, because of the situation, the department in Victoria set up a hotline. It did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : No, it did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The member should go and call the number. It is 1300 558 181. It is the standard line in Victoria. People ring the same number that they call in Western Australia. There is no hotline in Victoria. The member came in here and misrepresented the truth. The agency has produced press releases, and has taken 164 phone calls. The member is trying to use the hardship that these people are facing to score cheap political points, and shame on him.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Good. All callers have been registered with the department and will receive regular updates from the department, particularly once Lloyds has finished its preliminary findings. The department has also been liaising, as one would expect a professional agency to do, with its counterparts in other states—the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and administrators. On Thursday of last week in the house the shadow minister, the member for Cockburn, asked a series of questions on Kleenmaid. I want to address a couple of issues he raised, because the second part of the first question that he asked was — Does the minister think it is appropriate that Howard Sattler at 6PR and I, as shadow minister, are the only points of contact for desperate Western Australian Kleenmaid customers …? That is not the truth. Mr F.M. Logan : I said, publicly. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is not what it says. It says that the member for Cockburn and Howard Sattler are the only point of contact. The member was contacted eight days earlier by the department, and a representative of the department told him that the department was taking phone calls on its line. The member for Cockburn’s statement was a dramatic, opportunistic misrepresentation of the efforts of the department. It was absolutely disgraceful. The member knew full well that the department had been acting. The member offered to pass on information to the department. In a supplementary question, the member made an assertion that the minister in Victoria is in exactly the same situation as the minister in Western Australia, as the consumer affairs department in Victoria has a normal phone number. So do we. Mr F.M. Logan : They set up a hotline. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : However, the member claims that, because of the situation, the department in Victoria set up a hotline. It did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : No, it did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The member should go and call the number. It is 1300 558 181. It is the standard line in Victoria. People ring the same number that they call in Western Australia. There is no hotline in Victoria. The member came in here and misrepresented the truth. The agency has produced press releases, and has taken 164 phone calls. The member is trying to use the hardship that these people are facing to score cheap political points, and shame on him.
Mr F.M. Logan : I said, publicly. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is not what it says. It says that the member for Cockburn and Howard Sattler are the only point of contact. The member was contacted eight days earlier by the department, and a representative of the department told him that the department was taking phone calls on its line. The member for Cockburn’s statement was a dramatic, opportunistic misrepresentation of the efforts of the department. It was absolutely disgraceful. The member knew full well that the department had been acting. The member offered to pass on information to the department. In a supplementary question, the member made an assertion that the minister in Victoria is in exactly the same situation as the minister in Western Australia, as the consumer affairs department in Victoria has a normal phone number. So do we. Mr F.M. Logan : They set up a hotline. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : However, the member claims that, because of the situation, the department in Victoria set up a hotline. It did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : No, it did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The member should go and call the number. It is 1300 558 181. It is the standard line in Victoria. People ring the same number that they call in Western Australia. There is no hotline in Victoria. The member came in here and misrepresented the truth. The agency has produced press releases, and has taken 164 phone calls. The member is trying to use the hardship that these people are facing to score cheap political points, and shame on him.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is not what it says. It says that the member for Cockburn and Howard Sattler are the only point of contact. The member was contacted eight days earlier by the department, and a representative of the department told him that the department was taking phone calls on its line. The member for Cockburn’s statement was a dramatic, opportunistic misrepresentation of the efforts of the department. It was absolutely disgraceful. The member knew full well that the department had been acting. The member offered to pass on information to the department. In a supplementary question, the member made an assertion that the minister in Victoria is in exactly the same situation as the minister in Western Australia, as the consumer affairs department in Victoria has a normal phone number. So do we. Mr F.M. Logan : They set up a hotline. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : However, the member claims that, because of the situation, the department in Victoria set up a hotline. It did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : No, it did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The member should go and call the number. It is 1300 558 181. It is the standard line in Victoria. People ring the same number that they call in Western Australia. There is no hotline in Victoria. The member came in here and misrepresented the truth. The agency has produced press releases, and has taken 164 phone calls. The member is trying to use the hardship that these people are facing to score cheap political points, and shame on him.
Mr F.M. Logan : They set up a hotline. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : However, the member claims that, because of the situation, the department in Victoria set up a hotline. It did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : No, it did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The member should go and call the number. It is 1300 558 181. It is the standard line in Victoria. People ring the same number that they call in Western Australia. There is no hotline in Victoria. The member came in here and misrepresented the truth. The agency has produced press releases, and has taken 164 phone calls. The member is trying to use the hardship that these people are facing to score cheap political points, and shame on him.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : However, the member claims that, because of the situation, the department in Victoria set up a hotline. It did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : No, it did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The member should go and call the number. It is 1300 558 181. It is the standard line in Victoria. People ring the same number that they call in Western Australia. There is no hotline in Victoria. The member came in here and misrepresented the truth. The agency has produced press releases, and has taken 164 phone calls. The member is trying to use the hardship that these people are facing to score cheap political points, and shame on him.
Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : No, it did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The member should go and call the number. It is 1300 558 181. It is the standard line in Victoria. People ring the same number that they call in Western Australia. There is no hotline in Victoria. The member came in here and misrepresented the truth. The agency has produced press releases, and has taken 164 phone calls. The member is trying to use the hardship that these people are facing to score cheap political points, and shame on him.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : No, it did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The member should go and call the number. It is 1300 558 181. It is the standard line in Victoria. People ring the same number that they call in Western Australia. There is no hotline in Victoria. The member came in here and misrepresented the truth. The agency has produced press releases, and has taken 164 phone calls. The member is trying to use the hardship that these people are facing to score cheap political points, and shame on him.
Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The member should go and call the number. It is 1300 558 181. It is the standard line in Victoria. People ring the same number that they call in Western Australia. There is no hotline in Victoria. The member came in here and misrepresented the truth. The agency has produced press releases, and has taken 164 phone calls. The member is trying to use the hardship that these people are facing to score cheap political points, and shame on him.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The member should go and call the number. It is 1300 558 181. It is the standard line in Victoria. People ring the same number that they call in Western Australia. There is no hotline in Victoria. The member came in here and misrepresented the truth. The agency has produced press releases, and has taken 164 phone calls. The member is trying to use the hardship that these people are facing to score cheap political points, and shame on him.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL replied: I thank the member for Wanneroo for his interest in this matter. Of course, the member for Cockburn raised the matter last week in the house. I thought I would use the opportunity, in answering the question, to first outline what the department has been doing and to secondly address some of the comments made by the member for Cockburn. As all members would be aware, the collapse of Kleenmaid has caused significant distress, not only for consumers who have paid up-front for their outdoor kitchen goods or other goods, but also for the four franchises in Western Australia—at Myaree, Osborne Park, Cannington and Joondalup. The issue revolves around consumers having paid in full for goods that, it now appears, will not be delivered, and also around those businesses, many of which are owed large amounts of money by Kleenmaid, and the many business owners who had to open their stores and attempt to explain away the failing of a business that was beyond their responsibility. As I understand it, Kleenmaid went into voluntary receivership on 9 April. Legally, its customers are unsecured creditors, as are the owners of franchises. I should inform the house that Lloyds’ first-pass estimate is that Kleenmaid owes almost $76 million to creditors, $27.6 million of which is owed to Westpac, $27 million at least to consumers around Australia, $16 million to trade creditors and $3 million to employees. As I said, it is under administration. The responsibility of attending to the rights of and the remedies for creditors now rests with Lloyds, the administrator. I would also like to inform the house that I mentioned last week that the department has a contact phone line for people who have consumer-related issues. I have been advised that the department has thus far received 164 calls from Western Australians directly on issues to do with Kleenmaid. All callers have been advised to register with Lloyds. All callers have been advised, especially if they have made recent purchases, to check with their bank on the possibility—I admit that it is a small possibility—that they can charge back their credit card accounts on any of those expenses. Mr F.M. Logan : Some have been successful. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Good. All callers have been registered with the department and will receive regular updates from the department, particularly once Lloyds has finished its preliminary findings. The department has also been liaising, as one would expect a professional agency to do, with its counterparts in other states—the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and administrators. On Thursday of last week in the house the shadow minister, the member for Cockburn, asked a series of questions on Kleenmaid. I want to address a couple of issues he raised, because the second part of the first question that he asked was — Does the minister think it is appropriate that Howard Sattler at 6PR and I, as shadow minister, are the only points of contact for desperate Western Australian Kleenmaid customers …? That is not the truth. Mr F.M. Logan : I said, publicly. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is not what it says. It says that the member for Cockburn and Howard Sattler are the only point of contact. The member was contacted eight days earlier by the department, and a representative of the department told him that the department was taking phone calls on its line. The member for Cockburn’s statement was a dramatic, opportunistic misrepresentation of the efforts of the department. It was absolutely disgraceful. The member knew full well that the department had been acting. The member offered to pass on information to the department. In a supplementary question, the member made an assertion that the minister in Victoria is in exactly the same situation as the minister in Western Australia, as the consumer affairs department in Victoria has a normal phone number. So do we. Mr F.M. Logan : They set up a hotline. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : However, the member claims that, because of the situation, the department in Victoria set up a hotline. It did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : No, it did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The member should go and call the number. It is 1300 558 181. It is the standard line in Victoria. People ring the same number that they call in Western Australia. There is no hotline in Victoria. The member came in here and misrepresented the truth. The agency has produced press releases, and has taken 164 phone calls. The member is trying to use the hardship that these people are facing to score cheap political points, and shame on him.
I thank the member for Wanneroo for his interest in this matter. Of course, the member for Cockburn raised the matter last week in the house. I thought I would use the opportunity, in answering the question, to first outline what the department has been doing and to secondly address some of the comments made by the member for Cockburn. As all members would be aware, the collapse of Kleenmaid has caused significant distress, not only for consumers who have paid up-front for their outdoor kitchen goods or other goods, but also for the four franchises in Western Australia—at Myaree, Osborne Park, Cannington and Joondalup. The issue revolves around consumers having paid in full for goods that, it now appears, will not be delivered, and also around those businesses, many of which are owed large amounts of money by Kleenmaid, and the many business owners who had to open their stores and attempt to explain away the failing of a business that was beyond their responsibility. As I understand it, Kleenmaid went into voluntary receivership on 9 April. Legally, its customers are unsecured creditors, as are the owners of franchises. I should inform the house that Lloyds’ first-pass estimate is that Kleenmaid owes almost $76 million to creditors, $27.6 million of which is owed to Westpac, $27 million at least to consumers around Australia, $16 million to trade creditors and $3 million to employees. As I said, it is under administration. The responsibility of attending to the rights of and the remedies for creditors now rests with Lloyds, the administrator. I would also like to inform the house that I mentioned last week that the department has a contact phone line for people who have consumer-related issues. I have been advised that the department has thus far received 164 calls from Western Australians directly on issues to do with Kleenmaid. All callers have been advised to register with Lloyds. All callers have been advised, especially if they have made recent purchases, to check with their bank on the possibility—I admit that it is a small possibility—that they can charge back their credit card accounts on any of those expenses. Mr F.M. Logan : Some have been successful. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Good. All callers have been registered with the department and will receive regular updates from the department, particularly once Lloyds has finished its preliminary findings. The department has also been liaising, as one would expect a professional agency to do, with its counterparts in other states—the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and administrators. On Thursday of last week in the house the shadow minister, the member for Cockburn, asked a series of questions on Kleenmaid. I want to address a couple of issues he raised, because the second part of the first question that he asked was — Does the minister think it is appropriate that Howard Sattler at 6PR and I, as shadow minister, are the only points of contact for desperate Western Australian Kleenmaid customers …? That is not the truth. Mr F.M. Logan : I said, publicly. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is not what it says. It says that the member for Cockburn and Howard Sattler are the only point of contact. The member was contacted eight days earlier by the department, and a representative of the department told him that the department was taking phone calls on its line. The member for Cockburn’s statement was a dramatic, opportunistic misrepresentation of the efforts of the department. It was absolutely disgraceful. The member knew full well that the department had been acting. The member offered to pass on information to the department. In a supplementary question, the member made an assertion that the minister in Victoria is in exactly the same situation as the minister in Western Australia, as the consumer affairs department in Victoria has a normal phone number. So do we. Mr F.M. Logan : They set up a hotline. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : However, the member claims that, because of the situation, the department in Victoria set up a hotline. It did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : No, it did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The member should go and call the number. It is 1300 558 181. It is the standard line in Victoria. People ring the same number that they call in Western Australia. There is no hotline in Victoria. The member came in here and misrepresented the truth. The agency has produced press releases, and has taken 164 phone calls. The member is trying to use the hardship that these people are facing to score cheap political points, and shame on him.
Mr F.M. Logan : Some have been successful. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Good. All callers have been registered with the department and will receive regular updates from the department, particularly once Lloyds has finished its preliminary findings. The department has also been liaising, as one would expect a professional agency to do, with its counterparts in other states—the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and administrators. On Thursday of last week in the house the shadow minister, the member for Cockburn, asked a series of questions on Kleenmaid. I want to address a couple of issues he raised, because the second part of the first question that he asked was — Does the minister think it is appropriate that Howard Sattler at 6PR and I, as shadow minister, are the only points of contact for desperate Western Australian Kleenmaid customers …? That is not the truth. Mr F.M. Logan : I said, publicly. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is not what it says. It says that the member for Cockburn and Howard Sattler are the only point of contact. The member was contacted eight days earlier by the department, and a representative of the department told him that the department was taking phone calls on its line. The member for Cockburn’s statement was a dramatic, opportunistic misrepresentation of the efforts of the department. It was absolutely disgraceful. The member knew full well that the department had been acting. The member offered to pass on information to the department. In a supplementary question, the member made an assertion that the minister in Victoria is in exactly the same situation as the minister in Western Australia, as the consumer affairs department in Victoria has a normal phone number. So do we. Mr F.M. Logan : They set up a hotline. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : However, the member claims that, because of the situation, the department in Victoria set up a hotline. It did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : No, it did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The member should go and call the number. It is 1300 558 181. It is the standard line in Victoria. People ring the same number that they call in Western Australia. There is no hotline in Victoria. The member came in here and misrepresented the truth. The agency has produced press releases, and has taken 164 phone calls. The member is trying to use the hardship that these people are facing to score cheap political points, and shame on him.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Good. All callers have been registered with the department and will receive regular updates from the department, particularly once Lloyds has finished its preliminary findings. The department has also been liaising, as one would expect a professional agency to do, with its counterparts in other states—the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and administrators. On Thursday of last week in the house the shadow minister, the member for Cockburn, asked a series of questions on Kleenmaid. I want to address a couple of issues he raised, because the second part of the first question that he asked was — Does the minister think it is appropriate that Howard Sattler at 6PR and I, as shadow minister, are the only points of contact for desperate Western Australian Kleenmaid customers …? That is not the truth. Mr F.M. Logan : I said, publicly. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is not what it says. It says that the member for Cockburn and Howard Sattler are the only point of contact. The member was contacted eight days earlier by the department, and a representative of the department told him that the department was taking phone calls on its line. The member for Cockburn’s statement was a dramatic, opportunistic misrepresentation of the efforts of the department. It was absolutely disgraceful. The member knew full well that the department had been acting. The member offered to pass on information to the department. In a supplementary question, the member made an assertion that the minister in Victoria is in exactly the same situation as the minister in Western Australia, as the consumer affairs department in Victoria has a normal phone number. So do we. Mr F.M. Logan : They set up a hotline. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : However, the member claims that, because of the situation, the department in Victoria set up a hotline. It did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : No, it did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The member should go and call the number. It is 1300 558 181. It is the standard line in Victoria. People ring the same number that they call in Western Australia. There is no hotline in Victoria. The member came in here and misrepresented the truth. The agency has produced press releases, and has taken 164 phone calls. The member is trying to use the hardship that these people are facing to score cheap political points, and shame on him.
Mr F.M. Logan : I said, publicly. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is not what it says. It says that the member for Cockburn and Howard Sattler are the only point of contact. The member was contacted eight days earlier by the department, and a representative of the department told him that the department was taking phone calls on its line. The member for Cockburn’s statement was a dramatic, opportunistic misrepresentation of the efforts of the department. It was absolutely disgraceful. The member knew full well that the department had been acting. The member offered to pass on information to the department. In a supplementary question, the member made an assertion that the minister in Victoria is in exactly the same situation as the minister in Western Australia, as the consumer affairs department in Victoria has a normal phone number. So do we. Mr F.M. Logan : They set up a hotline. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : However, the member claims that, because of the situation, the department in Victoria set up a hotline. It did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : No, it did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The member should go and call the number. It is 1300 558 181. It is the standard line in Victoria. People ring the same number that they call in Western Australia. There is no hotline in Victoria. The member came in here and misrepresented the truth. The agency has produced press releases, and has taken 164 phone calls. The member is trying to use the hardship that these people are facing to score cheap political points, and shame on him.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is not what it says. It says that the member for Cockburn and Howard Sattler are the only point of contact. The member was contacted eight days earlier by the department, and a representative of the department told him that the department was taking phone calls on its line. The member for Cockburn’s statement was a dramatic, opportunistic misrepresentation of the efforts of the department. It was absolutely disgraceful. The member knew full well that the department had been acting. The member offered to pass on information to the department. In a supplementary question, the member made an assertion that the minister in Victoria is in exactly the same situation as the minister in Western Australia, as the consumer affairs department in Victoria has a normal phone number. So do we. Mr F.M. Logan : They set up a hotline. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : However, the member claims that, because of the situation, the department in Victoria set up a hotline. It did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : No, it did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The member should go and call the number. It is 1300 558 181. It is the standard line in Victoria. People ring the same number that they call in Western Australia. There is no hotline in Victoria. The member came in here and misrepresented the truth. The agency has produced press releases, and has taken 164 phone calls. The member is trying to use the hardship that these people are facing to score cheap political points, and shame on him.
Mr F.M. Logan : They set up a hotline. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : However, the member claims that, because of the situation, the department in Victoria set up a hotline. It did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : No, it did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The member should go and call the number. It is 1300 558 181. It is the standard line in Victoria. People ring the same number that they call in Western Australia. There is no hotline in Victoria. The member came in here and misrepresented the truth. The agency has produced press releases, and has taken 164 phone calls. The member is trying to use the hardship that these people are facing to score cheap political points, and shame on him.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : However, the member claims that, because of the situation, the department in Victoria set up a hotline. It did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : No, it did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The member should go and call the number. It is 1300 558 181. It is the standard line in Victoria. People ring the same number that they call in Western Australia. There is no hotline in Victoria. The member came in here and misrepresented the truth. The agency has produced press releases, and has taken 164 phone calls. The member is trying to use the hardship that these people are facing to score cheap political points, and shame on him.
Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : No, it did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The member should go and call the number. It is 1300 558 181. It is the standard line in Victoria. People ring the same number that they call in Western Australia. There is no hotline in Victoria. The member came in here and misrepresented the truth. The agency has produced press releases, and has taken 164 phone calls. The member is trying to use the hardship that these people are facing to score cheap political points, and shame on him.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : No, it did not set up a hotline. Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The member should go and call the number. It is 1300 558 181. It is the standard line in Victoria. People ring the same number that they call in Western Australia. There is no hotline in Victoria. The member came in here and misrepresented the truth. The agency has produced press releases, and has taken 164 phone calls. The member is trying to use the hardship that these people are facing to score cheap political points, and shame on him.
Mr F.M. Logan : Yes, it did. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The member should go and call the number. It is 1300 558 181. It is the standard line in Victoria. People ring the same number that they call in Western Australia. There is no hotline in Victoria. The member came in here and misrepresented the truth. The agency has produced press releases, and has taken 164 phone calls. The member is trying to use the hardship that these people are facing to score cheap political points, and shame on him.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The member should go and call the number. It is 1300 558 181. It is the standard line in Victoria. People ring the same number that they call in Western Australia. There is no hotline in Victoria. The member came in here and misrepresented the truth. The agency has produced press releases, and has taken 164 phone calls. The member is trying to use the hardship that these people are facing to score cheap political points, and shame on him.
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