David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week, administrators Deloitte lodged their report into the former owners of Brindabella Christian College. I thank the many people from the Brindabella Christian College community for their bravery in coming forward to my office, some of them speaking publicly, about the goings-on at the school.

The Deloitte report confirms a litany of alleged breaches of the Corporations Act. We knew things were bad; this report exposes just how bad things were. The administrators found that the directors put their own financial interests before the college's. Between 2021 and 2024, about $30,000 was donated to the Liberal Party on a company credit card held by one of the directors. This is despite the fact that they are a registered charity and are prohibited from supporting political parties.

They owed creditors, including staff, parents and the ATO, $12.2 million, despite getting more than $10 million of Commonwealth money in just one year—money that should have gone towards the education of young people. The company credit card was used to pay for hotel accommodation and Uber Eats takeaway food purchases. Directors travelled to the United States to buy a hugely expensive robot dog, at a cost of more than $460,000, at a time when they were already trading while insolvent. The administrators found that the directors attempted to reclaim property in the days before administrators came in and could be criminally prosecuted for their offences. I hope the authorities will now prosecute them to the full letter of the law.

The Brindabella Christian College school community was put through years of hardship. What struck me the most was the absolute culture of fear of reprisals. Again, I thank the good people in the school community who have stepped up and seen a huge change to their college.