February 21, 2013 - Out&About - P3
News
New liquidators for Peats Ridge Festival A
midst claims that the ticket and bar numbers “don’t add up�, Peats Ridge Festival director Mr Matt Grant could be summoned to court to give a testimony under oath after the festival’s new liquidators indicated they would pursue a public examination of the collapsed company. Following the festival’s collapse and fall-out, a meeting of creditors on Tuesday, February 5, resulted in the liquidation process being taken away from original administrators Jirsch Sutherland. Unhappy that the firm had handled proceedings for Peats Ridge four times previously, the creditors, mobilised by the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance [MEAA], voted to install building and construction firm Worrells
to the job. They also voted in a Creditors Committee of 10, who will work closely with the liquidators. The Committee includes representatives from John Butler’s management, APRA, Sorted Events, Cass Eager and The Velvet Rope, The Black Seeds, Claude Hay, Constant Solutions, Billions Australia, Simon George and Top Shelf Productions. Peats Ridge Festival owes over $1.29 million to creditors after the company was put into liquidation last month. Headline act John Butler’s Butler Brown Touring Co is owed $95,579, while bar providers Sorted Events are the biggest creditors with $283,726 owed. The festival’s booker Damien Cunningham is owed $49,477 through his company Elastic Entertainment. Artists such as The Falls,
Cass Eager and The Velvet Rope, Fanny Lumsden and The Thrillseekers, Lolo Lavina and Unknown Mortal Orchestra (through agency Artist Voice) are also listed. The Black Seeds are owed $11,500, but many more are owed money through touring companies or agencies. Billions Australia will be looking to recoup $45,650, Chugg Entertainment $6,985, The Harbour Agency $16,195, Select Music $6,780, Modular Agency $11,000, Foreign Dub $12,100, Niche Productions $10,000 and Fuzzy Touring $5,500. APRA are listed for $14,850 while other notable inclusions are Australian Mobile Staging $15,296, ISEC $15,249, JR Richards and Sons $38,460, Oztix $10,982, Premier Motor Services $20,748, Rock Posters Sydney $6,600, Sydney Posters $16,792, TFH Temporary Fence Hire
$20,465 and Splashdown $28,837. T h e M u s i c . c o m . a u ’s publishers are owed $4,315. The festival’s only listed asset is $140,000 in cash and debtors are currently listed as unknown. The forensic accountant company’s Craig Tinkler said on Wednesday, February 6, that they would be preparing their own updated Creditor’s Repor. “We’re probably looking at a public examination of the director and any other parties involved,� he said. A public examination would involve Mr Grant being summoned to court to deliver a testimony under oath. Although no result would come directly from that testimony, evidence gathered could be used for other actions. Tinkler said that time was also being spent gathering Jirsh Sutherland’s existing reports. Moving forward
they will be looking to recoup creditors’ money that appeared lost on the original report, and could commence legal proceedings if they believed someone knowingly incurred debt while the company was insolvent. The move to dump Kirsch Sutherland and appoint Worrells was described by MEAA entertainment, crew and sport section director Mal Tulloch as “a very positive step forward to hold people accountable�. “You can do the simple math from the gate and the bar, and the numbers just don’t add up. “This is a job now for the liquidators to do a forensic examination.� Previously, Julian Hartley from bar operators Sorted Events had alleged that money in a joint account with the festival had “disappeared� but Grant strongly refuted the claim, saying that it had been
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claimed as part of the liquidation process. A public examination will determine whether Sorted were overestimating that account. Tulloch said that the result of the creditors’ meeting was “unprecedented� in his time given that, “creditors have overturned a voluntary liquidation�. The MEAA are taking a strong interest in the festival collapse because a number of the unions’ members alerted them to the situation. Tulloch said he hoped that a Peats Ridge outcome would strengthen the Alliance’s position as a force in the music industry. “There needs to be some sort of examination of why laws in this country allow this to happen, and if there are laws why are they being broken,� he said.