Ian Goodenough (Moore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Financial scams are becoming all too common. I wish to draw the attention of parliament to the plight of more than 100 elderly Western Australian retirees who lost their life savings in the financial collapse of the Sterling First rent-for-life scheme.

The recent Senate inquiry into the Sterling Income Trust was critical of the regulatory failures of both ASIC and the Western Australian Department of Consumer Protection. From 2015, ASIC began receiving complaints that the directors of Sterling First had misrepresented the scheme and that the directors were serial Ponzi offenders associated with previously collapsed schemes resulting in millions of dollars in losses.

The human impact has been devastating, with many vulnerable senior citizens facing severe financial hardship and homelessness. In a bid to secure some form of redress, the victims have formed the Sterling First Action Group and are currently pursuing a class action through the courts. A grassroots community campaign is being fought to provide justice for the victims of the failed scheme.

It is in the public interest to reveal that the current president of the Liberal Party's HillarysBranch, Kirsten Marie, served as a director of the responsible entity, Theta Asset Management, alongside her husband, Robert Patrick Marie, who was fined $100,000 by ASIC and banned for four years from controlling an entity carrying on a financial services business. Theta Asset Management was also fined $2 million by ASIC and forced into liquidation for its role in the $16.7 million collapse.

It is clearly untenable for individuals who have been sanctioned by ASIC to occupy senior office bearer positions within the Liberal Party. To date the media has been reluctant to report on this fact. It is a major financial scandal and an embarrassment for the Liberal Party. Questions need to be asked about the circumstances in which Kirsten Mariecame to be installed as president of the Hillarys Branch of the Liberal Party, because it is evident that her continued involvement in the senior role is untenable. What role does Simon Ehrenfeld, president of the Moore division and a candidate for Liberal Party preselection, play in exerting control over the Hillarys branch in conjunction with Robert and Kirsten Marie?

On behalf of my constituents, the victims of the Sterling First financial scam, I call upon Kirsten Marie and Robert Patrick Marie to resign their positions within the Liberal Party immediately. A grassroots community campaign is being mobilised to fight for justice for the victims of the failed scheme.