PRIVATE MEMBERS' STATEMENTS
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PERCHERON GROUP OF COMPANIES
Mr GLACHAN (Albury) [5.30]: This evening I should like to draw the attention of the House to a matter of grave concern to some of my constituents in Albury. The matter relates to an organisation known as the Percheron group of companies. The people who approached me are of moderate means. Some years ago, they felt it would be a wise investment for them to put some money into the purchase of pine-trees which were to be grown by the Percheron group. Their hope was that, as the years went by, the trees would increase in value and eventually they would make a modest profit on their investment which would help to sustain them in their retirement. After some time, my constituents made some inquiries about the trees they believed they had purchased. When they made inquiries of the Percheron group they found the group somewhat reluctant to give them a great deal of information.
Finally my constituents located the place where the trees they had purchased were supposed to be and they went to inspect them. They, and others, became aware that the Percheron group had some small lots of well-established trees that were being shown to all investors who asked to see the trees they owned. The group had other lots of trees which were not growing very well at all and which my constituents believed would be absolutely worthless. They became concerned and began to contact others who had invested in this plan in an endeavour to find out what their experiences had been. They were quite distressed and gradually came to the conclusion that they were being robbed by those proposing the scheme.
My constituents asked me to forward a letter to the Attorney General, Minister for Consumer Affairs and Minister for Arts seeking his assistance. I have done as they requested. In that letter they say they began as an established group and now have something of the order of 2,000 members who have invested moneys with the Percheron group of companies. They go on to say that the Corporate Affairs Commission did an excellent job gaining evidence and that they want to congratulate the commission on the way it unravelled the huge complicated web of the Percheron group of companies, which goes back over about 30 years. They also say that members in this group - Pine Tree Register Inc. - who have invested in the Percheron group, come from countries all over the world - England, Germany, the United States of America, Venezuela, Puerto Rica, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the State of Honolulu and elsewhere. Investigations have revealed that more than 20,000 investors worldwide in the Percheron group have been ripped off. In their letter addressed to the Attorney General my constituents say:
As we are the original instigators of this investigation and only small investors, we feel very strongly for the people who have worked hard to pay off their trees, to put aside a little for their old age, only to find that they have been ripped off. One of the persons responsible for this
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massive fraud still walks around as large as life hoping that it will all just go away. To add to the hurt, the Managing Director of Percheron has been awarded by the courts $500 a week living expenses despite having many millions of dollars stacked away overseas, and despite the fact that the Australian Securities Commission and the receiver vigorously opposed this payment to him.
I feel very much for these small investors - people who had to undertake most of the investigation on their own initially, using their own time and finances, only to be so bitterly disappointed when they found that they had simply been defrauded, that this group had taken their money, and that many other people had been defrauded in similar circumstances. I appeal to the Attorney General to do what he can to assist these people. They have also informed me that they would very much appreciate it if the Attorney General could take some steps to see that, in the future, other people in similar circumstances to theirs - ordinary, poor, battling individuals - will not be ripped off by such schemes. I appeal to the Attorney General on their behalf for whatever assistance he may be able to give.
Mr COLLINS (Willoughby - Attorney General, Minister for Consumer Affairs and Minister for Arts) [5.35]: I thank the honourable member for Albury for bringing this important matter to my attention and the attention of the House. I understand the anguish that his constituents feel, who feel they have been ripped off by this company. They are but a few of thousands of people who feel exactly the same way. It is an extremely complex matter. Indeed, it is a matter which was made deliberately complex by the people behind the Percheron group of companies. The Australian Securities Commission has spent a great deal of time trying to reassemble the wreckage of the lives of many investors in an attempt to put together the corporate jigsaw which is the Percheron group of companies. That effort resulted in the presentation of a report some months ago. The findings of that report are a matter of public record. It is fair to say that the group of companies, which has existed for something like a 30-year period, involves more than 20,000 investors, and a known figure of approximately $40 million. In response to complaints from investors, the Corporate Affairs Commission commenced an investigation into the activities of the group of companies in March 1988. As I have said, the Australian Securities Commission has just recently reported on that investigation.
The special investigation revealed that because of the irregular, and probably fraudulent operations of the various companies and trusts comprising the group, it was likely that only a small number of investors would be able to obtain a return from their investment. In particular it was not possible to identify which plantations were held by any particular investor or which contract had been fulfilled. That point has been reaffirmed tonight by the honourable member for Albury. The matter was brought to my attention by a British investigator. Honourable members would be familiar with the English actor Richard Todd, a well-known face in many British movies for the past forty years. He too was one of those who were ripped off. Many people round the world have been ripped off by this group of companies and a great deal of damage has been done. I undertake to have discussions with the honourable member for Albury to see whether anything further can be done on behalf of his constituents. I invite other members who may have been approached by constituents with such concerns to make similar representations to me. Certainly if anything can be done within a national context, I am prepared to do it. This matter must be tackled on a co-ordinated, national basis, but I am certainly prepared to discuss it further.
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