Another major Queensland construction company has collapsed, reportedly leaving hundreds of customers with unfinished homes and suppliers reeling.
Residential builder Oracle Building Corporation Pty Ltd went into liquidation on Wednesday, with an estimated 300 homes unfinished.
It comes after the company reportedly ordered clients to pay thousands of extra dollars to complete their homes due to surging building costs.
Oracle now joins a growing list of building firms which have buckled in the past 12 months; with Privium Homes, BA Murphy and Gold Coast-based Condev among those collapsed.
Minister for Transport and Main Roads Mark Bailey says the “high inflation economy” is to blame.
“Obviously it’s very concerning to hear that Oracle Homes has collapsed.
“We’ve been left with a high inflation economy by the previous Morrison/Frydenberg government and it’s having terrible impacts on companies and here’s another example.
“We all know that when the inflation genie gets out of the bottle due to incompetence in Canberra, that it’s very hard and takes time to get it back in.
“So that’s the task for the new government: to mop up the mess left to them by Morrison and Frydenberg and I’m very sorry for all the people impacted by this company going under,” he said.
Mr Bailey says people impacted will need to apply to the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) or “talk to the liquidators”.
“There are measures to protect people in cases of companies collapsing and being liquidated, and those measures will be in place in relation to Oracle Homes.
“We do have a process here, we’ll work with people who’ve been impacted.
“It’s hard not to feel for the people impacted on this, this is something that will be really difficult to cope with and my heart goes out to them as they go through a new process where they’ll need to apply to QBCC or talk to the liquidators- it’s a very stressful thing for them.”
William Cotter and William Robson from Robson Cotter Insolvency Group have been appointed as joint liquidators.
3,917 liquidations or administration appointments were recorded in Australia in the 2021-22 financial year.
