Things aren’t looking great for the future of Twin Creeks Golf and Country Club, the former home of the NSW Open, with the prestigious club finding itself faced with closure following a hearing in the Federal Court on Friday.
The Australian Taxation Office took the club to Federal Court alleging it owes $1.5 million in outstanding GST, fringe benefits tax and income tax, as well as $1 million in outstanding superannuation guarantee charges, plus interest and penalties for late payment of retirement contributions.
Statements filed with the corporate regulator in 2018 by the Luddenham-based club also showed its liabilities exceeded assets by nearly $3.9 million.
A statutory demand was first placed on the western Sydney golf club back in August, stipulating that the company must “pay to the creditor the total of the amounts of the debts; or to secure or compound for the total of the amounts of the debts, to the creditor’s reasonable satisfaction”. This was followed by an application by the ATO for the club to be placed into liquidation in December.
The club’s directors, Tommy Zhao Qing Jiang, a Chinese-language media mogul, and Hong Kong-based casino junket promoter Jack Yin Lok Lam, are alleged to have ties to China’s communist party.
Several of Mr Jiang’s other Australian interests, including Greenstone Vineyards in Victoria, FM90.5 Radio Networks in Perth and ACT Radio Net, have reportedly also racked up serious debts and been placed into liquidation in recent months.
During Friday’s brief hearing, consent orders for the adjournment of the matter for one week were provided. However, if an agreement cannot be reached, club operations could be wound up as early next week.
