13 July 2019
The Hon Scott Morrison MP
Prime Minister
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Sterling New Life Collapse
Dear Prime Minister
My wife and I invested most of our life savings in a 40-year lease worth $254,000 through a Silverlink Investment Plan with Sterling New Life which on June 10th went into receivership. Little did we know that Sterling Corporate Services operations had been under ASIC investigation for some time. Had we known this we would not have proceeded. Now we have lost the lot, our retirement accommodation is precarious, and we have little left to see us through our final years.
From conversations, consultation and reports, it has become apparent that ASIC really dropped the ball in terms of consumer protection. There were so many red flags over preceding years warning against this type of scheme and the history of the directors involved. Due diligence exercised by ourselves and many others proved inadequate because ASIC had not revealed its findings even though they had collected more than enough information to be proactive in fulfilling their charter and putting a stop to such wanton theft from our senior citizens.
Last weekend, you promoted the significance of love and prayer in healing our nation’s wounds. For many years, in my role as a local church pastor who sought to apply both in my work, I advocated for and upheld those trying to negotiate their way through the intricacies of community and government support regimes. Little did I realise that having retired, I would need to advocate for ourselves and others for redress because of the failing of a major government instrument. The application of love, understood by the biblical prophets and Jesus as justice and mercy to society’s most vulnerable, requires swift redress through compensation for those affected.
Prime Minister, I trust you can see your way clear to redress this great wrong and initiate a quick return of the $36 million that has been taken from tenants, landlords, and investors in this crooked scheme that was allowed to fester under ASIC’s watch for so long.
Yours sincerely