Great Australian Collapses
The spectacular flame-outs — how some of Australia’s biggest companies rose, overreached and fell, and who paid for it.
Australia has produced some of the most dramatic corporate collapses in the developed world — from Ansett and One.Tel to HIH Insurance, ABC Learning and Storm Financial. Each is a story of ambition, blind spots and the moment the music stopped.
These pieces reconstruct what happened from the public record: administrators’ reports, court judgments, Royal Commission findings and the reporting of the day.
Latest in rise & fall
- Virgin Australia administration: how 2020 saved the airline
The Virgin Australia administration of April 2020 was the biggest airline failure since Ansett. Here is how Bain Capital ended up owning the carrier.
By Ray Petrakis - Slater & Gordon and the Quindell deal that nearly ended it
The Quindell deal turned Slater & Gordon from a pioneering listed law firm into a case study in acquisition-led corporate collapse. Here is how it unfolded.
By Ray Petrakis - MFS/Octaviar: the Gold Coast collapse that unravelled a $2.5bn empire
How MFS Limited grew into a sprawling Gold Coast financial empire, then collapsed in 2008 into one of Australia's longest-running insolvency sagas.
By Ray Petrakis - Pyramid Building Society: the Geelong collapse a fuel levy had to fix
How a Geelong building society's 1990 collapse left 200,000 depositors exposed, and why Victorian motorists paid it off at the bowser for a decade.
By Ray Petrakis - Adelaide Steamship: John Spalvins' house of mirrors
Adelaide Steamship (Adsteam) built a cross-shareholding empire under John Spalvins, then the early-1990s recession exposed the gearing underneath it.
By Ray Petrakis - Centro Properties collapse: the debt and the court case
The Centro Properties collapse came from short-term debt and a misclassified balance sheet, and produced a landmark Australian ruling on director duty.
By Ray Petrakis - Sons of Gwalia collapse and the shareholder rights ruling
The Sons of Gwalia collapse over gold hedging losses led to a High Court ruling letting misled shareholders rank as creditors until Parliament stepped in.
By Ray Petrakis - Bell Group litigation: Australia's longest corporate fight
The Bell Group litigation began with Alan Bond's 1991 collapse and ran for decades, pitting liquidators against banks across courts and parliaments.
By Ray Petrakis - Harris Scarfe: the accounting scandal that brought down a 150-year-old retailer
Harris Scarfe traded through two world wars and the Depression before collapsing in 2001. The accounting fraud that accelerated its end took years of litigation to untangle.
By Ray Petrakis - Storm Financial: the advice firm that wiped out a generation of retirees
How a Townsville financial planning firm built a leveraged investment model that worked brilliantly in a bull market — and then destroyed thousands of ordinary Australian lives when the GFC arrived.
By Ray Petrakis - Compass Airlines: the low-cost challenger that crashed twice
In the early 1990s, Compass Airlines twice tried to break the Ansett–Australian Airlines duopoly and twice ended in administration. Here's how it happened.
By Ray Petrakis - Dick Smith Electronics collapse: the float and the inventory
The Dick Smith Electronics collapse left creditors short and raised questions about inventory accounting, supplier rebates and the mechanics of its float.
By Ray Petrakis