A number of tradies who built these government units at 16 Spring Street in 2021 still haven’t been paid. Photo: Chris Roe.
Tradespeople still unpaid for building a Wagga public housing dwelling four years ago have expressed outrage at revelations the responsible NSW Government department is spending taxpayers’ money on lawyers to resist paying its alleged debts on the controversial project.
Homes NSW (then known as LAHC) chose an already insolvent company, Matrix Group Co, as its main contractor to build four government units at 16 Spring Street in December 2020.
When this company officially went into liquidation in October 2021, local subcontractors were left hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket. Many still haven’t been paid, even though Homes NSW now rents the dwellings the tradies built to tenants.
The department still owes the liquidated company $236,162, according to a recent creditor report released by liquidator Shumit Banerjee, who sought payment of this amount to use for a fund to pay Matrix’s creditors.
However, Homes NSW disputed this debt and engaged solicitors to fight the claim.
Mr Banerjee decided it wasn’t worth the time and money to fight Homes NSW in court, so gave up trying to recover the money from the government body.
Amy Burns, of Oasis Scaffolding and Bricklaying, who is still owed $90,000 for the project, says it’s “disgusting” that Homes NSW was spending taxpayers’ money on lawyers rather than paying out-of-pocket tradies directly.
She says that because Homes NSW chose an already insolvent and uninsured builder for the project, it’s responsible for paying tradies directly. Wagga MP Joe McGirr has expressed similar sentiments, as has plasterer Richard Foley, who is still owed $55,000 for the project.
“I find it absolutely disgraceful that the NSW Housing Department is sitting on $236,000 owed to contractors — hardworking tradies and small operators — while deploying lawyers to avoid paying what should have been settled long ago,” Mr Foley said.
“The liquidator has identified serious concerns, including that the company was effectively insolvent at the time these contracts were signed. If that’s accurate, then the behaviour we’re seeing is not just unacceptable, it borders on what any reasonable person would consider morally, if not ethically, criminal.”
Homes NSW refused to answer a question from Region on how much it has spent on lawyers to fight the Matrix Group Co debt claims. It continues to maintain that it does not owe the unpaid tradies a cent.
“Homes NSW [formerly LAHC] does not owe any money to Matrix. In fact, Homes NSW is a creditor, with up to $486,725 owed to it by Matrix,” a spokesperson said.
“Homes NSW had a contract only with Matrix as the principal contractor. Matrix alone is responsible for paying the subcontractors it engaged. Homes NSW had no contractual relationship with those subcontractors and no legal basis to make payments to them.
“Public records available at the time the former LAHC entered into the contract in December 2020, including ASIC data and the National Personal Insolvency Index, indicated Matrix was solvent. This assessment was independently verified through two external reviews, which confirmed Homes NSW undertook appropriate due diligence in line with NSW Government procurement guidelines.”
A Region investigation has revealed Matrix was insolvent from at least 1 July, 2020, meaning it was unable to pay its debts and legally not allowed to trade. Nevertheless, LAHC announced Matrix as the Wagga project’s principal contractor seven months later in a media release it has since deleted from its website. In October 2021, a public notice indicating Matrix was in liquidation was published online, but Homes NSW didn’t see this until several weeks later.
Construction debt recovery consultant Anthony Igra disputed Homes NSW’s claims that it can’t pay tradies directly when he spoke to Region last year.
“Under the head contract, the government does not have to pay the builder when it goes insolvent. This means the money to pay the subbies is still there, unused. Why can’t this be used to pay the subcontractors?” he asked.
Mr Foley agreed, saying the $236,162 the liquidator chased from Homes NSW would help so many tradies who weren’t paid for their material or labour on a dwelling that Homes NSW now rents to tenants.
He said he feared for those working on the “risky” Tolland Renewal , a Homes NSW project to build 500 new social, affordable and private homes at a Wagga estate.
“The NSW Government is sitting on a liability it refuses to acknowledge on this Matrix matter, leaving contractors out of pocket and exposing workers to risk,” he said.
”What safeguards exist to prevent this from happening again, or are ordinary people just collateral damage?
“I’m calling on NSW Housing Minister Rose Jackson to stop hiding behind lawyers, stop the spin, and immediately release the funds that rightfully belong to the workers who built those homes. Anything less is an insult to every blue-collar worker in NSW.”
A Homes NSW spokesperson said: “Homes NSW procurement processes are regularly reviewed and refined, and we continue to apply stringent financial and capability checks on all principal contractors engaged for major projects, including the Tolland Renewal Project.”
In August 2025, Ms Jackson said Homes NSW “needed to improve its due diligence in terms of some of the contracting that it was doing” after the Spring Street scandal.
Original Article published by Oliver Jacques on Region Riverina.
