MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
Mr R. Frederick
Hon. D. E. BEANLAND (Indooroopilly, Attorney-General and Minister for Justice) (10 a. m.), by leave:

Mr Speaker, I take this opportunity to inform you and the House about a person by the name of Ronald Frederick. Mr Frederick is a man with a notorious track record of fraud and misrepresentation. In South Australia, he has served a jail sentence, with remissions, of one year and four months for failing to pay $50,000 in Federal Court fines for breaches of the Trade Practices Act involving false pretences. He is widely regarded as being one of the worst con men in that State and, in fact, is often referred to as "Ron the Con" in the Adelaide media.

Mr Frederick is also known to have a number of aliases of his own, including Brett Wyatt, Roddy Farrow, Ronald Heelan, George Cawthorn, Randy Heelan, Bonaldo Levi, Ronald Appylgate, Fred Leuve, Ronald White, John McCory and Rod Anderson. This man has a criminal history as long as any arm, including more than 50 convictions for fraud, stealing, breaking and entering, aggravated assault, unlawful common assault and false pretences.

It has come to my attention that Mr Frederick is now living in Queensland, at Carrara on the Gold Coast. It has also come to my attention that Mr Frederick may once again be involved in fraudulent activities by misrepresenting himself and a business called Jupiter's Mechanical on the Gold Coast. To date, it appears that he may be involved in defrauding a number of Queenslanders by advertising for partners to work and invest in the business. Predicably, it would appear that this business has failed, taking the hopes, aspirations and hard-earned cash of many Queenslanders with it. In fact, more than 20 people may have lost money, some as much as $50,000.

It pains me to mention anybody in this House, and I use this privilege cautiously. However, I feel that it is my duty to warn Queenslanders to be wary of their business dealings with this man. As the Minister responsible for consumer affairs, I understand that my officers are investigating this matter, and preliminary evidence suggests that Mr Frederick's involvement may have breached the Fair Trading Act. Once again, I warn all Queenslanders to be careful in their business activities, and I encourage them to check the bona fides of every person with whom they intend to have business dealings.