Over the weekend, Deputy Premier Guy Barnett was reported as saying it was a concern that Liberty Bell may have been insolvent before receiving a $20 million loan from the state government, claiming the government undertook “due diligence”.

What he didn’t say, was that the Government was aware of the likelihood of Liberty Bell Bay trading insolvent before choosing to make the taxpayer funded loan to Sanjeev Gupta in August 2025.

Labor has obtained documents from June 2025 revealing the financials of Liberty Bell Bay, making the case the company was likely insolvent – as was found by voluntary administrator EY Parthenon last week.

Labor understands the Tasmanian Government received these same documents in June 2025, before loaning Sanjeev Gupta $20 million.

Given what the Government knew, this appears to be a massive failure of “due diligence” and corporate governance, risking taxpayers’ funds.

Tasmanians are already paying the price of 13 years of Liberal waste through massive cuts to public services. It’s not hard to see how we ended up here when this Government treats taxpayer money with such reckless abandon.

The Liberals’ confected concern about Liberty Bell Bay’s insolvency has been exposed as a front.

They must outline today what advice they received to support making the loan to a company they had been advised was likely trading insolvent.