Latest news with #AlyssonMossay
News.com.au
15-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Once-exclusive NSW lodge collapses after reopening
An exclusive adults-only eco-lodge on the Hawkesbury River has quietly shut its doors after months of internal chaos, with former staff alleging unpaid wages, while frustrated guests report cancelled bookings and lost deposits. Marramarra Lodge, promoted as a high-end retreat only accessible by boat and nestled in bushland north of Sydney, reopened in December with rooms priced at up to $2200 a night. But the reopening quickly unravelled into what one former worker described as a 'shocking mess'. Belgian traveller Alysson Mossay, who was hired for front-of-house duties, said when she started at the lodge, it felt 'like a dream job'. 'We were on an island, we had food … it seemed like the perfect plan to save money,' Ms Mossay told NewsWire. She began working at Marramarra Lodge on January 31. Her partner, Matthieu Arthuis, started a week later. However, it wasn't long before she claimed issues started to arise. 'I got paid for my first three weeks and my partner got paid his first two weeks,' Ms Mossay said. Over the following two weeks, she claimed their wages were delayed both times. '(A manager) said it would be next week and he said 'I'm going to give you a $500 bonus, thank you for waiting, we like you guys so much, you do such a great job',' Ms Mossay claimed. 'I know that running a business is not always very easy at the beginning … so I didn't worry too much and this was my mistake. 'We kind of closed our eyes, we didn't want to see the truth.' Ms Mossay said they weren't aware at the time that a group of previous employees had already left after not being paid. She found online comments from former staffers, including private chef Gerald Touchard, who also alleged non-payment. In March, Mr Touchard shared a detailed account of his experience at Marramarra Lodge via his business Instagram account. 'I was hired to lead its reopening from November 2024,' he wrote. 'What was meant to be a world class hospitality experience has turned into a shocking mess for myself, for staff, for suppliers and even for guests.' Mr Touchard claimed he had not been paid for most of his work and alleged that 'dozens' of contractors, employees and suppliers remain unpaid despite repeated promises from management. 'The property may be stunning, but behind the scenes, it's a different story,' he said. When Ms Mossay confronted a manager about the former staff members, she said he would deny the claims and offer excuses. 'He would say sorry that their pay was going to be late but would promise a bonus when they were paid 'as a thanks for waiting',' she said. 'He would say 'we're very happy with you guys' and I have proof of that because I have the messages.' But after four weeks without pay, things escalated. Ms Mossay claimed the manager began acting 'very rude' to a new group of backpackers who started working on the island. 'So I was like, OK, this is starting to get very weird and we decided to pack our stuff,' she said. Ms Mossay and her partner took a break off the island and told the manager they would not return unless they were paid. When they refused to come back without payment, new staff were hired. 'We realised they were probably not planning to pay us,' she said. Messages seen by NewsWire show a series of exchanges in which the manager apologises for delayed payments and blames the issue on legal problems involving a stalled 'settlement'. As time went on and no payments were received, Ms Mossay, frustrated and out of money, told him that as an employer, 'you have to pay us on time'. The manager responded, 'We understand our responsibilities. Thanks for that.' Ms Mossay then questioned why they couldn't use income from paying guests to pay their staff. In a later message, the manager claimed a $500 payment had been made, along with two other payments, but when Ms Mossay followed up days later to say the money had not come through, he appeared to avoid answering. She said the manager blocked her shortly after their final exchange and claimed the lodge still owed her and her partner about $9000 in gross pay. Some employees, she said, chose to stay on the island in protest, a strategy that worked for a few who were eventually paid. She and her partner weren't so lucky. 'How I see things is that we were very manipulated,' she said. Ms Mossay then contacted another man involved with the lodge who told her that he was trying to find a way to pay. 'I texted him about three days ago when he said that it was planned to pay them. When asking when, he replied: 'It is planned but don't badger me',' she said. 'If you continue to badger me then things won't go as planned.' She has since lodged a complaint with the Fair Work Ombudsman and filed a claim in the small claims division of the Local Court. The Fair Work Ombudsman has been contacted for comment.
Perth Now
15-05-2025
- Business
- Perth Now
‘Don't badger me': Text to unpaid worker
An exclusive adults-only eco-lodge on the Hawkesbury River has quietly shut its doors after months of internal chaos, with former staff alleging unpaid wages, while frustrated guests report cancelled bookings and lost deposits. Marramarra Lodge, promoted as a high-end retreat only accessible by boat and nestled in bushland north of Sydney, reopened in December with rooms priced at up to $2200 a night. But the reopening quickly unravelled into what one former worker described as a 'shocking mess'. Belgian traveller Alysson Mossay, who was hired for front-of-house duties, said when she started at the lodge, it felt 'like a dream job'. 'We were on an island, we had food … it seemed like the perfect plan to save money,' Ms Mossay told NewsWire. She began working at Marramarra Lodge on January 31. Her partner, Matthieu Arthuis, started a week later. However, it wasn't long before she claimed issues started to arise. Marramarra Lodge was promoted as a high-end retreat. Supplied Credit: Supplied 'I got paid for my first three weeks and my partner got paid his first two weeks,' Ms Mossay said. Over the following two weeks, she claimed their wages were delayed both times. '(A manager) said it would be next week and he said 'I'm going to give you a $500 bonus, thank you for waiting, we like you guys so much, you do such a great job',' Ms Mossay claimed. 'I know that running a business is not always very easy at the beginning … so I didn't worry too much and this was my mistake. 'We kind of closed our eyes, we didn't want to see the truth.' Ms Mossay said they weren't aware at the time that a group of previous employees had already left after not being paid. She found online comments from former staffers, including private chef Gerald Touchard, who also alleged non-payment. In March, Mr Touchard shared a detailed account of his experience at Marramarra Lodge via his business Instagram account. 'I was hired to lead its reopening from November 2024,' he wrote. 'What was meant to be a world class hospitality experience has turned into a shocking mess for myself, for staff, for suppliers and even for guests.' Alysson Mossay claims she is owed unpaid wages. Supplied Credit: News Corp Australia Mr Touchard claimed he had not been paid for most of his work and alleged that 'dozens' of contractors, employees and suppliers remain unpaid despite repeated promises from management. 'The property may be stunning, but behind the scenes, it's a different story,' he said. When Ms Mossay confronted a manager about the former staff members, she said he would deny the claims and offer excuses. 'He would say sorry that their pay was going to be late but would promise a bonus when they were paid 'as a thanks for waiting',' she said. 'He would say 'we're very happy with you guys' and I have proof of that because I have the messages.' But after four weeks without pay, things escalated. Ms Mossay claimed the manager began acting 'very rude' to a new group of backpackers who started working on the island. 'So I was like, OK, this is starting to get very weird and we decided to pack our stuff,' she said. Private chef Gerald Touchard said he and many other former staff and contractors had still not been paid in full. Credit: Supplied Ms Mossay and her partner took a break off the island and told the manager they would not return unless they were paid. When they refused to come back without payment, new staff were hired. 'We realised they were probably not planning to pay us,' she said. Messages seen by NewsWire show a series of exchanges in which the manager apologises for delayed payments and blames the issue on legal problems involving a stalled 'settlement'. As time went on and no payments were received, Ms Mossay, frustrated and out of money, told him that as an employer, 'you have to pay us on time'. The manager responded, 'We understand our responsibilities. Thanks for that.' Ms Mossay then questioned why they couldn't use income from paying guests to pay their staff. In a later message, the manager claimed a $500 payment had been made, along with two other payments, but when Ms Mossay followed up days later to say the money had not come through, he appeared to avoid answering. She said the manager blocked her shortly after their final exchange and claimed the lodge still owed her and her partner about $9000 in gross pay. While many guests praised the lodge's setting and accommodation, others said it had gone downhill in recent times. Credit: Supplied Some employees, she said, chose to stay on the island in protest, a strategy that worked for a few who were eventually paid. She and her partner weren't so lucky. 'How I see things is that we were very manipulated,' she said. Ms Mossay then contacted another man involved with the lodge who told her that he was trying to find a way to pay. 'I texted him about three days ago when he said that it was planned to pay them. When asking when, he replied: 'It is planned but don't badger me',' she said. 'If you continue to badger me then things won't go as planned.' She has since lodged a complaint with the Fair Work Ombudsman and filed a claim in the small claims division of the Local Court. The Fair Work Ombudsman has been contacted for comment. Recent Google reviews also show guests have been left chasing refunds following last-minute cancellations and lengthy delays in returning deposits. Marramarra Lodge has been contacted for comment.
The Age
13-05-2025
- Business
- The Age
‘Toxic and very dysfunctional': Sydney adults-only resort slides into chaos
'When I started it was like a dream job,' said Alysson Mossay, a Belgian traveller hired for a front-of-house role at the lodge in December. 'Greg said, 'I don't know how we managed without you, you are wonderful'. He was very thankful at first.' Mossay and her partner, Matthieu Arthuis, said they both continued working at the lodge despite delays in their pay, but within weeks of the resort's opening the pay cheques dried up. By late January, the atmosphere of bonhomie was evaporating. A group of Spanish backpackers working at the resort refused to leave until they were paid. Another foreign worker secretly called a water taxi – the only way off the peninsula apart from lodge-owned boats – and left by night to escape the increasingly tense situation. Service also began to suffer. A pregnant customer complained of being served alcohol and raw fish by staff. An online review posted by a guest likened the resort to Fawlty Towers, the BBC comedy about an incompetent hotelier. Bizarrely, it turned out that P & F Hurley Pty Ltd had not finalised purchase of the site. Loading Staff were baffled to learn that while the company had paid a deposit to the lodge's owners last year, the sale had never been settled, despite P & F Hurley opening the lodge for business in the meantime. Walker had stepped down from a role as a director of P & F Hurley before the company moved to buy the lodge, when bankruptcy disqualified him from holding company office. He declared himself bankrupt after unrelated business dealings last year with debts of $53,926,500 and a bank balance of $61. Most of the money he owed was the result of personal guarantees of company debts, along with about $1.3 million in unpaid personal loans from family and friends. Walker said he was awaiting a $37 million payment after one of his companies sued a building company and a lender, the Bank of China. Walker said he was simply acting as a manager for the lodge and directed questions about outstanding wages to P & F Hurley. This masthead is not suggesting he is personally responsible for unpaid wages, although he is the manager to whom most staff made pay requests. A director of P & F Hurley is understood to have arranged payment of wages to some staff when they complained directly to him. The nature and extent of staff underpayment, and where responsibility for the mess lies, are unclear. Several workers said they had received their wages months late, only after the Herald began asking questions. Others have yet to see their money. Loading The site's owners, a group of investors operating under the name Marramarra Pty Ltd, also declined to comment. They were granted a court order last month to regain access to the site. But the Herald understands they thought they had sold the property and were astonished to learn the venue had been opened for business even though the sale never went through. Liquor and Gaming NSW is reviewing the venue's licence after it emerged that P & F Hurley had been operating the lodge with a liquor licence that had been issued to the previous operators. The manager listed on the licence had not worked at the lodge since August. Text message chains between Greg Walker and unpaid staff, seen by the Herald, showed the manager becoming increasingly personal and abusive when workers asked to be paid. One unpaid worker was accused of being a 'pedo' by Walker. Mossay and Arthuis were threatened by Walker with being reported to police for allegedly not paying income tax and were scolded about their sex life after texting him to ask for their money. 'I doubt you have any intention of declaring your income, which in this country is a criminal offence,' Walker texted. 'Paying such wages late is not such a crime.' Mossay said she paid her income tax in the normal way. 'I found it intimidating and threatening when all I was doing was asking to be paid money I'd already worked for,' Mossay said. Not all former staff blamed Walker. Chef Chris Hayward said: 'Yes, paying wages late is always bad and you can't defend that, but I've personally seen Greg working really hard to keep the lodge afloat. He doesn't deserve to be in this situation, and from what I've seen he has been let down by others.' Loading A statement from lawyers representing Walker, sent in response to questions from the Herald, said most staff had now been paid and claimed those who had not were guilty of misconduct at work. 'These staff members were let go because of multiple incidents including theft, abuse, breach of contract, deceptive and insightful [sic] behaviour during and after work hours, consumption of illegal substances and alcohol while on duty and while on the property, using the guest accommodation to wine and dine and a person our client suspects was underage (who stayed overnight), sexual advances to others staff members that was brought to our client's attention,' the statement said. Mossay, Arthuis and other staff members who received angry messages from Walker deny any such behaviour took place. Walker had generally been complimentary of their work, they said. 'It was a case of '[you'll be paid] by close-of-business Monday', then close-of-business Tuesday, then by the end of the week,' said Del Prete. 'Then they'd be begging you to come in next week. It became very clear we were dealing with unreliable people.' It is not the first time businesses linked to Walker have grappled with cash flow problems. Walker, who worked as a journalist at SBS in the early 1990s, funded a lavish lifestyle over two decades with a series of property development and real estate deals. In 2007, he and his wife Karen built the Walker House, a five-level mansion in Bayview that boasted an infinity lap pool, private cinema and steam room. 'The house is probably one of the best in the world,' gushed Richard Gu, a Chinese property developer who later purchased the mansion. But there were setbacks, such as when a contractor at a St Ives apartment complex developed by one of Walker's companies was found to have left a string of defects and forged 15 building certification documents. A separate deal to build a 28-storey apartment complex in Gosford saw Walker's development company Macarthur Projects placed into receivership in 2022. When Walker petitioned for bankruptcy shortly after Macarthur Projects was wound up, he cited 'excessive borrowing/credit' and 'legal action or potential legal action' as the cause of his troubles. 'Previous history of business is just that and has no bearing on Marramarra Lodge,' Walker's lawyers said in a statement. 'Our client submits that their previous dealings are a matter of public record, and has nothing further to add to that … Our client was bankrupted as a result of GFC and as a result of COVID, both due to business downturn.' Even as Marramarra Lodge spiralled down towards closure, some workers stepped forward to support Walker. Cindy Sheen, a family friend who also worked at the lodge, claimed Walker was blameless and that unprofessional staff were responsible for the lodge's demise. 'In particular, I was disgusted in their total lack of respect and disobedience in regard to the fact that they were living in an eco-lodge and the sustainability and recycling instructions were continually ignored,' Sheen said. 'They did not care about being energy efficient, recycling or respecting our country and this actually infuriated me.' Executive chef Gerald Touchard was also inclined to give Walker the benefit of the doubt at first. But, after working for weeks without pay, Touchard was asked to come back to work and told the lodge would pay for a babysitter for his children while he travelled to the remote site. Afterwards, he asked for his money. Receipts indicate Touchard is owed more than $40,000.
Sydney Morning Herald
13-05-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Toxic and very dysfunctional': Sydney adults-only resort slides into chaos
'When I started it was like a dream job,' said Alysson Mossay, a Belgian traveller hired for a front-of-house role at the lodge in December. 'Greg said, 'I don't know how we managed without you, you are wonderful'. He was very thankful at first.' Mossay and her partner, Matthieu Arthuis, said they both continued working at the lodge despite delays in their pay, but within weeks of the resort's opening the pay cheques dried up. By late January, the atmosphere of bonhomie was evaporating. A group of Spanish backpackers working at the resort refused to leave until they were paid. Another foreign worker secretly called a water taxi – the only way off the peninsula apart from lodge-owned boats – and left by night to escape the increasingly tense situation. Service also began to suffer. A pregnant customer complained of being served alcohol and raw fish by staff. An online review posted by a guest likened the resort to Fawlty Towers, the BBC comedy about an incompetent hotelier. Bizarrely, it turned out that P & F Hurley Pty Ltd had not finalised purchase of the site. Loading Staff were baffled to learn that while the company had paid a deposit to the lodge's owners last year, the sale had never been settled, despite P & F Hurley opening the lodge for business in the meantime. Walker had stepped down from a role as a director of P & F Hurley before the company moved to buy the lodge, when bankruptcy disqualified him from holding company office. He declared himself bankrupt after unrelated business dealings last year with debts of $53,926,500 and a bank balance of $61. Most of the money he owed was the result of personal guarantees of company debts, along with about $1.3 million in unpaid personal loans from family and friends. Walker said he was awaiting a $37 million payment after one of his companies sued a building company and a lender, the Bank of China. Walker said he was simply acting as a manager for the lodge and directed questions about outstanding wages to P & F Hurley. This masthead is not suggesting he is personally responsible for unpaid wages, although he is the manager to whom most staff made pay requests. A director of P & F Hurley is understood to have arranged payment of wages to some staff when they complained directly to him. The nature and extent of staff underpayment, and where responsibility for the mess lies, are unclear. Several workers said they had received their wages months late, only after the Herald began asking questions. Others have yet to see their money. Loading The site's owners, a group of investors operating under the name Marramarra Pty Ltd, also declined to comment. They were granted a court order last month to regain access to the site. But the Herald understands they thought they had sold the property and were astonished to learn the venue had been opened for business even though the sale never went through. Liquor and Gaming NSW is reviewing the venue's licence after it emerged that P & F Hurley had been operating the lodge with a liquor licence that had been issued to the previous operators. The manager listed on the licence had not worked at the lodge since August. Text message chains between Greg Walker and unpaid staff, seen by the Herald, showed the manager becoming increasingly personal and abusive when workers asked to be paid. One unpaid worker was accused of being a 'pedo' by Walker. Mossay and Arthuis were threatened by Walker with being reported to police for allegedly not paying income tax and were scolded about their sex life after texting him to ask for their money. 'I doubt you have any intention of declaring your income, which in this country is a criminal offence,' Walker texted. 'Paying such wages late is not such a crime.' Mossay said she paid her income tax in the normal way. 'I found it intimidating and threatening when all I was doing was asking to be paid money I'd already worked for,' Mossay said. Not all former staff blamed Walker. Chef Chris Hayward said: 'Yes, paying wages late is always bad and you can't defend that, but I've personally seen Greg working really hard to keep the lodge afloat. He doesn't deserve to be in this situation, and from what I've seen he has been let down by others.' Loading A statement from lawyers representing Walker, sent in response to questions from the Herald, said most staff had now been paid and claimed those who had not were guilty of misconduct at work. 'These staff members were let go because of multiple incidents including theft, abuse, breach of contract, deceptive and insightful [sic] behaviour during and after work hours, consumption of illegal substances and alcohol while on duty and while on the property, using the guest accommodation to wine and dine and a person our client suspects was underage (who stayed overnight), sexual advances to others staff members that was brought to our client's attention,' the statement said. Mossay, Arthuis and other staff members who received angry messages from Walker deny any such behaviour took place. Walker had generally been complimentary of their work, they said. 'It was a case of '[you'll be paid] by close-of-business Monday', then close-of-business Tuesday, then by the end of the week,' said Del Prete. 'Then they'd be begging you to come in next week. It became very clear we were dealing with unreliable people.' It is not the first time businesses linked to Walker have grappled with cash flow problems. Walker, who worked as a journalist at SBS in the early 1990s, funded a lavish lifestyle over two decades with a series of property development and real estate deals. In 2007, he and his wife Karen built the Walker House, a five-level mansion in Bayview that boasted an infinity lap pool, private cinema and steam room. 'The house is probably one of the best in the world,' gushed Richard Gu, a Chinese property developer who later purchased the mansion. But there were setbacks, such as when a contractor at a St Ives apartment complex developed by one of Walker's companies was found to have left a string of defects and forged 15 building certification documents. A separate deal to build a 28-storey apartment complex in Gosford saw Walker's development company Macarthur Projects placed into receivership in 2022. When Walker petitioned for bankruptcy shortly after Macarthur Projects was wound up, he cited 'excessive borrowing/credit' and 'legal action or potential legal action' as the cause of his troubles. 'Previous history of business is just that and has no bearing on Marramarra Lodge,' Walker's lawyers said in a statement. 'Our client submits that their previous dealings are a matter of public record, and has nothing further to add to that … Our client was bankrupted as a result of GFC and as a result of COVID, both due to business downturn.' Even as Marramarra Lodge spiralled down towards closure, some workers stepped forward to support Walker. Cindy Sheen, a family friend who also worked at the lodge, claimed Walker was blameless and that unprofessional staff were responsible for the lodge's demise. 'In particular, I was disgusted in their total lack of respect and disobedience in regard to the fact that they were living in an eco-lodge and the sustainability and recycling instructions were continually ignored,' Sheen said. 'They did not care about being energy efficient, recycling or respecting our country and this actually infuriated me.' Executive chef Gerald Touchard was also inclined to give Walker the benefit of the doubt at first. But, after working for weeks without pay, Touchard was asked to come back to work and told the lodge would pay for a babysitter for his children while he travelled to the remote site. Afterwards, he asked for his money. Receipts indicate Touchard is owed more than $40,000.
The Age
13-05-2025
- Business
- The Age
Adults-only resort slides into chaos over wage theft, bullying claims
'When I started it was like a dream job,' said Alysson Mossay, a Belgian traveller hired for a front-of-house role at the lodge in December. 'Greg said, 'I don't know how we managed without you, you are wonderful'. He was very thankful at first.' Mossay and her partner, Matthieu Arthuis, said they both continued working at the lodge despite delays in their pay, but within weeks of the resort's opening the pay cheques dried up. By late January, the atmosphere of bonhomie was evaporating. A group of Spanish backpackers working at the resort refused to leave until they were paid. Another foreign worker secretly called a water taxi – the only way off the peninsula apart from lodge-owned boats – and left by night to escape the increasingly tense situation. Service also began to suffer. A pregnant customer complained of being served alcohol and raw fish by staff. An online review posted by a guest likened the resort to Fawlty Towers, the BBC comedy about an incompetent hotelier. Bizarrely, it turned out that P & F Hurley Pty Ltd had not finalised purchase of the site. Loading Staff were baffled to learn that while the company had paid a deposit to the lodge's owners last year, the sale had never been settled, despite P & F Hurley opening the lodge for business in the meantime. Walker had stepped down from a role as a director of P & F Hurley before the company moved to buy the lodge, when bankruptcy disqualified him from holding company office. He declared himself bankrupt after unrelated business dealings last year with debts of $53,926,500 and a bank balance of $61. Most of the money he owed was the result of personal guarantees of company debts, along with about $1.3 million in unpaid personal loans from family and friends. Walker said he was awaiting a $37 million payment after one of his companies sued a building company and a lender, the Bank of China. Walker said he was simply acting as a manager for the lodge and directed questions about outstanding wages to P & F Hurley. This masthead is not suggesting he is personally responsible for unpaid wages, although he is the manager to whom most staff made pay requests. A director of P & F Hurley is understood to have arranged payment of wages to some staff when they complained directly to him. The nature and extent of staff underpayment, and where responsibility for the mess lies, are unclear. Several workers said they had received their wages months late, only after the Herald began asking questions. Others have yet to see their money. Loading The site's owners, a group of investors operating under the name Marramarra Pty Ltd, also declined to comment. They were granted a court order last month to regain access to the site. But the Herald understands they thought they had sold the property and were astonished to learn the venue had been opened for business even though the sale never went through. Liquor and Gaming NSW is reviewing the venue's licence after it emerged that P & F Hurley had been operating the lodge with a liquor licence that had been issued to the previous operators. The manager listed on the licence had not worked at the lodge since August. Text message chains between Greg Walker and unpaid staff, seen by the Herald, showed the manager becoming increasingly personal and abusive when workers asked to be paid. One unpaid worker was accused of being a 'pedo' by Walker. Mossay and Arthuis were threatened by Walker with being reported to police for allegedly not paying income tax and were scolded about their sex life after texting him to ask for their money. 'I doubt you have any intention of declaring your income, which in this country is a criminal offence,' Walker texted. 'Paying such wages late is not such a crime.' Mossay said she paid her income tax in the normal way. 'I found it intimidating and threatening when all I was doing was asking to be paid money I'd already worked for,' Mossay said. Not all former staff blamed Walker. Chef Chris Hayward said: 'Yes, paying wages late is always bad and you can't defend that, but I've personally seen Greg working really hard to keep the lodge afloat. He doesn't deserve to be in this situation, and from what I've seen he has been let down by others.' Loading A statement from lawyers representing Walker, sent in response to questions from the Herald, said most staff had now been paid and claimed those who had not were guilty of misconduct at work. 'These staff members were let go because of multiple incidents including theft, abuse, breach of contract, deceptive and insightful [sic] behaviour during and after work hours, consumption of illegal substances and alcohol while on duty and while on the property, using the guest accommodation to wine and dine and a person our client suspects was underage (who stayed overnight), sexual advances to others staff members that was brought to our client's attention,' the statement said. Mossay, Arthuis and other staff members who received angry messages from Walker deny any such behaviour took place. Walker had generally been complimentary of their work, they said. 'It was a case of '[you'll be paid] by close-of-business Monday', then close-of-business Tuesday, then by the end of the week,' said Del Prete. 'Then they'd be begging you to come in next week. It became very clear we were dealing with unreliable people.' It is not the first time businesses linked to Walker have grappled with cash flow problems. Walker, who worked as a journalist at SBS in the early 1990s, funded a lavish lifestyle over two decades with a series of property development and real estate deals. In 2007, he and his wife Karen built 'the Walker House', a five-level mansion in Bayview that boasted an infinity lap pool, private cinema and steam room. 'The house is probably one of the best in the world,' gushed Richard Gu, a Chinese property developer who later purchased the mansion. But there were setbacks, such as when a contractor at a St Ives apartment complex developed by one of Walker's companies was found to have left a string of defects and forged 15 building certification documents. A separate deal to build a 28-storey apartment complex in Gosford saw Walker's development company Macarthur Projects placed into receivership in 2022. When Walker petitioned for bankruptcy shortly after Macarthur Projects was wound up, he cited 'excessive borrowing/credit' and 'legal action or potential legal action' as the cause of his troubles. 'Previous history of business is just that and has no bearing on Marramarra Lodge,' Walker's lawyers said in a statement. 'Our client submits that their previous dealings are a matter of public record, and has nothing further to add to that … Our client was bankrupted as a result of GFC and as a result of COVID both due to business downturn.' Even as Marramarra Lodge spiralled down towards closure, some workers stepped forward to support Walker. Cindy Sheen, a family friend who also worked at the lodge, claimed Walker was blameless and that unprofessional staff were responsible for the lodge's demise. 'In particular, I was disgusted in their total lack of respect and disobedience in regard to the fact that they were living in an eco-lodge and the sustainability and recycling instructions were continually ignored,' Sheen said. 'They did not care about being energy efficient, recycling or respecting our country and this actually infuriated me.' Executive chef Gerald Touchard was also inclined to give Walker the benefit of the doubt at first. But, after working for weeks without pay, Touchard was asked to come back to work and told the lodge would pay for a babysitter for his children while he travelled to the remote site. Afterwards, he asked for his money. Receipts indicate Touchard is owed more than $40,000.
