Liquidator appointed for gay publisher
Gay and lesbian publisher Evolution Publishing, which publishes titles such as SX, Melbourne Community Voice, Blaze, Queensland Pride, Cult magazine and the gaynewsnetwork.com.au, is to be wound up with the Federal Court appointing a liquidator for the company.
The court last Friday appointed BRI Ferrier to oversee the process after the Australian Tax Office last month moved against the company over a $650,000 debt.
Court documents reveal that Evolution owed $407,278 in unpaid income tax, GST and penalties to the tax office. It also had debts of more than $250,000 to Blue Star printing, which is now owned by the Pegasus Printing Group.
As Crikey reported last month, the company’s owner’s have moved to the keep the mastheads and websites running by establishing a new company Evo Media.
In a statement posted on the gaynewsnetwork.com.au the company said the titles had been “licenced” by Evolution Publishing to the new company.
Evo Media company director Dean Bell said the move was an attempt to maintain the gay and lesbian titles .
“SX, Melbourne Community Voice, Blaze, Queensland Pride and, more recently Summer and CULT, are vital gay and lesbian mastheads, and they play a crucial role in Australia’s media landscape,” Bell said in the statement.
Last month Crikey reported that Bell is also the general manager of Evolution Publishing.
The publisher drew headlines last month after it was accused of unfair dismissal by former employee Serkan Ozturk.
Evo Media said all staff and contributors that work on the publications have been offered employment with Evo Media Pty Ltd.
Nic Christensen
Oh dear, yet another collapse of an LGBT organisation, reminiscent of the disintegration of the Satellite Group, and Mardi Gras insolvency.
While it’s understandable that profitability is a problem with print media on the decline, faced with online competition, this can’t be good for the reputation of our community if these companies keep getting into financial difficulty.
I can only hope the gay and lesbian mastheads will be able to survive somehow, because they are a vital link, especially to vulnerable and isolated LGBT youth in country areas.
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