A Queensland LNP candidate has had trouble answering questions about his private business amid his contest for the Labor-held seat of Waterford.
Logan City Councillor Jacob Heremaia is hoping to oust Health Minister Shannon Fentiman from the electorate south of Brisbane in the upcoming state election.
He’s also a businessman with a new company under his belt.
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9News first tried to ask Heremaia questions about his new business at his campaign launch last week but was removed from the function venue.
According to documents obtained by 9News, Heremaia created the company Avem Technology in August last year, which operates under the name Rpay.
When it was established, his father’s company became a 10 per cent shareholder.
At the time of the company’s inception, Heremaia’s father was in the middle of a 12-month ban from being “involved in any business carrying on credit activity”.
He had been found by the Federal Court to have committed misconduct related to a separate company and fined $30,000.
9News does not suggest Heremaia’s father has breached that ban or acted improperly.
However, the information has sparked renewed interest about the nature of Rpay.
When asked by 9News reporter Josh Bavas if his father was a shareholder in his company, Heremaia said he would “have to look into that”.
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When presented with a copy of his company’s business history he said: “The company was established, you can see the document right there that we have there, all of the information on it and the answer is in the document you have.”
Heremaia rebuffed the findings against his father as “gossip and negative politics”.
“I’m my own man. I have my own career. I love my dad but I am not my dad,” he said.
When asked about the nature of Rpay, Heremaia described it as a “hobby company”.
“My focus is serving the community,” he said.
“In my spare time I have a hobby company where I look into different IT products and things like that.
“But nothing’s been developed.”
9News does not suggest Jacob Heremaia has acted improperly.
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