FURTHER BACKGROUND FACTS
9 The background facts are established by affidavits of the Trustee sworn 26 September 2005 and 27 September 2005.
10 The Bankrupt became a bankrupt on 21 January 2000 upon acceptance of his own (debtor's) petition. The petition gave the Bankrupt's address as 'PO Box 1359 Southport, Queensland, Post Code 4215', and a person who signed 'J. Sheedy' as witness to his signature, gave that person's address as 'PO Box 121, Runaway Bay 4216'.
11 In his statement of affairs, the Bankrupt gave his residential address as 'c/o E35 Runaway Bay Marina, 245 Bayview Street, Runaway Bay 4216', and his postal address again as 'PO Box 1359, Southport, Qld 4215'.
12 The Bankrupt stated, as what he believed to be the cause of his bankruptcy, 'Greedy wife and her slimy lawyer'.
13 Initially the trustee in bankruptcy was the Official Trustee in Bankruptcy, but on 8 November 2001, the Trustee was appointed instead, pursuant to s 157 of the Act.
14 On 20 March 2004, the Bankrupt left Australia without the Trustee's consent. That was an offence punishable on conviction by imprisonment for a period not exceeding three years: s 272(1)(c) of the Act. According to the Trustee's affidavit evidence, the bankrupt was arrested and prosecuted for that offence on his return, but no conviction was recorded. The Bankrupt explained that he had left the jurisdiction because his mother was dying and he needed to return to New Zealand to be with her. It was that information which caused the Trustee to make inquiries of Public Trust and to acquire from it the information referred to earlier.
15 The Trustee wrote to the Bankrupt on 2 August 2005, 11 August 2005 and 30 August 2005 seeking information in relation to his mother's estate. The letters were written to him, in some cases by ordinary post and in others by registered post, at PO Box 289, Runaway Bay, Qld 4216. The Trustee's evidence is that the post office box address given in the petition is closed, and that in a proceeding in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal with respect to the discharge of the Bankrupt from bankruptcy, in which the Trustee is engaged, the Bankrupt has given in correspondence his address as PO Box 289, Runaway Bay, Qld, 4216 and 9 Meadowlake Drive, Carrara, Qld, 4211. The Bankrupt has not replied to the Trustee's letters. The Bankrupt's failure to give the information requested was an offence punishable by imprisonment for one year: s 265(1)(ca) of the Act (and see s 77(1)(ba) of the Act).
16 On 13 September 2005 the Trustee gave notice of objection to the automatic discharge of the Bankrupt from bankruptcy under s 149B of the Act. The ground of the objection was that the Bankrupt had failed, when so requested in writing by the Trustee, to provide written information about his property, income or expected income: see s 149D(1)(d) of the Act.
17 The making of the objection had the effect of extending the period of the bankruptcy to a period of eight years from the date of lodgement of the statement of affairs. Accordingly, the current discharge date is 22 January 2008.
18 The Trustee has been monitoring the one and only bank account in Australia which the Trustee knows the Bankrupt to have. That is an account in the Bankrupt's name with Suncorp-Metway Ltd (BSB 484-799). Direct credits from Centrelink Newstart go into that account. The sum of NZD92,946.90 to which I referred has not been paid into it. The Trustee suspects that that amount may have been deposited into an account in New Zealand, or into an account in Australia standing in a name other than that of the Bankrupt.
19 In the first instance, the purpose of the present application is to obtain from Public Trust information as to the precise form of the distribution of NZD92,946.90 to the Bankrupt, including particulars of the bank account into which the cheque was deposited.