General News
17 September, 2024
Rodeo goes to ground: Creditors left in the dark
Isa Rodeo Ltd won't say when or if it will pay creditors, with some owed more than $100,000.
Sporting clubs, charity groups, accommodation providers, stock contractors and caterers are among the long list of creditors who have been kept in the dark by Isa Rodeo Ltd regarding the status of their outstanding invoices.
After the news of the rodeo’s precarious financial position was broken by North West Weekly last Tuesday, it took five days for Isa Rodeo CEO Natalie Flecker to email the event’s creditors – after 10 o’clock on Sunday night – to provide an update on the situation.
Even then, the letter provided very little information.
“We are writing to provide an update regarding the payment of your outstanding invoice,” said the letter, signed by both Ms Flecker and rodeo chair Rowena McNally.
“We understand that recent media coverage regarding our financial situation may have raised concerns, especially given the state government’s decision not to support our request for one-off financial assistance.
“We are actively working through several promising options to resolve the current situation. Isa Rodeo is also yet to receive a number of payments from others.
“Be assured that we are doing our best both to ensure that you and our other suppliers are paid in full, and that there will be a Mount Isa Mines Rodeo in 2025 and beyond.
“Please know that we greatly appreciate your patience and understanding as we work toward this outcome.
“We will provide further update (sic) as soon as we can.”
Creditors say they have been unable to make contact with either Ms Flecker or Ms McNally about the rodeo’s financial position and are concerned they won’t get paid.
North West Weekly can confirm at least one of the major stock contractors has yet to be paid – and has no idea if or when payment will be made.
However, one stock contractor has received its money.
Dakota Brandenburg from Brandenburg Bucking Bulls said her business didn’t leave for Mount Isa – or any large event – without being paid up-front.
Locally, sports groups and non-profit organisations that provided volunteers in exchange for a fee have not been paid.
One Mount Isa caterer said they had yet to see payment or been contacted directly by Isa Rodeo for an update.
However, accommodation providers have been hit hardest.
One Mount Isa business told North West Weekly it was owed more than $100,000, while others are owed from thousands of dollars to tens of thousands of dollars.
Creditors, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said they were angry about the lack of communication from Ms Flecker and Ms McNally.
“I found out they were in trouble when I read your story,” one of them said.
“We got this letter on Sunday night and it really didn’t tell us anything. Of course they want to pay us, but it doesn’t say if they are going to.”
Another added: “They are talking about whether the rodeo will go ahead next year but what they should be talking about is how they are going to pay the businesses they owe money to now.
“Our trust has been shattered.”
North West Weekly requested an interview with Isa Rodeo Ltd, however the request was denied.
Instead, we were asked to email questions to Ms McNally.
Seven questions were sent to the chair on Monday and none of them were answered directly.
Ms McNally said Isa Rodeo was “quietly confident” of paying its creditors from this year’s event and that Isa Rodeo was working hard to make sure that the rodeo would go ahead in 2025.
“Isa Rodeo has fabulous sponsors and supporters, and we are currently working with them, to ensure the future of the rodeo,” she said in the statement.
“We are very grateful to our suppliers for their patience and to the kind messages of support we have been receiving.
“Whilst we would have preferred to be doing this without the glare of recent publicity, an unexpected but welcome consequence has been that we have been contacted by others interested in sponsoring the rodeo.
“This is all great news. We are confident that the legendary Isa Rodeo will continue.
“We will keep you posted.”
Ms McNally did not provide an update on Isa Rodeo’s debt, why it took five days to contact creditors, when it would be in a position to pay them, and when a decision would be made in regards to 2025.