Angry landscaper loses legal stoush
Landscaper Stephen Hiku has an anger management problem, but you’d never know it watching his social media videos highlighting his all-female workforce.
A Current Affair’s camera crew got a taste of it when questioning the former bankrupt about some of his shoddy work, which in one case resulted in him being ordered to pay back $65,000.
Landscaper Stephen Hiku. A Current Affair
Hiku attempted to wrestle the camera away, pinning our cameraman to a fence before eventually releasing him.
The gym junkie has been carving out a following on social media with his all-female workforce, mostly young backpackers, one as young as 18.
Some are qualified physiotherapists back home, others podiatrists, but videos posted to social media show them driving an excavator, operating jackhammers and screeding concrete with a spirit level.
All are forced to put up with their 57-year-old boss’ questionable sense of humour, as well as working on public holidays.
Hiku claims he was forced into hiring female backpackers because male workers wouldn’t show up, but one former customer claims “it’s a bit of a lie because it’s his own doing in a way”.
Campbell and Matilda Austin saw firsthand how Hiku treated his previous male employees.
“He would rock up, start abusing them, use every bit of language under the sun,” Campbell said, with his wife adding “one mature age worker” quit after regular abuse.
But that conduct wasn’t the biggest problem the couple faced when Hiku’s C Price Landscapes business was tasked for a large job at their home in the northern suburbs of Brisbane.
“We noticed that he just came up with multiple excuses to not return to site to effectively manage the remaining works that were incomplete or defective that we had picked up,” Matilda said.
The couple had paid C Price Landscapes $167,000 for the job, but when some of the work was not up to standard they claim Hiku wasn’t too keen to fix it.
“I think once he got the milestone payments, and we started to raise concerns with him about site attendance, not fixing defects, he started to ghost us,” Matilda said.
Hiku claims he was forced into hiring female backpackers because male workers wouldn’t show up. A Current Affair
A quantity surveyor was hired to complete a list of defects and incomplete works throughout the property, including missing tiling that cost the couple an extra $30,000 to finish off.
The front stairs were also rectified by other tradies after being left incomplete, leaving another costly bill.
They took Hiku to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT), which ordered the former bankrupt landscaper to pay them $65,000.
When A Current Affair confronted Hiku with a series of questions at his latest Brisbane worksite, he initially attacked our camera, before returning later in a much calmer mood with his own phone camera rolling.
“You sit down and interview me properly,” Hiku said before setting up his camera on a makeshift tripod, using a pile of dirt in a mini skip bin.
He initially seemed unfamiliar with the interview concept. When asked what led to his bankruptcy in 2016, he replied: “I don’t know. You tell me. You got all the answers.”
Hiku also appeared unfamiliar with the legally binding judgment secured by unhappy customers Matilda and Campbell Austin through QCAT.
Hiku has been carving out a following on social media with his all-female workforce, mostly young backpackers, one as young as 18. A Current Affair
“What you’ve got is one side of the story. You’ve got an embellished story from one side, mate,” Hiku said before being informed it had gone before the law and the QCAT decision was legally binding.
He later revealed he didn’t attend the hearing because he “couldn’t be f---ed”, but claimed to have evidence to back up his case.
It’s also been revealed Hiku has been collecting GST from customers when he is not registered for it.
Matilda Austin discovered his lack of registration and contacted the Australian Tax Office, which confirmed it, and $17,000 in GST he had collected from the couple was ordered to be repaid as part of the QCAT judgment.
Hiku claims he was unaware that he wasn’t registered for GST but has been “saving it” in another account that “goes to the tax office”.
An ATO spokesperson said it “takes attempts to defraud the GST system seriously” and it is illegal for businesses to charge GST if they are not registered.
“GST fraud is not a victimless crime. It diverts funds that would otherwise support essential services such as healthcare, infrastructure, and education,” the spokesperson said.
“We encourage the community to let the ATO know if they suspect someone is deliberately avoiding their tax or super obligations.”
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