Gold Coast publisher Business News Australia shuts down

Queensland publisher Business News Australia has appointed a liquidator, shutting down its online news site which has sometimes been confused with our Perth-based Business News operation.

Menzies Advisory principal Michael Caspaney was appointed liquidator this morning to Business News Australia Pty Ltd which published under that banner and also owns the business names Gold Coast Business News and Brisbane Business News and hosted a business awards program.

Business News Australia editor Matthew Ogg confirmed the liquidation of the business which he described as the life’s work of founder Camilla Westerlund.

Broadbeach Waters-based Ms Westerlund is the sole director and shareholder of Business News Australia, which has a Varsity Lakes address at the southern end of the Gold Coast area.

She has been an officer of the company since it was registered in late 2000, originally under the name Etch Pty Ltd, then later Gold Coast Business News Pty Ltd, then Business News Publications Pty Ltd and finally its current name which was taken in 2014.

Business News Australia’s operations and ownership are unrelated to Business News Pty Ltd, the Perth-based publisher of Business News fortnightly magazine and www.businessnews.com.au, although there has been confusion in the market as the east coast player sought to expand its presence to WA.

The two business models are very different, although the similarities in market and branding were enough to lead some users to mistake Business News Australia for Business News on numerous occasions since 2020, at least.

The two businesses are also very different in scale, despite our focus on Western Australia Business News is considerably larger than the Queensland online publisher which purported to be a national player.

On LinkedIn, Business News Australia’s current pages showed four Gold Coast employees and one Sydney-based events contractors, in addition to Ms Westerlund who was described as founder and managing director.

By comparison, St Georges Terrace-based Business News has about 50 employees, including about 20 employed in the publishing side, mostly as journalists and researchers.

Business News also has its own in-house events team annually hosting more than a dozen major events and awards programs with audiences of 400 or more.

There are four employees managing our WA events, including two breakfast series – Success & Leadership and Politics & Business – as well two major recognition programs WA Business Awards and 40under40 Awards. There are also regular industry-focused Sector Briefings and the forthcoming inaugural Leaders Summit business conference.

The 40under40 Awards was first run in Perth by Business News in 2002 and every year since. Perth-based Business News Pty Ltd has trademarked 40under40 and allows it to be used elsewhere in Australia under licence. 

Owned by Western Australians and independent of other media, Business News was first published in 1992, and the company behind it was founded in 1986 as Gloview Pty Ltd, changed its name to News Illustrated Pty Ltd in 1993 and then to Business News Pty Ltd in 2001.  

Mr Caspaney told Business News that he had been appointed this morning and could not yet discuss the circumstances surrounding the liquidation.

The liquidation was not preceded by any other form of administration.

It appears that Business News Australia has not published anything on its website since Monday.

In a post on LinkedIn Ms Westerlund said the publishing project started more than 20 years as a printed edition on the Gold Coast before expanding into events in 2008 with the Young Entrepreneur Awards and then seeking to reach a national market with a digital platform focused on founders, regional innovators and businesses outside the ASX 100. 

“Over time, the economics of independent publishing shifted in ways that made our model unsustainable,” she said.

“Despite constant adaptation and effort, the gap between the value of journalism and the returns available continued to widen and, in the end, became too great to overcome.”