A Personal Apology Regarding New Sensation Homes

There are certain chapters in life that you wish you could go back and change. For me, the collapse of New Sensation Homes is one of them.

I have spent a lot of time reflecting on what happened, the people who were affected and the consequences that have continued long after the company went into liquidation. I feel it is important to address this publicly, in my own words, and to offer a genuine apology to everyone who was impacted.

As a director of New Sensation Homes, I recognise the responsibility I carried and the trust that so many people placed in us. Customers trusted us to build their homes. Contractors and suppliers trusted us to honour our commitments. Employees turned up every day, worked hard and remained loyal to the business. My family and friends supported me, often at significant personal and financial cost.

To every customer who was left with an unfinished home, every contractor or supplier who suffered financial losses, every employee whose livelihood was affected, and every person who put their trust in New Sensation Homes, I am genuinely sorry.

I understand that behind every unfinished home, unpaid invoice or lost job was a real person, a family, a mortgage, a business or a future that someone had worked hard to build. I recognise that the consequences were not simply business matters. They affected people's lives, their financial security and their ability to trust others.

I am particularly sorry to those who supported me personally, including my family and friends. Some of the people closest to me were financially involved and suffered losses alongside everyone else. The impact on those relationships has been profound, and some of those consequences are still being felt today.

One of the hardest parts of this experience has been losing my best mate of 25 years. The collapse of the business, alongside everything else happening in my life, contributed to losses that went far beyond money. Some things cannot simply be repaired by moving on, and I carry those experiences with me.

I also want to acknowledge my parents and my brother, who stood by me through what was undoubtedly the darkest period of my life. They supported me not only financially, suffering significant financial losses themselves in the process, but also emotionally and personally through the enormous challenges I was facing. They stood beside me through the breakdown of my marriage, the family court proceedings, the uncertainty surrounding my children and the personal turmoil that seemed to touch every part of my life. They gave me support when I was struggling to find my own way forward, and they carried burdens that no family should have to carry. I will never forget what they sacrificed for me, or the impact this period had on them. There were times when I genuinely didn't know how I was going to get through everything that was happening, and without their love, support and loyalty, I honestly don't know whether I would have. I will always be grateful for the fact that, when so much of my world had fallen apart, they were still there.

The Circumstances Behind the Collapse

I want to provide some context, not to excuse what happened, but to explain where I was personally at the time and the circumstances the business was facing.

After years of struggling with addiction, I entered rehabilitation in 2021. I returned to work sober, and by the time New Sensation Homes entered liquidation in April 2022, I had been out of rehabilitation for approximately six months. I was sober, focused on my health and, in many respects, feeling better physically and mentally than I had in a decade.

I was determined to turn things around, both personally and professionally. Unfortunately, the business was facing enormous pressures, including labour shortages, significant increases in material costs and difficult conditions across the building industry.

Despite my efforts, the damage was already substantial, and I was unable to navigate the business through the conditions it faced.

I know that explaining those circumstances does not change the outcome for anyone who lost money, work or the home they had been expecting. The fact remains that the company went into liquidation, and people suffered as a result.

In the lead-up to the liquidation, my family and I put substantial personal funds into the business in an attempt to keep it operating and fulfil as many of our commitments as possible. We were trying to find a way through a situation that was becoming increasingly difficult. Ultimately, those efforts were not enough.

I am not sharing this to suggest that our losses were greater than anyone else's or that our efforts erase the impact on others. They do not. I simply want people to understand that, behind the collapse, there were genuine attempts to keep the business going, alongside decisions and circumstances that ultimately led to an outcome I deeply regret.

I wish things had turned out differently. I wish the customers had received their completed homes, the contractors and suppliers had been paid, and the employees had been able to continue their work without the uncertainty and hardship that followed.

I cannot change what happened. What I can do is acknowledge it, learn from it and take responsibility for the way I conduct myself and my business from this point forward.

The Media, My Past and the Opportunity to Rebuild

I also want to address the media coverage that has followed me over the past four years, particularly reporting by Channel 7.

I understand that the collapse of New Sensation Homes was a significant event that affected many people, and I accept that there is a legitimate public interest in reporting on matters of this nature. I do not expect my past to be ignored, and I do not expect to be exempt from fair scrutiny.

However, I have become increasingly concerned by what I believe has been a pattern of repeated coverage that revisits my past, questions my character and extends into the work we are doing today at Six Seasons Recovery.

I have felt that aspects of this coverage have not adequately reflected the information we have provided, the changes I have made in my own life or the experiences of people who have received support through our current business. I am particularly concerned when reporting about my past becomes intertwined with the work of our staff and clinicians, who turn up each day with the intention of helping people who are struggling.

I respectfully disagree with the way aspects of my story and our work have been portrayed. I believe there should be room for fair scrutiny, accurate reporting and a genuine consideration of relevant information, rather than allowing a person's past to become the only lens through which everything they do is viewed.

I want to be clear about something: my apology to the people affected by New Sensation Homes stands independently of my concerns about the media. I am not offering this apology to win an argument, change a headline or ask anyone to take my side.

I am offering it because people were affected, because I recognise the seriousness of what happened, and because I believe it is the right thing to do.

At the same time, I do not believe that someone should be permanently defined by their worst period in life. Nor do I believe that a business established years later should be judged solely on the past of its founder, rather than on its own practices, the people delivering its services and the evidence of the work it does.

I have worked hard to rebuild my life, undertake further education and contribute to the rehabilitation sector. I know that trust is not something I can demand. It is something that must be earned over time through actions, conduct and accountability.

I ask only that the opportunity to do that work be afforded to me, as it should be afforded to anyone genuinely seeking to make amends and contribute positively to society.

Moving Forward

I cannot undo the past, and I will never pretend that the collapse of New Sensation Homes did not have serious consequences.

To those who were financially affected, I recognise that an apology alone cannot restore what was lost. To those who felt let down by me personally, I understand that words may not be enough. And to the people who stood beside me, supported me and suffered along the way, I am deeply sorry for what you went through.

The experience changed me. It forced me to confront the consequences of my decisions, reconsider what matters in life and find a different direction.

Today, my focus is on my family, my health, continuing to grow as a person and building Six Seasons Recovery into a business that makes a meaningful contribution to the lives of others. I am committed to learning from my past rather than pretending it never happened.

I know that I cannot ask everyone to agree with the decisions I have made, and I cannot expect everyone to see my journey in the same way I do. But I hope that, over time, my actions will demonstrate that people can learn, change and work towards something better.

To everyone affected by New Sensation Homes, I offer my sincere apology. I am sorry for the losses, the stress, the uncertainty and the disappointment that you experienced.

I wish the outcome had been different, and I genuinely wish everyone affected the opportunity to move forward and rebuild.

I will always carry the lessons from this chapter of my life. My hope is that, with time, I can continue to demonstrate through my actions that the mistakes and failures of our past do not have to be the entirety of our story.

I cannot change what happened, but I can take responsibility for it, learn from it and dedicate the next chapter of my life to doing something meaningful.

Danny Coyne