My Right to Rebuild

My past is part of my story. It does not get to write the rest of it.

There comes a point in life when you have to decide whether you are going to allow your past to define you, or whether you are going to do the hard work required to build a different future.

For me, that decision didn't come easily. It came after years of addiction, multiple overdoses, the breakdown of my marriage, losing the business I had spent years building, bankruptcy, years of family court proceedings and some of the most difficult personal experiences a person can go through.

I have made mistakes. I have experienced the consequences of those mistakes, and I have had to live with the impact they have had on me and the people around me.

I don't pretend otherwise.

But I refuse to accept that the worst period of my life should determine the rest of it.

I believe every person deserves the opportunity to rebuild. Including me.

I Know What It Feels Like to Lose Everything

For a long time, I measured my life by what I could achieve.

I was the young bloke who played competitive football and cricket, surfed before and after school, competed in endurance events and believed that hard work could get me anywhere. I built businesses, managed restaurants, completed university studies and eventually built New Sensation Homes into a company turning over more than $20 million, employing approximately 40–50 people and managing around 120 jobs on site.

I married, built a family and, from the outside, had many of the things people associate with success.

But while I was building businesses and chasing the next achievement, I was also struggling with addiction.

Over the years, things deteriorated. I experienced multiple overdoses, hospital admissions and a cycle of behaviour that I struggled to break. I was caught between the person I wanted to be and the person my decisions were turning me into.

In 2020, my marriage ended. My personal life became increasingly difficult, and I found myself navigating the breakdown of my family while trying to manage my addiction and the pressures of running a business.

In 2021, following an overdose, I ended up in intensive care at Royal Perth Hospital.

That was a confronting reality to face. No amount of business success, money, ambition or achievement could protect me from what was happening to me.

I eventually went to rehabilitation at Noosa Confidential, where I began confronting the issues that had taken hold of my life.

But getting sober was only the beginning. I still had to face the consequences of years of decisions, repair what I could and learn how to live differently.

Then, in April 2022, New Sensation Homes went into liquidation. By the end of that year, I had been declared bankrupt.

The business I had worked so hard to build was gone. Customers, contractors, suppliers and employees were affected, and I have never pretended that the consequences for those people were insignificant. I have apologised for the harm caused, and I understand that some of those losses cannot simply be undone.

My family also suffered financially, emotionally and personally. My parents and brother stood beside me through a period that placed enormous pressure on them, and I will always be grateful for what they sacrificed.

I also lost my best mate of 25 years. Some of the losses I experienced during that period went far beyond money, and their effects are still with me today.

At the same time, I was involved in years of family court proceedings. The financial proceedings continued from 2020 to 2024, and the parenting proceedings extended from 2020 to 2025. I undertook extensive drug testing, including weekly tests for a year and three consecutive years of testing as part of the broader process.

It was an incredibly difficult chapter of my life, and parts of it played out publicly through repeated media coverage.

There were moments when it felt as though every part of my life had fallen apart at once.

My marriage was over. My business had failed. I was bankrupt. I was dealing with the consequences of my addiction, the challenges of rebuilding my relationship with my children and the reality of losing people and things I had once taken for granted.

I had to confront a question that I think many people eventually face in their own way:

When everything you thought defined you is gone, who are you going to become?

The Decision to Change

After New Sensation Homes closed, I went to Bali for two months in 2022. I needed time away to reflect on what had happened and decide what I wanted the rest of my life to stand for.

During that time, I undertook meditation training through the Australian Institute of Mindfulness. I began exploring mindfulness, self-awareness and the role our thoughts, habits and daily decisions play in shaping our lives.

I didn't have all the answers. I wasn't sitting there with a perfectly mapped-out plan for the next ten years.

But I knew I wanted to do something meaningful with my experiences.

I wanted to work in addiction. I wanted to understand the psychology behind our behaviour and why people continue to do things that hurt themselves, even when they desperately want their lives to change.

Most importantly, I wanted to help people who felt trapped in their own circumstances understand that another way of living was possible.

I returned to study in 2022, completing a Certificate of Psychological Science and a Graduate Diploma of Psychological Science at the Australian College of Applied Professions between 2022 and 2024.

While studying full-time, I was desperate to get practical experience. I applied for positions in rehabilitation services across Perth and was willing to offer my services voluntarily while receiving Austudy because I wanted to learn.

Eventually, I secured a position at the Whitehaven Clinic under Tabitha Corser, where I gained experience across addiction support, admissions and intake processes over approximately 14 months.

That experience helped me turn something deeply personal into a direction for my future. I was no longer just trying to recover from what had happened to me. I was working towards understanding how I could help others navigate their own struggles.

I continued my education, and today I am studying Psychology Honours at the University of Adelaide.

I am proud of the work I have put into rebuilding my life, not because I believe it erases my past, but because I know how much work it has taken to get here.

Building Something New

In 2024, I began putting the foundations of Six Seasons Recovery in place.

I had identified what I believed was a gap in Western Australia: the opportunity to create a private rehabilitation and mental health retreat where people could receive individualised support in a restorative environment.

I wanted to build something that reflected what I had learned through my own experiences, my education and my work in rehabilitation.

In April 2024, Hayley and I moved to the South West to help bring that vision to life.

We worked to establish the property, develop the program, bring together staff and clinicians, and create a service that we believed could offer people a different pathway towards recovery.

Our first guest arrived in May 2025.

Since then, we have continued to build Six Seasons Recovery, working towards our vision of becoming one of Australia's leading private rehabilitation and mental health retreats.

I know that starting a new business does not automatically prove anything about a person's character. I know that trust must be earned, and that any organisation working with vulnerable people has a responsibility to operate appropriately, safely and transparently.

But I also believe that what I do today deserves to be considered on its own merits.

My past is relevant to my story. It has shaped me, taught me difficult lessons and influenced the work I now do. But it should not be the only thing people are allowed to see when they look at me or the business I have built.

I want Six Seasons Recovery to be judged on its own practices, the people delivering its services, the standards it maintains and the experiences of the people who come through its doors.

I want our staff and clinicians to be able to get on with the work they are here to do: helping people who need support.

And I want to keep building something that makes a meaningful difference.

When Your Past Follows You

One of the hardest parts of rebuilding your life is accepting that you cannot control what other people think of you.

I understand that the collapse of New Sensation Homes affected many people. I understand why some people remain angry, disappointed or sceptical, and I do not expect everyone to see my experiences in the same way I do.

But over the past four years, I have also experienced repeated media coverage that revisits my past and, in my view, does not adequately reflect the changes I have made or the work I am doing today.

I have been frustrated by reporting from Channel 7, including coverage involving Geoff Parry, that I believe has portrayed me and Six Seasons Recovery unfairly. I have provided information in response to concerns raised, and I have been disappointed when I have felt that information has not been adequately reflected in the coverage.

I accept that journalists have a role in asking difficult questions and scrutinising businesses, particularly those working with vulnerable people. I do not expect special treatment, and I am not asking to be shielded from fair criticism.

What I do believe is that scrutiny should be accurate, balanced and fair. People should have the opportunity to respond to serious claims, and relevant information should be considered.

I am also concerned about the impact that repeated coverage of my past can have on the staff and clinicians who work with me, the reputation of our business and the people who may be considering seeking help.

When criticism of a founder becomes intertwined with the work of an entire organisation, I believe it is important to distinguish between the two and assess the available evidence.

I will continue to respond to matters I believe are inaccurate, and I will continue to defend our right to operate responsibly and contribute to the rehabilitation sector.

But I do not want to spend the rest of my life fighting about my past. I want to spend it building a better future.

I will not pretend my past did not happen. But I will not agree that it should be the only thing that defines me.

Accountability Should Not Mean a Life Sentence

I think there is an important distinction between holding someone accountable for their past and refusing to allow them to move beyond it.

Accountability matters. The consequences of our decisions matter. The people affected by our actions matter.

I have had to learn those lessons the hard way.

But if we believe that people can recover from addiction, change their behaviour, rebuild relationships and become more responsible members of society, then we also have to believe that people deserve the opportunity to demonstrate that change.

Otherwise, what are we actually asking people to work towards?

Are we telling people to seek help, take responsibility, undertake further education, rebuild their lives and contribute positively to society, only to suggest that their worst decisions will always outweigh everything they do afterwards?

I don't believe that is right.

I believe that someone can have made serious mistakes and still have something valuable to contribute. I believe a person can fail in business and later build something worthwhile. I believe someone can struggle with addiction and go on to help others who are facing similar challenges.

And I believe that a person should be able to acknowledge the harm they have caused without being told, implicitly or explicitly, that they have forfeited their right to a future.

Rebuilding does not mean erasing history. It means learning from it and doing the work to become someone different.

That is what I have tried to do, and it is what I continue to work towards every day.

The People Who Matter Most

Today, my priorities are very different from what they were when I was younger.

I am engaged to Hayley, and together we are building our family and our future. I have two beautiful boys, Hugo and Louie, and Hayley's daughter, Miley, who is an important part of our lives.

Being a father, building a strong family and being present for the people I love mean more to me than any business milestone ever could.

I also think about my parents and brother, who stood by me when I was struggling, even when my circumstances affected them personally and financially. I think about the people I lost, the relationships that changed and the lessons I wish I had learned earlier.

Those experiences have given me a different perspective on success.

I still have ambition. I still want to build great businesses, achieve meaningful goals and make Six Seasons Recovery the best it can possibly be.

But I no longer believe success is simply about turnover, employees, money or recognition.

Success is being healthy. It is being present for your children. It is having people around you who genuinely care about you. It is doing work that means something and being able to look at yourself honestly at the end of the day.

It is building a life that you do not need to escape from.

That is the life I am working towards.

I am not writing this because I expect everyone to forgive me, agree with me or forget what happened.

I am writing it because I believe there is a difference between acknowledging someone's past and deciding that their future should be permanently limited by it.

I have experienced the consequences of my decisions. I have apologised to those affected by New Sensation Homes, and I recognise that words cannot undo financial losses, repair every relationship or make every person see things differently.

But I have also made a conscious decision to change the direction of my life.

I have worked on my recovery, returned to university, entered the rehabilitation sector and helped establish a business with the intention of supporting people who are struggling.

I am still learning. I am still growing. I still make mistakes, and I will never suggest that I have everything figured out.

What I can do is continue to show up, take responsibility for my actions, learn from the past and work towards something better.

I want to be judged fairly on the person I am today, the way I treat people, the work I do and the decisions I make going forward.

I want my children to grow up knowing that their father did not give up when life became difficult. I want them to understand that mistakes have consequences, but that people can learn from them, take responsibility and choose a different path.

And I want the people who come to Six Seasons Recovery to know that they are not beyond help simply because they have made mistakes, experienced failure or lost their way.

There is a future beyond addiction. There is a future beyond bankruptcy. There is a future beyond the breakdown of a marriage, the loss of a business or the judgement of other people.

Getting there is not easy. It takes honesty, effort, accountability, support and a willingness to make difficult changes. But I believe it is possible.

I cannot control every headline, every opinion or every judgement made about me. I cannot change what happened in 2022, and I cannot ask everyone affected to see the past differently.

What I can control is what I do next.

I can continue to be a father who shows up for his children. I can continue to build a future with Hayley. I can continue my education, support our team and work towards making Six Seasons Recovery a service that genuinely helps people.

And I can continue to believe that people are capable of more than their worst moments.

Nobody should have the power to tell you that you can never become the person you want to be.

Not because your past does not matter, but because your future matters too.

I have been to some very dark places in my life. I know what it feels like to fall further than you ever imagined possible. But I also know what it feels like to begin rebuilding, to find purpose again and to realise that life can become something very different from what it once was.

I am not the same person I was a decade ago. I do not want to be.

I want to keep learning, keep growing, keep contributing and keep building a life that reflects what I have learned.

My past will always be part of my story. I accept that.

But I have a future to build, a family to be present for, a business to grow and people I want to help.

I have a right to rebuild. So does everyone else.

And I intend to spend the rest of my life proving that what happened to us yesterday does not have to determine what we are capable of becoming tomorrow.