Aussie Gorilla Grill burger joint collapses - as the Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock blames diners for the inflation crisis

A fast food joint that served tower burgers collapsed because of lockdowns and now a cost of living crisis - as diners are blamed for Australia's inflation challenge.

Gorilla Grill in Melbourne went into liquidation this week after almost a decade serving customers at Maribyrnong.

The joint served a King Kong burger with two beef patties and bacon, or a Custom King Kong burger with three beef patties and pork belly.

It was so popular it had 10,000 followers on Facebook, with its menu also including kimchi fries, barbecue ribs and tacos.

Insolvency rates in Australia are almost double the level of a year ago, but the Reserve Bank is continuing to blame those dining out for high consumer prices. 

Liquidator Jeremy Abeyratne, who is also the director of APL Insolvency, said this small business was the victim of Melbourne's world-record 262 days of lockdowns and then surging inflation.

'The explanation they've largely given is that pretty much from the start of Covid, they've been struggling,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'They've sort of hung on through Covid - it basically started hitting and things just started getting worse.'

Mr Abeyratne said the business, officially known as TVD Pty Ltd after the proprietor Tuong Dinh, hired him after struggling to pay $200,000 in debt.

'They probably hung on longer than they should've,' he said.

'They've got to a point where it can't continue.

'There's a big Covid hangover. 

'They're not unusual in that regard, we seen lots of business with that sort of explanation.'

Gorilla Grill, a husband and wife business, mainly employed casuals and did not owe staff wages, having shut its doors in April.

The cost of living crisis has caused a surge in company collapses with Australian Securities and Investments Commission data revealing 906 insolvencies in October 2023, almost double the 473 count of companies under external administration in October 2022.

Mr Abeyratne, a chartered accountant who has worked in insolvency since 2000, said demand for his services had been surging in 2023.

The Reserve Bank this month raised interest rates for the 13th time in 18 months - taking the cash rate to a 12-year high of 4.35 per cent.

'Coming out of it, you've got inflation which is just harder,' Mr Abeyratne said.

'You've got to deal with your liabilities and if a company can't pay, you talk to a liquidator.' 

The Reserve Bank's new governor Michele Bullock on Wednesday night blamed spending on services, like eating out, for Australia's cost of living crisis, with inflation still too high at 5.4 per cent.

After New Zealand, Australia has the highest inflation rate in the OECD, despite borrowers copping the most severe monetary policy tightening since 1989. 

'Inflation is being driven by domestic demand ... increasingly underpinned by services,' Ms Bullock said.

'Hairdressers and dentists, dining out, sporting and other recreational activities – the prices of all these services are rising strongly. 

'This reflects domestic economic conditions and is an indication that aggregate demand is sufficiently greater than aggregate supply to sustain these price increases.'

Ms Bullock earned $828,313 as deputy governor and would now be on a $1.1million remuneration package, based on her predecessor Philip Lowe's pay with super.