Liberal Senator Michaelia Cash acknowledged that the flow-on effect of the collapse of Great Southern and Timbercorp was devastating to rural communities.

But she said there was a need for anyone involved to have their say to a Senate inquiry.

“Not a lot of individual investors have made submissions, but there have been many from interest groups,” she said.

Ms Cash said that despite the inquiry having already met in Perth, she would make sure individual submissions passed on to her were read by senators.

Ms Cash attended an Albany Chamber of Commerce and Industry breakfast at Motel Le Grande on Monday.

She said one of the biggest issues with the collapse of both timber plantation companies was the complexity of the schemes they had created.

As a result, there was a need to back away and not add more details in an attempt to unravel them. At the same time though, greater controls were needed in future to protect investors.