Pollies unclear over corruption reforms

COUNCILLORS are on tenterhooks and are effectively walking into an election year blind, as the consequences of the next wave of local government anti-corruption laws remain unclear.

Mayor Jenny Hill admitted it was a “bit of a problem” trying to figure out what the rules would be going forward.

It comes as the second wave of Belcarra reforms sits before parliament.

The first wave of the reforms, which banned donations from property developers and implemented tougher rules around disclosing conflicts of interest, has caused headaches for Townsville City Council, including having to delegate a development decision to the chief executive this week because a donor said something nice.

Local Government Association of Queensland chief executive Greg Hallam said there was “confusion” among councils as to what the laws will look like in a few months.

“We do not know what legislation will go through the parliament … and when it will become operative,” he said.

Mr Hallam said he had been advised there would be changes to the Bill to include recommendations made by the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) after it cleared Deputy Premier Jackie Trad of corrupt conduct this month.

The CCC recommended making failure to declare a conflict of interest and failure to update the Register of Interests a criminal offence and identifying nondisclosure as a corruption risk.

“The question is, the further changes to the legislation go, how is that going to affect us?” Cr Hill said.

Deputy Mayor Les Walker said it was a “whole new era” in how councillors did their jobs, having to be mindful of so many factors.

“Don’t get me wrong, there should be transparency and accountability, that’s what we should be doing,” he said.

“It puts a whole new dimension, this legislation, and we don’t know what the future will look like between now and the next election.”

Queensland Law Society president Bill Potts, in defence of the reforms, said the laws existed to “prevent the reality of corruption”.

“The whole idea is not to stifle debate or put a chilling effect on local interests, it’s simply to prevent the reality of corruption,” he said.

Mr Potts said there were measures in place through the Office of the Information Commissioner to educate councillors on what was acceptable or not.

“But where that lies is what the councillors are struggling with right now,” he said.

The second Belcarra bill proposes real-time donation disclosure and will impose stricter rules on candidates running under a group ticket.