HOW THE BULLETIN COVERED THE STORY

• December 2017: The Bulletin makes a Right to Information request for mayoral directives by Mayor Tom Tate. Five documents relating to the 42 mayoral directives are not released because they reference city council employees.

• March 2, 2018: The CCC launches an investigation into the decision to fill in Black Swan Lake related to alleged conflicts of interest.

• March 9, 2018: The probe into the council widens to include allegations relating to the sale of Bruce Bishop Carpark.

• March 16, 2018: A Bulletin report reveals Mayor Tate is accused of directing council CEO Dale Dickson not to discipline a senior staffer. A complaint is made to the CCC. The senior staffer is contacted but declines to comment.

• June 15, 2018: Cr Tate fires off a letter to the CCC urging for the investigation to be sped up after three months.

• July 31, 2018: Council votes to sell Bruce Bishop Carpark for $48m.

• August 9, 2018: The Supreme Court rules in favour of council against Save Surfers Paradise Inc (SSPI) regarding the sale. The same month, Operation Yabber commences into the council, investigating a series of allegations of corrupt conduct relating to senior employees and councillors serving on the Gold Coast council. This includes the decisions involving Black Swan Lake and the Waterglow development on the old Surfers Paradise Bowls Club site. • September 8, 2018:

Attorney-general Yvette D’ath grants SSPI a “fiat” – special leave to continue its case against the council.

• October 25, 2018: Council announces it would pursue SSPI for costs.

• April 18, 2019: The CCC announces it had “not identified any evidence of corrupt conduct” by council. • November 21, 2019:

Wayne Moran, Cr Tate’s chief of staff, stood down by Mr Dickson pending the outcome of an investigation. • December 11, 2019:

The CCC confirms it has finalised its investigation into the council and will take no further action. It says some matters relating to an alleged failure of Cr Tate to meet obligations under legislation governing local governments and a council policy had been referred to the Office of the Independent Assessor.

• January 24, 2020: An 84-page CCC report is tabled in Parliament, revealing accusations Mr Moran had inappropriately interfered in council business and focuses on the mayoral directive to Mr Dickson regarding his employment.

The CCC found “numerous examples” of directors at another company between 2012-2019 seeking favours from Mr Moran on planning matters. In one exchange, Mr Moran is accused of replying to the request of a company director: “Write the guts of what you want in the Ltr (sic) and I’ll get the Mayor to sign this week before he goes.” The CCC also alleged:

* Mr Moran obtained legal advice regarding having performed past paid work for Company A and whether he had a conflict of interest.

* Some councillors and staff felt that as a result of the mayoral direction to the CEO, Mr Moran was “untouchable and free to do and act however he wanted”.

• An email Mr Moran drafted under Cr Tate’s signature block on April 7, 2017, urging the CEO not to include previous employers under the conflicts of interest policy. “There is no evidence to suggest Tate sent this email on to the CEO, however it provides an indication of what Moran was willing to do to ensure he did not have to declare a conflict with Company A.”

• Evidence that Company A placed a close relative of Mr Moran’s at the company as part of an academic program, and sent congratulatory emails to Mr Moran in relation to this work experience placement.

• In one exchange, the Company A director was not happy with council’s response and needed an intervention otherwise there would be significant delays and potential financial detriment.

• Mr Moran intervened in a food licence for a major event in March 2019, saying the organiser did not have to pay and after a council officer indicated they did, “became abusive towards the council officer and started calling the council officer names”.

• The CEO considered Mr Moran was a “high-risk individual” after involving himself in development issues. Evidence uncovered contact with council department areas and wanting to know about developments or arrange meetings with the developer’s consultant,

himself and a council planner.

No charges were laid and the CCC ruled out corruption. Mr Moran told the Bulletin: “I’m pleased and not surprised that the CCC have confirmed no corruption nor anything criminal on my part. I was never in any doubt of that outcome.” • January 25, 2020: Cr Tate says he had no knowledge about the alleged conflicts of interest his chief of staff of seven years had with private companies and their dealings with the council.

“I do not know the details of Wayne’s company that much, it’s his private company, it’s the company he still has,” Cr Tate said. “I don’t know a lot about his business. I used him for our mayoral campaign in 2012, he helped Rob Molhoek in 2008 and I thought, looking at it, that he had the making of someone who is good in detail and that’s what I wanted.”

Mr Tate has consistently denied any wrongdoing or inappropriate conduct, and insisted the CCC report vindicated himself and the council.

“I have been asked to comment on operation ‘Yabber-dabbler-doo’ and the way I look at it, it is a terrific outcome for the city of the Gold Coast,” he said.

“There is no systematic corruption found, whether its councillors, mayor, or officers. So this is a green bill of health.”

He also defended spending in the mayoral office, including the purchases of selfie sticks. • January 28, 2020: Bulletin reveals councillors voted to keep secret the mayoral directive that stopped Mr Dickson from taking action against Mr Moran. Council documents show that at two meetings four councillors – Glenn Tozer, William Owen-jones, Daphne Mcdonald and Peter Young – attempted to have Mr Dickson assess the directives.

Cr Tate told the Bulletin the issue was debated and led to a majority vote. “While I don’t recall the specifics of that debate,

I note that two of the three councillors who initially voted for the recommendation at committee, ultimately voted at full council to not adopt the committee recommendation. This resulted in – 13 in favour, one against, one abstained. Motion carried,” he said.

Talking later about the mayoral directive, Cr Tate maintained he intervened “for the betterment of the city”.

Council’s governance committee was disbanded and Cr Owen-jones no longer a chair.

• February 11, 2020: Mr Moran’s employment is terminated. He tells the Bulletin he could not defend himself without seeing a range of documents, claiming he had been “unfairly denied access”.

• September 24, 2020: The CCC says it won’t prosecute any Gold Coast councillors. Cr Tate tells media he’s confident he will be cleared of potential wrongdoing related to the investigation despite the CCC making multiple referrals to the Office of the Independent Assessor.

• February 2021: Dale Dickson’s long tenure as council CEO ends. Brisbane bureaucrat David Edwards appointed new boss, but resigns for personal reasons only a few weeks into the job. Tasmania’s Tim Baker will eventually take over.

• January 24-26, 2022: CCC boss Alan Macsporran resigns after a damning Parliamentary Crime and Corruption Committee (PCCC) report that found the watchdog had operated outside the limits of its powers and failed to act independently and impartially in charging Logan councillors with fraud.

“I find myself in a position where, despite a career spanning in excess of 40 years, where my honesty and integrity have never been questioned, it is clear to me that the relationship between myself and the PCCC has broken down irretrievably,” Mr Macsporran said. “This saddens me deeply.”

Mayor Tate said Mr Macsporran should apologise “for the incredible pain and harm he has caused so many hardworking local government councillors and mayors”.

Mr Moran says the CCC has been allowed to operate like a “secret Soviet-era police force” and should be totally overhauled.

• July 21, 2022: A summary of a decision by the Councillor Conduct Tribunal finds

Cr Tate guilty on two counts of misconduct. He is fined $2757 and $689.25 and ordered to make a public admission on his Facebook page of misconduct. The tribunal had considered whether it should recommend to the Minister that the Mayor be suspended, but thought that to be punitive given he had only one previous finding of misconduct.

• Yesterday: A spokesperson for the Mayor says Cr Tate will seek a review of the decision, allowed under the Local Government Act, and for QCAT to make an order “staying the operation of the decision”. Mr Moran speaks out, making explosive claims about bullying at council, being kept in a “windowless and airless” room for half a day with lawyers before departing City Hall.