MP slams ‘vexatious’ probes into GCCC

SENIOR Gold Coast LNP MP Ray Stevens says the council is a “whipping boy” for state Labor governments and the Crime and Corruption Commission after three inquiries.

In a speech in State Parliament, Mr Stevens said Gold Coast City Council was being run efficiently, effectively and impartially without a hint of corruption.

“I, for one, certainly do not agree with every decision the council makes, and I reserve my right to use my democratic power to voice my concern through the ballot box,” Mr Stevens said. “But I am appalled at the whipping-boy status the council has become for state Labor governments and their corruption watchdog arm. I urge the CCC to only ever revisit another inquiry on hard corroborated evidence.”

His comments came amid turmoil in local government in Queensland, with the Ipswich council sacked last year over corruption allegations and the Logan council sacked yesterday after the CCC charged eight councillors with causing a “dishonest detriment” to former CEO and whistleblower Sharon Kelsey.

But Mr Stevens told Parliament on Wednesday night he believed the inquiry into the Gold Coast council had been launched after “antagonistic and vexatious complaints” from failed political candidates and aggrieved opponents of the council.

“I also smell a whiff of Labor Party instigation of an inquiry into a notionally politically conservative council to counteract the stench coming from the Labor-centric Ipswich City Council,” he said.

The CCC, in its latest update on local government investigations, announced it had not found any corrupt conduct in its probe into Black Swan Lake being filled in for Gold Coast Turf Club parking, the Surfers Paradise Waterglow development and the sale of Bruce Bishop Car Park in Surfers Paradise. Some complaints against the council remain with the CCC.

Council CEO Dale Dickson has welcomed the council being cleared of several complaints and reassured the CCC it would co-operate with remaining investigations.

Mayor Tom Tate has told the Bulletin he received four letters from the CCC notifying him that various investigations against himself and the council were finished before the announcement was made public.

Last March, the Bulletin reported up to 15 separate complaints had been made about the council to the state corruption body, ranging from mayoral directives to the updating of the register of interests.

CCC chairman Alan MacSporran recently said investigations into the sector would remain a focus of the CCC “for quite some time”.