Mayor calls for crime watchdog head to go

GOLD Coast Mayor Tom Tate has called for Crime and Corruption Commission boss Alan MacSporran to be stood down in an ongoing war of words with Queensland’s chief corruption buster.

Cr Tate, who was investigated by the Crime and Corruption Commission and cleared last year after an 18-month probe, doubled down on his attack on Mr MacSporran after Logan councillors were cleared of fraud by a court on Wednesday.

He had accused the CCC chairman of riding into the Gold Coast “like a gunslinger … the biggest sheriff in town”.

He said the CCC had destroyed the lives of fellow southeast Queensland mayors.

Cr Tate also said having the CCC investigate him was like “someone telling you it’s raining while standing behind you pissing down your back’’.

“He needs to be stood down immediately. I would stand him down now,” the Mayor said of Mr MacSporran.

“It’s ironic that the CCC chair is always the one talking about a presumption of innocence being a barometer for fair justice. Well, let’s stand him down now and give him his day of reckoning sometime in the distant future.

“It seems all OK for the CCC to take years to investigate issues so let’s apply those same principles – and timelines – to this disgraceful behaviour meted out on the Logan council.

“My call today is: stand him down now, allow him a presumption of innocence, and take all the time in the world to investigate the appalling decisions and advice of the CCC that resulted in Logan councillors losing their livelihoods, their reputation, their incomes, their marriages and their community standing.

“What happened in Logan is nothing short of contemptuous. I’m glad to see it’s stopped raining in Logan now that the CCC aren’t peeing on people’s lives.

“The chair is the one feeling wet right now and he needs to be stood down.’’