TARGET ON MY BACK
Edwards opens up on cableways, cruise ship terminal, The Spit, Olympics, Tate and that misconduct dirt file
GOLD Coast City Council’s new CEO David Edwards has hit out at the smear campaign by some state government enemies, revealing he has hired a defamation lawyer to investigate the “small group of senior bureaucrats’’ who led the charge.
In an exclusive interview with the Bulletin, Mr Edwards (pictured) also revealed his position on controversial Coast projects and events including the offshore cruise ship terminal, cableway and Olympics bid.
TOP bureaucrat David Edwards has hired a defamation lawyer to stop a smear campaign by some state government enemies before assuming his new role as Gold Coast City Council CEO.
In an exclusive interview with the Bulletin, Mr Edwards also revealed his position on controversial Coast projects and events including the offshore cruise ship terminal, cableway and Olympics bid.
He said The Spit had several options at Philip Park but it was critical not to leave it with a “white elephant”. He regards the cableway as being among a raft of eco-tourism projects that should be explored in the hinterland.
Mr Edwards was “committed” to the Olympic bid but would ensure ratepayers were not “stiffed” with the costs before giving it 100 per cent backing.
But before stepping inside the Evandale chambers to take over outgoing CEO Dale Dickson’s $600,000 a year job, he opened up about an internal state government investigation that found he had committed three counts of misconduct.
The probe found the former Brisbane bigwig had used government resources for personal purposes and had not declared conflicts of interest.
Mr Edwards, projects chief executive at the Queensland Department of Innovation and Tourism, Industry Development at the time of the investigation, says the findings were baseless and he was provided “no natural justice”.
He has hired a defamation lawyer to look into a “small group of senior bureaucrats” he says led the campaign.
Political insiders claim Mr Edwards was subjected to a “hatchet job” as he applied for the council CEO position.
Council sources say the mayor’s office launched prob“It ity checks on Mr Edwards as a campaign from several Brisbane bureaucrats tried to damage his reputation.
Some councillors on Friday were stunned to learn of the development, and sought immediate updates from the mayoral office.
It was also revealed this week that Mr Edwards’ wife, Sybil, jointly owns a company linked to long-term groundwater extraction at Springbrook.
Mrs Edwards is a shareholder of Come By Chance (Springbrook) Pty Ltd, which owns a property on 199 Repeater Station Rd. It mines up to about 60,000 litres a day, supplying water to customers such as drinks giant CocaCola Amatil.
Asked on Friday about his family having property and commercial interests at Springbrook, he said all those details would be made public on a pecuniary interests register at council.
An ABC report on Friday said Mr Edwards had been found to have committed three counts of misconduct by a state government department.
Mr Edwards told the Bulletin in the weeks leading up to his contract finishing with the government in August last year he was advised of the departmental investigation.
“For some time, I was aware that a small group of senior public servants was waging a campaign to ensure my contract was not renewed,” he said.
The allegations outlined by the ABC report focused on a failure to manage or disclose an actual or possible conflict of interest in his role with private industry executives.
Mr Edwards said he was never interviewed and public servants, “at great personal risk”, had advised and warned “there seemed to be a predetermined outcome and an effort to target me”.
When people build tourism initiatives because they think … people will come do that’s when you get white elephants around the place
David Edwards
should be noted that the CCC (Crime and Corruption Commission) was of the view that there was no evidence to support any suggestion of criminal activity, and the department may conduct the investigation,” he added.
Mr Edwards advised the non-for-profit organisations he was working with, after leaving government, and all three boards urged him to continue to be a director, he said.
He said the “same small
group of senior public servants” began shopping around a story to journalists when he went for the council CEO position.
“This is both disappointing and defamatory and I will be considering my legal options,” he said.
He said he was under no obligation to disclose the matter but did so to Mayor Tom Tate.
“But out of respect for the Mayor and the council and the three not-for-profits … I wanted to make sure there was full disclosure. I encouraged the Mayor to take that away and seek advice, which he did, and he viewed there was nothing to stop me undertaking the role.”
Mayor Tom Tate said in a statement: “These matters were fully disclosed to me before the execution of a contract. Having been fully briefed, and given access to relevant documents relating to the matters, it was clear to me that they had effectively been resolved and I had no hesitation, having regard to the nature of the matters, concluding the contract with Mr Edwards.”
On The Spit and the offshore CST and other options at Philip Park, Mr Edwards said: “I’ve got the scars to prove my experience on development on The Spit. The big thing, and it sounds simple stuff, is a lot of people concentrate on what’s afoot there rather than what does the market demand, and how can
we make it an ongoing sustainable viable enterprise.
“I would urge people to consider from the very word go what can we put up there that’s sustainable.
“The last thing we want to do is build something that is not going to attract ongoing support. I’m an economist, and you should always start from demand.
“And when people build tourism initiatives because they think people will come to them, that’s when you do get white elephants around the place.”
Mr Edwards believed the hinterland was an untapped tourism resource that could attract big-spending tourists by building a range of suitable attractions like mountain biking and trails, and not just limited to a cableway.
He said he had worked with Gaven MP Meaghan Scanlon, now the Environment Minister, and she understood how “ecotourism done in the right way will benefit the economy and benefit the environment too”.
On the Olympic bid, he recalled overseeing infrastructure for the Commonwealth Games and realising the input from council.
“One of things that I will guard against is the state and commonwealth governments attempting to shift costs to the local government through these big ideas,” he said.
“I support the Olympics but I need to make sure it works for the people of the Gold Coast. Because it is the people of the Gold Coast who contributed a lot through the Commonwealth Games.
“I have to be sceptical, that’s my job. I have to be cautious, that’s my job. We need to get more information before being 100 per cent committed.
“We’re committed but my role is to make sure the ratepayers don’t get stiffed on the prices.”
Mr Edwards could replace Mr Dickson as early as late next week.