Senior QPS staffer takes leave amid CCC’s $240m lease probe

A senior member of the Queensland Police Service involved in a deal for a $240 million lease, now referred to the corruption watchdog, has taken leave from work.

Site of a controversial QPS lease at Stones Corner. Photo: Steve Pohlner

A senior member of the Queensland Police Service involved in the deal for a $240 million lease for a building at Stones Corner has taken leave from work.

It comes after Commissioner Steve Gollschewski on Tuesday referred the lease for the Logan Rd building to the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) after an audit was conducted into how and why the lease was signed.

The Courier-Mail revealed in September the service had signed a 15-year lease for the commercial space, with the option of an eight-year extension, to house a new mega police hub which could cost them up to $240 million.

The lease is worth more than five times what the building sold for in 2021.

Police sources said it was the “worst deal” they’ve ever seen, and the blowout has reportedly left a giant hole in the police budget.

The high-level QPS member, who The Courier-Mail has chosen not to name, has been absent from work since last week, and is understood to have taken personal leave.

The person was among multiple people involved in the deal.

A QPS spokeswoman confirmed the staff member had taken a period of personal leave which commenced last week.

Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski.

The spokeswoman said the leave did not relate to the lease.

The audit, conducted by KordaMentha under the instruction of Mr Gollschewski, probed the deal “end-to-end” and looked at how and why the lease was signed.

Mr Gollschewski ordered the audit because he “couldn’t get the answers” he wanted on how it came about.

The audit is reportedly finished but still being polished, described by some police as “very bad”.

But Mr Gollschewski said the report has not been officially finalised by KordaMentha and would be done in the next two weeks.

Mr Gollschewski referred the lease to the CCC, but declined to go into further detail.

“At this time, no disciplinary action has been taken against any QPS member in relation to the lease,” Mr Gollschewski said.

“As the matter is now with the CCC, it would be inappropriate to provide further comment.”

QPS has repeatedly stated that all relevant checks and due diligence was conducted before the lease was signed.

In comparison, the state government is building a massive state-of-the-art new police station and police training academy in Townsville for less than $150m.

Property records show the 7192sq m building was bought by developers for $45m in 2021.

The Stones Corner building is owned by Aequitas Group, which has Brisbane investors Geoffrey McIntyre and Norman Fox listed as the company directors and owners through holding companies.

The building is set to become a mega police station hub for multiple southern Brisbane stations which will soon close down and be consolidated into the commercial space.

The Courier-Mail revealed last year that the service was planning to gradually close facilities including Coorparoo, Annerley and Dutton Park stations and the vulnerable persons unit housed by the Camp Hill station.