Crime and Corruption Commission: CCC did not find any corrupt conduct by Gold Coast councillors on Black Swan Lake

THE State’s corruption watchdog says it has not found any corrupt conduct following its probe into Gold Coast City Council’s sale of land at Black Swan Lake and Mayor Tom Tate’s property interests.

GOLD Coast City Council CEO Dale Dickson has welcomed the findings of the State’s corruption watchdog which cleared the council after several major public investigations.

Mr Dickson today also took the opportunity to take a swipe at council’s critics.

The Crime and Corruption Commission today released a statement saying it had “not identified any evidence of corrupt conduct’’ into the council’s decision to lease council-owned land at Bundall, known as Black Swan Lake.

The CCC also said there was no evidence of any corrupt conduct involving the Waterglow development, including the sale of the Bruce Bishop Car Park.

Mr Dickson said he was always confident of this outcome. He was critical of

Save Surfers Paradise secretary Deborah Kelly who questioned council’s decision making on the car park sale.

“I appreciate that after a thorough, independent investigation, the public allegations of Deborah Kelly have been found to be baseless,” Mr Dickson said.

He called on Ms Kelly to publicly acknowledge the findings of the CCC, and to apologise for her blatant attempts to discredit Mayor Tate and himself via the media.

Mr Dickson said council would continue to fully co-operate with the CCC in relation to any further investigations.

The Bulletin is attempting to obtain a comment from Ms Kelly.

EARLIER:

THE State’s corruption watchdog says it has not found any corrupt conduct following its probe into Gold Coast City Council’s sale of land at Black Swan Lake.

The Crime and Corruption Commission in a statement today said it had examined records relating to these decisions and conducted interviews and “did not identify any evidence of corrupt conduct” under crime laws.

“During the investigation the CCC interviewed a number of people who had publicly raised allegations of corrupt conduct relating to the GCCC and also people who privately complained to the CCC,” the CCC said, in the statement.

The impact of recent rain on Black Swan Lake.

“Based on the interviews and an examination of material not readily available to the public, the CCC did not identify any evidence to support the assertions of corruption.

“Some minor matters concerning the alleged failure of a number of councillors to meet their obligations have been forwarded to the Office of the independent Assessor for their consideration.

“While the CCC acknowledges this development remains of concern to some members of the public, ensuring adherence to development and environmental conditions is not a matter for the CCC unless there is corrupt conduct identified.”

The CCC announced it had also completed its investigation into the Waterglow development and the sale of land at 72 Remembrance Drive Surfers Paradise, including the sale of the Bruce Bishop Car Park.

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The Bruce Bishop carpark in Surfers Paradise. Picture: Jerad Williams

“The CCC conducted interviews and examined records including material obtained from the person who was appointed by the GCCC as a probity advisor during the sale of this land,” the CCC said.

“The CCC’s investigation did not identify any conduct by the Mayor, councillors or the Chief Executive Officer concerning conflicts of interests or other conduct that would amount to corrupt conduct as defined in section 15 of the Crime and Corruption Act 2001.

“Some matters involving a council employee identified during the investigation of the Waterglow development that did not meet the threshold of corrupt conduct have been referred to the GCCC for possible disciplinary action.

“The CCC’s investigation into these matters is now finalised.”