Gold Coast businessman Lionel Barden dies, aged 77

A former businessman who was a key player in one of the Gold Coast’s biggest political scandals has died, aged 77.

Lionel Barden, new President for the Coomera Chamber of Commerce. Pic Glenn Hampson

A central figure in one of the Gold Coast’s biggest political corruption scandals has died.

Lionel James Barden passed away, aged 77, on September 19, according to a funeral notice.

Mr Barden, a respected businessman and Liberal Party member, was a key player in the 2004 Gold Coast City Council election which the-then Crime and Misconduct Commission found was “corrupted” by “secrecy, deceit and misinformation”.

A CMC inquiry led to the prosecution of Deputy Mayor David Power and prominent lawyer Tony Hickey.

Mr Barden lent his name to a $150,000 trust fund, backed by some of the Gold Coast’s biggest developers, which bankrolled ‘like-minded’ candidates in the election in a group that became known as ‘The Bloc’.

In a 2006 report into the scandal, CMC chairman Robert Needham said considerable efforts were made to hide these circumstances because of the belief that the public would react adversely to the knowledge that developers helped the election campaigns.

“While lying to the media generally isn’t an offence, the many false statements made by some candidates during this election substantially corrupted the electoral process,” Mr Needham said at the time.

“The public was forced to go to the polls not knowing the truth about issues that were of legitimate public interest.”

Mr Power and Mr Hickey, lawyer for prominent developer the late Brian Ray, were both charged with misleading the CMC and breaching the Local Government Act.

Mr Power was cleared but resigned from the council in 2007.

Mr Hickey was found guilty of a ‘cover-up’ over the slush fund and fined $6000 but won a District Court appeal against the conviction.

Mr Barden had vowed to clear his name over his involvement in the trust fund, with the controversy forcing him to step down from roles with the Abused Child Trust and Telstra.

“I’ll fight it because I haven’t done anything wrong,” he said.

He said he had put his name to the fund with “honourable intent” after concerns by the Coast business community that a “radical (green) group” with a millionaire benefactor was poised to hijack the council.

“We didn’t want to see what happened in Byron Bay happen here on the Gold Coast,” he said at the time.

Mr Barden, who was privately cremated, was described in the funeral notice as ‘a kind and gentle man and great friend and mentor to many’.

He is survived by his wife, Susie.

Originally published as Gold Coast businessman Lionel Barden dies, aged 77