Queensland councils’ ‘potential corrupt’ conduct draws complaints

Nearly a quarter of the hundreds of complaints made to Queensland’s new local government watchdog have been about potentially corrupt conduct.

NEARLY a quarter of the hundreds of complaints made to Queensland’s new local government watchdog have been about potentially corrupt conduct.

The Courier-Mail can reveal the new Office of the Independent Assessor has launched 201 investigations off the back of 584 complaints since it was established just four months ago.

The office will release its first quarterly report today, which reveals which councils are receiving the most complaints and where they are coming from.

About 23 per cent of complaints are being assessed as “potential corrupt” conduct, and have since been passed on to the Crime and Corruption Commission.

Independent Assessor Kathleen Florian. Picture: Peter Wallis

Another 25 per cent are being looked at as inappropriate behaviour, while 44 per cent are being assessed as misconduct.

Failing to declare conflicts of interest, breaches of trust and breaches of the Councillor Code of Conduct were among the top issues that were raised with the OIA.

Nearly half of complaints came from members of the public, while 20 per cent were referred to the OIA from council officials.

Independent Assessor Kathleen Florian said the body was dealing with a large number of complaints in relation the state’s most populous councils.

“We have received complaints regarding 41 out of 77 Queensland councils,” she said.

“I can assure the community and councillors that we are taking all complaints seriously and assessing each one carefully on the information available before taking any action.”

About half the complaints made against Gold Coast City Council were about Black Swan Lake. Picture: Glenn Hampson

There have been 143 complaints made in relation to Gold Coast City Council, the most in the state, but almost 80 per cent were dismissed and more than half were about the Black Swan Lake development.

There were also 72 complaints lodged about Moreton Bay Regional Council and 31 in relation to Logan City Council.

Outside of the state’s southeast, council’s in the far north, which included the Cairns and Cassowary Coast Councils, had the most complaints with 91 lodged.

Of the 584 complaints made to the OIA across the state over the four month period, 243 were dismissed and 94 referred to other agencies.

The OIA does not deal with complaints about Brisbane City Council.

Originally published as Queensland councils’ ‘potential corrupt’ conduct draws complaints