Political sources estimate the Crime and Corruption Commission and the Department of Local Government has dealt with around 20 complaints.

The decision by the State’s corruption watchdog late last week to announce it was investigating allegations of corrupt conduct has opened the door to fresh complaints against the council.

The CCC last Friday issued a media statement where it announced it was in the “public interest” to conduct its own inquiry after it referred some matters in September last year to the Department of Local Government.

The complaints related to councillors and their Registers of Interests regarding Gold Coast Turf Club memberships after council voted to fill in Black Swan Lake at the Bundall equine precinct for a horse training area and overflow car park.

By the weekend the CCC had received another complaint accusing Mayor Tom Tate and Deputy Mayor Donna Gates of failing to declare ownership of racehorses.

A political source last night told the Bulletin: “I’m aware of 15 complaints (to the CCC). Not all of them will get a guernsey. Some might get flicked back.

“When you look at the recent issue of mayoral directives and complaints to the Local Government Department, there are up to 20.”

On Wednesday, when asked to comment by the Bulletin about his racehorse ownership, Cr Tate replied: “I respect the confidentiality of the CCC”.

However, on his Mayoral Facebook page yesterday afternoon he ridiculed the report and questioned how a “20 per cent share in a racehorse constitutes a conflict of interest with filling in the borrow pit”.

He then admitted he had not listed the horse on his Register of Interests.

Cr Tate said the horse was based in Newcastle and “that’s a long way to go eat some grass”.

“There is a spot in the register of interests (over $5000) where I should have noted ‘racehorse’ and I’ll do that shortly as it was an oversight on my part but as anyone who has owned a racehorse knows 99 per cent of the time they are more of a liability than an asset,” he wrote.

But the complaint to the CCC notes the Mayor had failed to declare a material personal interest, which requires him to remove himself from council debate, and had failed to lodge his interest in a racing syndicate.

While the CCC focus is on conflicts of interest for councillors, the council faces scrutiny from the Local Government Department on the issue of mayoral directives to the CEO.

Submissions from Cr Peter Young, former city architect Philip Follent and the Tugun Progress Association have been made to the Parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee.

A Bulletin report based on a Right to Information request revealed the Mayor has issued directives to the CEO and his executive 42 times since the last election in March 2016.

Cr Tate has told the Bulletin: “I’m not the kind of mayor who sits on his hands and neither do our ratepayers expect their mayor to be operating in first gear.

“A do-nothing option — with no directives — is just not me. I will not let the City stall.”

But Cr Young has asked that the law be changed so there was a record of directives and mechanism in place to ensure they followed council policy.

A Local Government Department spokesman said the Local Government (Councillor Complaints) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017 was introduced into the Parliament during October last year.

But the Bill lapsed with the dissolution of the Parliament for the State election, the spokesperson said.

The Bill was reintroduced into the Legislative Assembly on 15 February 2018 and was referred to the Economics and Governance Committee.

“The Committee is to report to the House by April 9. The Committee has invited submissions on the Bill by March 9 but is yet to advise if there will be a public hearing,” the spokesperson said.