Watchdog refers Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate for alleged misconduct

LNP life member Tom Tate could be punished for alleged misconduct after spending ratepayers’ money on a charity ball.

Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate has been found not to have complied with council rules. Picture: Steve Holland

Gold Coast mayor and LNP life member Tom Tate could be punished for alleged misconduct after blocking a disciplinary investi­gation into his chief of staff and spending ratepayers’ money on a charity ball run by his wife.

The Crime and Corruption Commission will not lay criminal charges after finishing its long-running “Operation Yabber” investigation into allegations of dodgy dealings at Australia’s ­second-largest council, just two months before local government elections.

While other recent CCC investigations in Queensland have ­resulted in serious charges being laid against mayors and councillors, including fraud, misconduct and official corruption, the same “serious and systemic governance and cultural issues” were not found at the Gold Coast council.

But the CCC found Mr Tate’s chief of staff and former campaign adviser Wayne Moran, who had already been stood down, used his position of power to attempt to “inappropriately” influence council decision-making in favour of his friends and former clients.

Mr Moran also failed to properly declare conflicts of interest with his personal company Jacem Business Development, and the conflicts were not properly managed. When the council’s chief executive, Dale Dickson, tried to deal with this issue by starting disciplinary action, he was blocked by Mr Tate, even though Mr Moran was supposed to report to Mr Dickson.

“The CEO said he considered Moran a high-risk individual and there had been quite a few occasions where Moran had involved himself in (property) development-related issues, advocating certain outcomes and behaviours expected from the council,” the CCC report says.

It said he advised senior council officers that Mr Moran was not a ­decision-maker and “had to be managed very carefully”.

The CCC found that while Mr Tate’s conduct did not meet the threshold for criminal prosecution, his actions could amount to misconduct, and referred him to the Office of the Independent ­Assessor, which investigates complaints against councillors.

The CCC also found Mr Tate did not comply with council rules for spending. He used ratepayers’ money to buy two $2500 tables at the Gold Coast Mayoress Charity Ball when the limit for charity ­donations was $500.

His office also bought two $500 selfie sticks — one for the office and one for his daughter in the film industry.

He repaid the council for his daughter’s.

“Evidence exists of Tate using official expenditure for making donations up to 10 times the amount permitted under policy.” the CCC found.

“The other items of expenditure mentioned in this report also constitute technical breaches.’’

A buoyant Mr Tate joked the CCC should have called its report Operation “Yabba Dabba Doo” because it was a “fantastic outcome for the city of the Gold Coast”.

He said the corruption watchdog had done a thorough, 18-month investigation “like a colonoscopy” and the council had been given a “clean bill of health”.

He said he was sure he would be cleared by the OIA because he had beaten such allegations dozens of times in the past.

Invoking Elton John — “I’m Still Standing” — Mr Tate said he would not be deterred from running for the mayoralty again at the March 28 council elections.

CCC chairman Alan MacSporran recommended state law be amended to ensure mayoral directions could not be used to undermine the authority of council CEOs to carry out responsibilities.