Contempt of parliament the latest in string of missteps by Mayor Jack Dempsey

Former police minister and now Bundaberg Mayor Jack Dempsey’s ‘contempt of parliament’ finding is the latest in a string of questionable and at times controversial incidents, including several that arose when he ran for federal election two years ago.

Former police minister and now Bundaberg Mayor Jack Dempsey’s “contempt of parliament” finding is the latest in a string of questionable and at times controversial incidents, including several that arose when he ran in the federal election two years ago.

The government report released on Thursday finding Jack Dempsey in contempt of parliament is the latest in a series of controversies and missteps involving the Bundaberg Mayor.

From his time as police minister in the Newman government through to the present day, there have been a number of unfortunate headlines and revelations that have raised eyebrows and found Mr Dempsey explaining himself to committees and hearings.

The following is a recap of some of those most recent incidents, issues and controversies. Mr Dempsey was contacted for a response or comment, but had not replied at the time of publication.

Cairns trip funding

Mr Dempsey courted controversy prior to being elected as Bundaberg’s mayor in 2016.

When police minister in the Newman government, he asked a staffer to “throw together” an official event in Cairns coinciding with a personal trip he had planned to North Queensland to watch his son play football in May 2012.

When police minister in the Newman government, Jack Dempsey asked a staffer to “throw together” an official event in Cairns coinciding with a personal trip.

Mr Dempsey denied using taxpayer funds to pay for a personal trip, telling a Parliamentary Estimates hearing in 2013 that the Premier had advised him to go to Cairns due to crime issues in the area.

The question was dismissed by the committee chair, government Member for Ipswich Ian Berry, as being out of scope due to the trip having taken place in the previous financial year.

A spokesman for Mr Dempsey’s office told the Brisbane Times that “the Minister was going to Cairns on a personal matter but this quickly evolved as the week progressed”.

“In between meetings, Mr Dempsey managed to spend a very short period with his young son,” the spokesman said.

After being defeated in the 2015 state election, Mr Dempsey had a brief stint as a real estate agent before being elected Mayor of Bundaberg Regional Council in the local government elections the following year.

Appointment of Michael Gorey

After his election Mr Dempsey enjoyed some initial success, including presiding over record low rate rises and a landslide re-election victory in 2020, becoming the first Bundaberg mayor to be re-elected to a second term, questions around Mr Dempsey’s judgment started to be raised publicly in 2021 with the appointment of Michael Gorey as his chief of staff.

The appointment of Michael Gorey, the former Bundaberg council executive officer of communications and editor of the council-owned website Bundaberg Now, to the role of chief of staff for Mr Dempsey was met with concern by the Department of Local Government and Planning.

The creation of the highly-paid role at the height of the Covid pandemic was opposed by councillor Greg Barnes in a January 2021 council meeting.

Mr Barnes said in a statement that he did not believe it was the “right time to go creating new positions, particularly when we have 900 members of staff plus the executive leadership team”.

“I’m ... wondering what sort of example we’re putting out there in the community,” Mr Barnes said at the time.

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The appointment of Mr Gorey, the former council executive officer of communications and editor of council-owned website Bundaberg Now, to the role was met with concern by the Department of State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning.

In a series of April 2021 emails obtained under the Right to Information Act, the department recommended Mr Gorey’s administrator access to the Bundaberg Now Facebook and news websites be removed on the basis of “good governance”.

At the time, council declined to respond to questions on whether Mr Gorey’s access had been removed.

Gorey works on Dempsey’s campaign

Mr Dempsey put his hat in the ring as an independent candidate in the 2022 federal election just a few weeks after professing to be “bemused” by speculation that he was planning a tilt at the federal seat of Hinkler.

Suspicions that Michael Gorey, Mr Dempsey’s chief of staff at the council, was involved in his boss’s campaign while employed in his ratepayer-funded role were confirmed in the aftermath of losing the election.

Mr Gorey confirmed in April 2022 that he was behind the creation of the JackForHinkler campaign website, saying that all work on the campaign was done “in his own time” and “with his own resources”.

Michael Gorey confirmed in April 2022 that he was behind the creation of the JackForHinkler campaign website, saying that all work on the campaign was done “in his own time” and “with his own resources”.

Online records showed the domain for the website campaign was registered in March 2021 - more than 12 months before Mr Dempsey announced his intention to run in the May 2022 election.

The Local Government Act states a councillor advisor can provide assistance to a councillor including co-ordinating media activities and event management function, but it precludes any activity relating to a councillor’s campaign for re-election.

Mr Gorey resigned from the chief of staff role in August 2022, saying at the time he was finishing “to begin a new challenge”.

After months of speculation about his replacement, the role was filled by former council economic development and marketing coordination officer Amber Lutter in May 2023.

Further controversy arose around claims that a ratepayer database had been used to send emails for Mr Dempsey’s federal election campaign.

The United Australia Party candidate Kristie Nash said that she had been “inundated” with complaints from members of the public that they had received unsolicited emails from Mr Dempsey’s campaign without ever subscribing through the JackForHinkler website.

A campaign spokesperson declined to comment on the source of the mailing list, and council chief executive Steve Johnson said he was confident council databases had not been used.

Blowback from the campaign continued when it was revealed Mr Dempsey had not reported campaign donations received from Climate 200 activists.

Climate 200 group founder Simon Holmes à Court was one of the undisclosed donors to Mr Dempsey's 2022 election campaign.

An investigation by the Office of the Independent Assessor found that Mr Dempsey had not added the donations to his register of interests within 30 days of receiving them as required by state legislation.

The updated register revealed donations from Simon Holmes à Court, founder of the Climate 200 group that supported the “teal” independents, and the Anna Josephson Foundation, managed by Climate 200 convener Anna Josephson.

Following the revelations, Mr Dempsey denied being a “teal” independent, saying that he ran as an independent in the election because of his strong beliefs on climate change.

Allegations of misconduct

A rocky 2022 continued with an investigation by the Councillor Conduct Tribunal into allegations of misconduct raised against Mr Dempsey.

The CCT investigated complaints that Mr Dempsey had allegedly failed to declare a conflict of interest when opposing a development application for a composting facility at Thabeban.

The Councillor Conduct Tribunal found that Jack Dempsey had failed to declare a conflict of interest when opposing a development application for a composting facility at Thabeban.

Documents submitted as part of the complaint alleged that two local businesspeople who were opposed to the development had previously donated to Mr Dempsey’s election campaigns, in one case just weeks before Mr Dempsey himself voted against the application in a 2016 council meeting without declaring a conflict of interest.

Mr Dempsey strenuously denied the allegations in September 2022.

“I reject, in its entirety, the allegation,” Mr Dempsey said in a statement at the time.

“When the matter proceeds to a hearing before the CCT, I will be strenuously defending it.”

The Office of the Independent Assessor confirmed in February 2022 that the complaint had progressed and would be heard by the CCT.

The OIA has been contacted for the current status of the complaint.

Aquatic Centre development

The year ended with calls for Mr Dempsey’s sacking made by advocates for the preservation of the historic Anzac Pool.

After claims of a lack of consultation with the community around the controversial Bundaberg Aquatic Centre development, local residents held a protest outside the pool as demolition started in September 2022.

Local residents brandished signs calling for Mr Dempsey's sacking at protests outside the historic Anzac Pool pool as demolition started for the Bundaberg Aquatic Centre project in September 2022.

The Aquatic Centre development is an ongoing thorn in the side of Mr Dempsey and the council, with the initial budget of $45 million blowing out to $83 million.

The council, including Mr Dempsey, voted against regular financial reporting of the project in a March 2023 meeting, with only Greg Barnes supporting the motion in the interests of transparency for ratepayers.

“The purpose of this (proposal) is to bring (financial reports) to a council meeting where members of the community can see quite clearly ... what we have budgeted and where we are at (with the project),” Mr Barnes said at the time.

A request by ratepayer Karen Tulk for a costing breakdown of the project was refused by the council, with Mr Johnston informing Mrs Tulk that she would need to raise a Right to Information application.

“I find this an appalling situation and a slap in the face for residents. Why are these costs hidden?” said Mrs Tulk.

The NewsMail submitted an RTI request in April for financial documents related to the Bundaberg Aquatic Centre, which remains pending.

Contempt of parliament

An inquiry by the state government’s Ethics Committee found Mr Dempsey was guilty of contempt of parliament by obtaining and disclosing confidential parliamentary documents.

Mr Dempsey obtained a 2021 submission made by Mr Barnes to the State Development and Regional Industries Committee, saying he thought he was “obliged to seek access to the document” as it contained “serious allegations” against him.

Contrary to Mr Dempsey’s claims that he was not aware that the submission was confidential under parliamentary privilege, the inquiry found that the fact that he had sought legal advice before requesting the documents and seeking permission to disclose them indicated that he was in fact aware that they were confidential.

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Council CEO Stephen Johnston was found not guilty of contempt in obtaining the submission due to the protections of the Acceptable Requests Guidelines.

Responses from Mr Dempsey and the council to questions about the source of payment for the barrister engaged by Mr Dempsey for the inquiry, and seeking confirmation that the confidential submission was obtained by accessing Mr Barnes’ emails as he had claimed, were not received by deadline.

Originally published as Contempt of parliament the latest in string of missteps by Mayor Jack Dempsey