Investigators have trawled through years of Cairns Regional Council documents to determine whether a pattern exists in some of the city’s biggest development decisions.

The corruption watchdog has stressed “allegations should be treated as unsubstantiated until a final outcome is reached”.

The council’s decisions are there in black and white – ream after ream of meeting minutes showing how Cr Manning voted on development matters, what conflicts of interest he declared and how he declared them.

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The documents paint a chequered picture with some declarations made, times declarations were not recorded, and occasions Cr Manning was a no-show when conflicted matters were discussed.

The loan

Much of the Crime and Corruption Commission’s focus centres on the $150,000 loan Cr Manning received from Ranjit Singh in 2015 – a payable “on demand” loan with no specified repayment date.

Those terms mean a lender could, theoretically, bankrupt a borrower by calling in a debt when they lack the means to pay up.

The prominent lawyer has worked on some of the city’s top developments including the now-stalled $500m Nova City plan to build eight apartment towers in the CBD.

He was principal and managing director of Law Solutions, which sold in 2018 to law firm Holding Redlich Cairns where he is now a partner and co-owner.

Cr Manning’s publicly available register of interests does list a business loan with Mr Singh under “liabilities more than $10,000”. The register is not required to state the amount of the loan.

It was not until the Cairns Post searched court documents that further details of the $150,000 loan became publicly known.

Resignation

The Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) issued a statement on Thursday saying Mr Singh had resigned as Cairns branch president “following media reporting of an alleged business loan” to the mayor.

“Mr Singh’s offer to stand down, and the institute’s acceptance of it, should not be taken as an indication of any wrongdoing on his part,” the statement continued.

“The board will seek to appoint an acting branch president in the coming weeks.”

Nova City

Meeting minutes related to the Nova development show the project receiving its first approvals in November 2014 – believed to be before the collapse of Cr Manning’s Events NQ business and his subsequent loan from Mr Singh.

At the ordinary meeting on January 28, 2015, the minutes show the council agreed to consider reducing the number of carparks required for the Nova City development.

Cr Manning voted without declaring a conflict.

It is unclear whether the loan from Mr Singh had been secured by this time.

Court documents filed in proceedings concerning a $300,000 vendor finance agreement between the company behind Events NQ and its previous owners simply show the loan was made prior to May 29, 2015.

Importantly, this was not the only time expensive carparking dispensations have been made to big developers – a move that can help get major projects over the line and secure important investment at the cost of long-term future income in parking fees.

In recent years, the council has struck similar deals for Crystalbrook Collection’s three hotel developments and the Cairns Aquarium.

Voting habits

The next time the Nova project came before the council, at the October 28, 2015 ordinary meeting, Cr Manning did declare a conflict.

Records show he left the meeting “due to a business affiliation” although details and Mr Singh’s name were not published in the minutes.

When the project returned to the council on November 11, 2015 and July 11, 2018, Cr Manning was absent for the meetings – and therefore no declaration was required.

He was also absent on September 25, 2019, when a memorandum of understanding between the council and the UDIA was approved.

Other present Unity Team members declared conflicts on that occasion due to election donations from Mr Singh, who was the UDIA’s branch president in Cairns.

Cr Manning’s absence meant, again, he did not have to declare his loan on top of the donation to Unity’s joint campaign coffers.

On February 12, 2020, then-councillor Linda Cooper declared conflicts due to donations to a previous campaign from Mr Singh, since Holding Redlich represented applicants on two matters in closed session – a development on Johanna Rd in Trinity Beach and Kenfrost’s Redlynch Vista housing estate.

The minutes showed Unity councillors, including the mayor, declared conflicts on both matters – but their declarations did not relate to Mr Singh. Both projects were approved after being delegated to then-CEO John Andrejic, whose resignation last year foreshadowed a wave of further departures within the council’s top management.

Legal links

There was another time Cr Manning publicly declared a relationship with Mr Singh – on November 28, 2018 when Holding Redlich was added to a list of “prequalified suppliers” for the provision of legal services, a panel of law firms the council can choose from when legal matters arise.

Unity councillors, including the mayor, declared conflicts because of Mr Singh’s previous donations to their electoral campaign in 2012.

Cr Manning further declared an unspecified “business loan” from Mr Singh – and the matter was ultimately delegated to the CEO and approved as per the council officer recommendation.

Holding Redlich was not the only name on the list – Unity Team councillors also declared conflicts due to previous donations from MacDonnells Law, Mal Skipworth and Tim Dobinson from Preston Law, and John Hayward from WGC Lawyers.

The council spent $1.6m on legal fees last financial year alone – so there is a lot of ratepayer money at play.

In debt

The records show Cr Manning has declared his loan from Mr Singh on multiple occasions, and his register of interests also lists a business loan from his close friend and former colleague Don Fry, and a directors loan guarantee with Degno Pty Ltd.

It does not, and is not required to, provide finer details about those debts.

For Mr Fry, court documents showed the debt was $387,290 as of May 29, 2015 and, as of May this year, Cr Manning still owed Degno Pty Ltd – the former owner of his failed Events NQ business – $74,162.84 and $69,218.57 in interest. That money is gradually being paid through garnishing of his mayoral wages.

Meeting minutes show there were at least two occasions when the link to Mr Singh was not declared, and at least three times when Cr Manning was absent when matters relating to Mr Singh were scheduled for decisions.

Why the concern?

The CCC is understood to be investigating all avenues, including Cr Manning’s potential influence over the decisions of other councillors as head of the Unity Team, which almost always votes as a bloc and holds the balance of power.

While the allegations are currently unsubstantiated, at least one of the mayor’s colleagues has spoken out about the “optics” having a substantial payable-on-demand loan from someone with such a significant position in the development industry.

Division 9 councillor Brett Olds said Mr Singh’s former role as the head of the UDIA lobby group meant he had influence on the region’s planning schemes.

“I remember all the lectures we had over the years – the times I was pulled into the mayor’s office to have a chat about behaviour and councillor conduct,” he said.

“The community is supposed to know this stuff.

“It comes down to transparency.”

The CCC is taking the allegations seriously with council sources saying Cr Manning’s home was raided in May, and multiple visits from investigators to the council chambers.

The Cairns Post understands several councillors are now considering their positions on the Unity Team and whether to cut ties to distance themselves from the mounting controversy.

Cr Manning and Mr Singh did not wish to comment.