It is now imperative that Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk move to establish an independent inquiry into the dismissal of one of Queensland's largest councils, after the Parliamentary Crime and Corruption Committee (PCCC) dismissed a motion calling for it to scrutinise the matter.
The peak body representing the state's councils has today written to all Queensland MPs, urging them to support an independent inquiry into the dismissal of the former Logan City Council.
The former Logan City Council was dismissed in 2019 after the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) weighed into an industrial matter and levelled criminal charges at a group of councillors, despite those charges never being properly tested by the courts.
The fraud charges were officially withdrawn in the Brisbane Magistrates Court last week after the Director of Public Prosecutions decided not to continue with the prosecution, citing insufficient evidence.
Local Government Association of Queensland President Mayor Mark Jamieson said an independent inquiry must be held, following the decision of the majority of the members on the PCCC to reject a motion calling for the committee to inquire into the matter.
"The sacking of one of the largest councils in Queensland over what have now been found to be baseless allegations should not be taken lightly – and nor should it ever be allowed to happen again," Mayor Jamieson said.
"The CCC’s parliamentary oversight committee has rejected a request for it to consider the matter, so that leaves us with one option and that is for an independent inquiry to be held.
"Any Queenslander who went through something similar – with their reputations and livelihoods destroyed over untested, wrongly levelled charges that were always going to be thrown out of court – would reasonably expect answers as to how on earth this could happen.
"Our communities deserve better and our councils deserve better. They must have the confidence that any lessons from this travesty of justice will be learned so another council and community does not needlessly face the same fate in the future."
For more information, please contact:
Sarah Vogler, Media Executive
Phone: 0438 447 370
Local Government Association of Queensland