LOGAN Mayor Luke Smith has denied any wrongdoing in relation to donations he received in the lead up to the March council election.
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Cr Smith faced the media today following revelations the Chinese developer behind a proposed $750 million resort at Carbrook made more than $50,000 in local council donations from an unregistered company.
“I understand public perception. I’ve been in this role now for over 10 years and I get that,” Cr Smith said.
“The reality is that will always be a perception wherever there are campaign donations, wherever there’s development in the fast-growing city like the city of Logan, that’s going to be a perception, I can’t move away from that. The reality is I will comply with the law and we have done so up until now and will continue to do so in the future.”
Cr Smith received $377,933 in donations in the lead up to the elections – one of the largest sums of any candidate in Queensland’s local government elections.
This week it was revealed that $63,300 had been donated by a company controlled by Liansheng Yue, who is the developer seeking council approval for the 1528-unit project known as “The Lakes”.
Documents lodged with the Queensland Electoral Commission show that money was donated via Mr Yue’s Australian Yues International Developments Group, with $55,800 of it recorded before the company was registered.
Cr Smith said he was unaware the company was unregistered at the time and described the claims made in the media this week as “very concerning”.
“Anyone who gave to my campaign through Logan Futures was fully aware of the fact that I cannot help them in council,” he said.
“I was tremendously overwhelmed by the support that I did receive during the election campaign. The business community were generally focused on wanting to have a good leader in the city of Logan rather than getting any benefits on the side.”
A spokeswoman for Queensland Deputy Premier and Planning Minister Jackie Trad said the Queensland government would “assess issues raised” regarding the proposed development.
“The Department of Local Government, Infrastructure and Planning will assess issues raised in media reports regarding developments in the Logan City Council area and donations facilitated through an unincorporated company,” the spokeswoman said.
