Logan mayor Luke Smith's donations company Logan Futures was poorly managed: Crime and Corruption Commission

The Crime and Corruption Commission tabled on Wednesday its long-awaited report following Operation Belcarra, which was held in response to complaints about the conduct of candidates contesting the 2016 local government elections.

With regard to Logan, the report stated the CCC focused on five allegations involving perceptions that mayor Luke Smith failed to give a disclosure return within the required time or provided a disclosure return containing information he knew was false or misleading and had attempted to unlawfully influence council decisions relating to his donors.

The report said the allegations about Cr Smith were still being finalised.

It said Cr Smith told the commission he established Logan Futures to handle the large amount of campaign funds; and said the CCC identified a number of poor governance practices in relation to the operation of Logan Futures.

“The use of Logan Futures created an artificial separation between Cr Smith and donors on paper alone, undermining the transparency of significant donations, some of which were made in cash and handed directly to Cr Smith,” the report says.

According to the report, the CCC was still finalising the investigation into an allegation that Cr Smith had attempted to influence the outcome of council decisions on development applications that would benefit companies that donated to Logan Futures.

“...It would be premature to draw any conclusions about whether any council decisions were unlawfully influenced in favour of the donor.”

The CCC stated it had identified donors to Logan Futures that appeared to have some interest in or relationship to property development in the Logan area.

Cr Smith wrote in a letter to the CCC – included as a submission in the report – that he welcomed the absence of any recommended action against him in the draft report on Operation Belcarra.

Logan City Division 10 councillor Darren Power said the CCC’s findings on the governance of Logan Futures were concerning.

He said the commission had found the person running the city, who oversaw Logan Futures, was receiving money and not keeping adequate records.

“What sort of job is he doing at Logan City Council?”, Cr Power asked.

“A very important area of being a candidate is keeping records of donations.”

Cr Power said he was also concerned the state government would not implement recommendations made by the CCC.

Cr Smith said he was pleased to see the CCC had recommended changes to the Electoral Commission Queensland and identified deficiencies in how they operated.

“As I have previously expressed, I spent time with the Electoral Commission to understand the best way to handle various aspects of running a mayoral campaign and moving forward, I would like to ensure that the advice coming from the ECQ is complete, adequate and unambiguous,” he said.

Cr Smith said he looked forward to the decision from the state government on the implementation of the 31 recommendations.

He called for people to read his reply submission to the CCC which addressed items in the final report.

”As the CCC are yet to finalise relevant allegations as part of Operation Belcarra, I am unable to provide further commentary until the matter is closed.”

The commission made 31 recommendations, including prohibiting candidates, groups of candidates, third parties, political parties, associated entities and councillors from receiving gifts from property developers.

It also recommended setting a limit on how much candidates and parties could spend during council election campaigns.

Removal from office should be considered for several proposed offences, including failing to declare a conflict of interest and receiving gifts from property developers, the report recommended.

The watchdog said changes should be made so that after a councillor declared a conflict of interest, other people entitled to vote at the meeting would decide whether that person had a “real or perceived conflict of interest” in the matter and whether they should leave the room when it was being discussed and voted on.

Logan City Division 1 councillor Lisa Bradley said she welcomed a recommended ban on council candidates receiving donations from property developers.

“I have always paid for my own campaign,” she said.

“Then there is no inference that you owe anybody.”

Cr Bradley said measures needed to be taken to improve the transparency and increase public confidence that councillors were acting in the public’s best interest.

CCC chair Alan MacSporran said Operation Belcarra and other recent investigations identified significant weaknesses in the current framework and reform was needed to deliver equity, transparency, integrity and better accountability in council elections and council decision-making.

"If supported by Parliament, the package of recommendations in my view will result in the most substantial reform of the local government sector in Queensland's history," he said.

Mr MacSporran said it became apparent that many of the issues it was investigating had been explored previously in recent decades, including issues of property developer donations and conflicts of interest.

"The recurring nature of these issues, despite increased regulation and oversight of local government, elections and political donations over time, highlights their inherent potential to cause concerns about corruption and adversely affect public perceptions of, and confidence in, the transparency and integrity of local government," he said.

Mr MacSporran said if media coverage reflected public sentiment, it appeared the community was calling for councils to be held to a higher standard.

A previous version of this story was awaiting a response from Luke Smith.