Damning new claims against Ipswich council
Three damning new reports on Ipswich City Council-owned entities have detailed evidence of potential fraud and breaches of the Corporations Act.
Queensland's Local Government Minister Stirling Hinchliffe tabled the reports in Parliament and said the documents showed he was right to move to sack the council and appoint administrators.
The three reports were commissioned by the council through McGrath-Nichol, and showed five entities owned and run by the council, including Ipswich City Properties, failed to prove value for money or did not comply with regulation.
"Ipswich City Properties incurred losses of up to $50 million – all ratepayers’ funds - on an Ipswich CBD redevelopment that never eventuated," Mr Hinchliffe said.
“ICP officials, including councillors and staff, also enjoyed an all-expenses-paid trip to the United States in 2010, including specially chartered flights on private jets."
A Queensland Audit Office report referenced by McGrath-Nichol found, in some instances, the council had ignored its own policies and failed to seek three individual quotes for tenders over $20,000.
An expression of interest process was also unable to prove it met value for money or appropriate competition, with two of the three bids "inadequate".
The auditors found issues such as unsigned board minutes, a missing annual report, and officers of the IMP council entity signing off on their own travel costs.
The $2.8 million sale of a block of lands at Redlands by Ipswich City Developments did not go to market, McGrath-Nichol also found, and signatories for the developers and guarantors were the same, risking "damage to the reputation of the council".
Mr Hinchliffe said taxpayers had been dudded by dodgy deals under a council culture of secrecy, entitlement and a lack of accountability.
“Italy, France, the UK and Abu Dhabi were other travel destinations for councillors and staff," Mr Hinchliffe said.
“Council even wasted more than $83,000 of ratepayers’ funds on high-priced lawyers to conceal the cost of these jaunts, following Right to Information requests from a media outlet."
-with AAP