Queensland's Crime and Misconduct Commission has been asked to examine a complaint of alleged censorship and intimidation by the Scenic Rim Regional Council against this publication - the Tamborine Mountain Daily Star.
The request came from the Premiers Department after the matter was referred to Premier Anna Bligh by the General Manager of the Daily Star.
The complaint arose from the alleged actions of Lyall Mercer, a crisis PR and media management expert hired by Council. Mr Mercer has an extensive professional relationship with the LNP, the political party to which both the Mayor and Deputy Mayor belong.
Mr Mercer issued the Daily Star with a series of demands and instructions on changes he wanted made to the articles on the Daily Star website. He asked for the removal of certain content that the Council regarded as political.
When the Daily Star immediately complained to Council CEO, Craig Barke about the actions of the Council Employee, Barke ignored the correspondence. Mercer subsequently issued further "requirements" which the Daily Star rejected and termed them "censorship and intimidation".
Mr Mercer then offered the Daily Star a partial apology saying the freedom of the media was paramount. The apology was rejected.
An official letter of complaint was sent to Mr Barke, who summarily dismissed it even though the complaint was in part directed against Mr Barke himself. A second complaint was lodged citing the first decision's lack of independence, lack of procedural fairness and lack of adherence to Council's formal complaints policy.
The original complaint was forwarded to Premier Anna Bligh by the Daily Star. It was later sent on to Queensland's Crimes and Misconduct Commission by the Premiers Department. The CMC is reviewing Council documentation prior to deciding if any further action is necessary.
The two complaints made by the Daily Star were referred to Council Director Mr Mark Griffioen for adjudication. Mr Griffioen is the Council Director who interceded in a Council meeting in Boonah when Cr Derek Swanborough was trying to get to the bottom of a misallocated three quarters of a million dollars in the Council's draft annual report.
Mr Griffioen contradicted the explanations being made by both the Mayor and the CEO and confirmed that Cr Swanborough was correct about the nature of the misallocation of the funds, which had been on the Council's books and Annual Reports for two years before the Council Auditors noticed the error.
In an email to the Daily Star, Mr Griffioen indicated that he expected to announce his findings on the Daily Star's censorship complaints next week. The current status of the CMC investigation is not known at this stage, however there are expected to be several other serious complaints that involve the Scenic Rim Regional Council made to the CMC shortly.
These complaints are expected to deal with manner in which Mayor Brent's misconduct charges were dismissed. They are also expected to deal with a private lobbying company and its alleged role in encouraging Councils like the Scenic Rim to use what are termed to be "extra-legal" methods to extend the Local Government Act to effectively silence dissenting councillors. The company is said to have a commercial relationship with Councils, which reportedly involves the contracting of services and purchasing.