Gold Coast mayor has controlling interests in nine property companies

Cr Tate and the Gold Coast City Council’s chief executive officer Dale Dickson are being investigated by the Crime and Corruption Commission about the sale of a car park in Surfers Paradise and Cr Tate’s alleged failure to declare he had a material interest in a development company that has bought a nearby bowls club.

Cr Tate is a partner in Crestden Pty Ltd, which plans to build a 56-storey building called Waterglow on the old bowls club site opposite the Bruce Bishop car park in Surfers Paradise.

Cr Tate told a Gold Coast City Council meeting on November 4, 2013, that he had a material personal interest in the development application as a shareholder, left the council meeting and did not vote.

However the Surfers Paradise lobby group Save Surfers Paradise says the disclosure was not full enough to cover Cr Tate’s full business interests and the property sales should not go ahead.

Cr Tate’s business interests are disclosed on his Register of Interests lodged with the Gold Coast City Council and the Department of Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning.

It was last updated on March 7, 2018.

It shows Cr Tate has a controlling shareholding in nine companies: Crestden Pty Ltd, Noblecote Pty Ltd, Kolleck Pty Ltd (NSW land developments), Premium Visa Sdn Bhd (a Malaysian resort), Golden Hotels Pty Ltd, Silk Mercantile Pty Ltd, One and Only Resorts Pty Ltd, TRT80 Pty Ltd and his family business Tate Family Holdings Pty Ltd.

The complaints follow disappointment since May 2017 from some Surfers Paradise businesses upset at Gold Coast City Council's decision to sell Surfers Paradise's Bruce Bishop car park, which council says is used by about 600 cars a day and does not make a profit.

Save our Surfers Paradise says 1200 cars per day use Bruce Bishop car park.

The Crime and Corruption Commission is investigating six allegations.

1 . That Cr Tate did not fully disclose the extent of his material personal interest in Crestden Pty Ltd and the Surfers Paradise Bowls Club bowls development at 72 Remembrance Drive, Surfers Paradise.

2. That Cr Tate was in council meetings in May and July 2017, which debated the sale of the Bruce Bishop car park and the Surfers Paradise Transit Centre in which companies where Cr Tate is a shareholder could benefit.

3. At council meetings in May and July 2017, Cr Tate allegedly made statements he knew to be false and misleading in support of the proposed funding model for the cultural precinct for the "purposes of deriving a benefit for himself".

4. Cr Tate allegedly engaged in a pattern of conduct concerning council decisions relating to matters where he has a material personal interest, and this conduct influenced council decisions made for the "express purpose of providing a benefit to himself, and for his business associates".

5. Cr Tate is accused of misusing his authority by nominating himself, during a closed council meeting, to negotiate CEO Dale Dickson's new employment contract. This was despite being aware that Mr Dickson had been delegated the sole responsibility for negotiating the sale of council-owned land to a business in which the mayor had a material personal interest.

6. Cr Tate failed to update his register of interests within the statutory timeframe to properly disclose the receipt of hospitality benefits he received from the representative of a Chinese developer.

Save Our Surfers Paradise spokeswoman Deborah Kelly, who is the managing director of the Surfers Paradise tourist attraction Infinity said it “was particularly alarming” that Cr Tate was overseeing Mr Dickson’s contract, while Mr Dickson “dealt with the sale of 72 Remembrance Drive to Cr Tate’s development group".

"You can't have a CEO with sole discretion of a block of land that the mayor needs to do a $300 million development negotiating on a one-to-one basis with a mayor that has a sole discretion over the CEO's new contract can you? That's not right," she said.

Ms Kelly said while her group's claims were allegations at present and the CCC's investigation must be completed, the sale of the properties needed to be suspended.

The Crime and Corruption Commission on Friday confirmed it was investigating six further allegations.

On March 2 the commission said it was “in the public interest to advise it has commenced an investigation into allegations of corrupt conduct relating to decision-making by some Gold Coast City Council councillors".

Both Cr Tate and Mr Dickson said they welcomed the investigation.

Cr Tate issued a statement: “I respect the confidentiality of the CCC.”

Gold Coast chief executive Dale Dickson told media he was happy with an investigation by the Crime and Corruption Commission.

“The claims are not new,” he said.

“They have been the subject of consideration as part of the City’s response to the legal proceedings initiated by Save Our Surfers Paradise Inc, which will shortly be dealt with by the Supreme Court.”

With AAP