Luke Smith | |
---|---|
Mayor of Logan City | |
In office 13 March 2016 –2 May 2019 | |
Deputy | Cherie Dalley |
Preceded by | Pam Parker |
Succeeded by | Darren Power |
Logan City Councillor for Division 6 | |
In office 27 March 2008 –13 March 2016 | |
Succeeded by | Stacey McIntosh |
Logan City Councillor for Division 5 | |
In office 16 March 2006 –27 March 2008 | |
Succeeded by | Graham Able |
Personal details | |
Nationality | Australian |
Political party | Independent |
Other political affiliations | Liberal National Party |
Luke Smith is an Australian politician who served as the mayor of the City of Logan, [1] [2] the seventh largest local government area in Australia by population. [3] From 2006 until 2016,he was the Divisional Councillor for Logan City Council's Division 6. [4]
Elected as an independent in 2016,Smith ran as the Liberal National Party candidate for the Logan-based federal division of Rankin in 2010. [5]
On 26 March 2018,Smith was arrested and charged by the Crime and Corruption Commission. [6] The charges include two counts of perjury relating to testimony given to the Commission in 2017,one count of official corruption in his capacity as Mayor of the City of Logan,and one count of failing to properly update his register of interests. [7] The corruption charges relate to Smith's relationship with a property developer who,in addition to donating to Smith's election campaign fund,allegedly provided an illegal contribution to progress the development approval of a Springwood hotel. [8]
10 councillors attended a confidential meeting days after Smith's arrest,in which 8 out 10 agreed to formally ask him to stand aside. Acting Deputy Mayor Trevina Schwarz confirmed the "vast majority" of councillors decided to "make a formal request to the Mayor to stand aside for a period of three months pending the proceedings." [9]
On 14 April 2019,Smith and 7 other Logan City councillors were charged with fraud by the Crime and Corruption Commission,which alleged they conspired together to terminate the employment of the council's chief executive officer following reports she was privately assisting a corruption investigation. She was formally terminated by council four months after giving information to the state corruption watchdog about alleged possible misconduct by Smith. [10] [11]
While on bail pending the resolution of corruption charges,on 1 May 2019 Smith was further charged with a number of offences including middle-range drink driving,driving without due care and attention,and breaching his bail conditions after an alleged motor vehicle accident. Police held Smith in custody following the alleged incident. [12] [13]
The Commission of Inquiry into Possible Illegal Activities and Associated Police Misconduct into Queensland Police corruption was a judicial inquiry presided over by Tony Fitzgerald QC. The inquiry resulted in the resignation of Queensland's premier,Joh Bjelke-Petersen,the calling of two by-elections,and the jailing of three former ministers and the Police Commissioner Terry Lewis. It also contributed to the end of the National Party of Australia's 32-year run as the governing political party in Queensland.
The City of Logan is a local government area situated within the south of the Brisbane metropolitan area in South East Queensland,Australia. Situated between the City of Brisbane to the north and the City of Gold Coast to the south,the City also borders the Scenic Rim Region,the City of Ipswich,and Redland City LGAs. Logan City is divided into 70 suburbs and 12 divisions;a councillor is elected to each of the latter. The council had a population of 326,615 in June 2018.
Gordon Richard Nuttall is an Australian former politician who represented Sandgate in the Queensland Parliament from 1992 to 2006. He was a member of the Labor Party and served as a minister in the Beattie Ministry from 2001 to 2005. In 2009 he was found guilty of corruptly receiving secret commissions during his time in office and jailed for seven years. In 2010,he was found guilty of five charges of official corruption and five charges of perjury and,ultimately,jailed for an additional seven years,the longest jail term for corruption handed to a Commonwealth politician. He was released on parole in July 2015.
The Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) is an independent Queensland Government integrity agency created to combat and reduce the incidence of major crime and to continuously improve the integrity of,and to reduce the incidence of misconduct in,the Queensland public sector. Formerly the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) 2002–2014. The CCC also has a witness protection function. The commission was established on 1 January 2002,when the former Criminal Justice Commission and the Queensland Crime Commission were merged into a single entity under the name Crime and Misconduct Commission.
Gerald Edward "Tony" Fitzgerald is a former Australian judge,who presided over the Fitzgerald Inquiry. The report from the inquiry led to the resignation of the Premier of Queensland Joh Bjelke-Petersen,and the jailing of several ministers and a police commissioner. He was the youngest person to be appointed as a judge of the Federal Court of Australia.
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The City of Ipswich is a local government area in Queensland,Australia,located within the southwest of the Brisbane metropolitan area,including the urban area surrounding the city of Ipswich and surrounding rural areas.
Geoff Ablett is a former Australian rules footballer who played in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1970s and 1980s,and later a local government councillor and Liberal Party candidate for state office,who was found by an anti-corruption investigation to have received hundreds of thousands of dollars from a controversial property developer in exchange for favourable planning decisions.
The Fraser Coast Region is a local government area in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland,Australia,about 250 kilometres (160 mi) north of Brisbane,the state capital. It is centred on the twin cities of Hervey Bay and Maryborough and also contains Fraser Island (K'gari). It was created in 2008 from a merger of the Cities of Maryborough and Hervey Bay and the Shires of Woocoo and most of Tiaro. In June 2018 it had a population of 105,463.
The Scenic Rim Region is a local government area in West Moreton region of South East Queensland,Australia. Established in 2008,it was preceded by several previous local government areas with histories extending back to the early 1900s and beyond. The main town of the region is Beaudesert.
Lisa-Michelle Scaffidi is a former Lord Mayor of Perth,Western Australia. The first female Lord Mayor of Perth,Scaffidi became mayor following the October 2007 council elections,after the retirement of her predecessor,Peter Nattrass,who served a record twelve years in the position. Scaffidi and the rest of the City of Perth council were suspended on 2 March 2018,while the state government investigated the council's operations.
The Sustainable Australia Party,formerly the Sustainable Population Party,is an Australian political party formed in 2010.
Jacklyn Anne Trad is a former Australian politician. She was Deputy Premier of Queensland from 2015 to 2020,Treasurer of Queensland from 2017 to 2020 and represented the Electoral district of South Brisbane for the Labor Party from April 2012 to October 2020.
Jenny Hill AM is an Australian politician,currently serving as the mayor of Townsville,which is the 18th largest local government area in Australia. She was elected to the position during the Queensland Local Government elections held on 28 April 2012. Prior to serving as mayor,Hill was a city councillor and previously held the position of Deputy Mayor under the previous pre-amalgamation Townsville City Council in the Labor administration of Tony Mooney between 2007 and 2008.
Mark Craig Bailey is an Australian politician currently serving as the Minister for Transport and Main Roads of Queensland. He has also served as the Labor member for Miller in the Queensland Legislative Assembly since 2015.
Thomas Richard Tate is a Laotian-born Australian businessman,property investor and politician who is the current mayor of the City of Gold Coast. He was first elected on 28 April 2012 and re-elected on both 19 March 2016 and 28 March 2020 with more than two thirds of the preferential vote.
Crime in Queensland is an on-going political issue. Queensland Police is responsible for providing policing services to Queensland,Australia. Crime statistics for the state are provided on their website. Official records show that reported offences against property and people has declined over the past 20 years to 2020. The state has criminal codes for hooning,graffiti,sharing intimate images without consent and fare evasion. Wage theft became a crime in 2020. The minimum age of criminal responsibility in Queensland is 10 years old.
Paul Pisasale is a former mayor of the City of Ipswich in Queensland,Australia,and convicted extortionist. Pisasale was mayor of Ipswich from 2004 to 2017,making him one of Queensland's longest-serving mayors,and was last elected in 2016 with 83.45% of the popular vote. He resigned as mayor in 2017 following a raid on his office by the Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission. He was subsequently charged with corruption in 2017. He was committed to stand trial on a number of other charges in 2019,including charges of sexual assault where he was accused of "unlawfully and indecently" assaulting an Ipswich woman,and charges of perjury. Pisasale subsequently pleaded guilty to these charges which included two counts of sexual assault,official corruption,unlawful drug possession,27 counts of fraud,secret commission by an agent,and fraud of property.
Darren Ross Power is an Australian politician currently serving as the mayor of the City of Logan. Prior to his election as mayor,Power served as Logan City Councillor for Division 10 from 1997 to 2019,and as Advocate for the City of Logan from 2019 to 2020. He is the father of professional gamers Lachlan Power and Mitchell Power who are from the esports team PWR.
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