The public release of a report into corruption in Ipswich City Council could prejudice upcoming court matters involving council staff, long-serving Ipswich councillor Paul Tully argues.
The Crime and Corruption Commission has released its damning report into the southeast Queensland council, finding a culture of corruption and cover-up was allowed to fester for years.
The report found a "very dominating senior figure," combined with an inner circle of councillors and senior executives who had worked together for a long time, and weak policies allowed corruption to occur.
To date, 15 people connected to council - including two former mayors and a former chief executive - have been charged with 86 criminal offences.
Cr Tully - who has not been accused of any wrongdoing - said a submission from lawyers published in the report itself said the release of the report could jeopardise those matters.
"This should not have been published, it's totally inappropriate and unfair to those 15 people," Mr Tully told AAP.
In the report, CCC chair Alan MacSporran QC said he had decided to publicly release the result of the Ipswich investigation to both remind elected and public officials of the importance of accountability, and to make recommendations to the state government for reform.
Queensland's Local Government Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said the report vindicates his decision to draft special legislation to sack Ipswich council.
That legislation will be introduced to state parliament when it sits next week, despite the Queensland Law Society raising concerns that it removes natural justice for the councillors who have not been accused of any crimes.
Mr Hinchliffe said he would carefully consider the four recommendations in the report, which include training all councillors across the state in corruption risks and switching private companies owned by council to public ones to bring them under the CCC's jurisdiction.
Administrators are set to be appointed to run council for over two years until the next local government elections in 2020.
Australian Associated Press
