Council audit uncovers mystery money trail
Douglas Shire
The recipient of a $2.8m Douglas Shire Council contract for works relating to Cyclone Jasper remains a mystery despite a Queensland Audit Office report stating that State Government regulations require all contracts worth more than $200,000 to be published on the council website.
A council spokesman, however, said the details of the contract referred to by the QAO have been published online in some form.
“Due to a contract variation, a different amount is disclosed on Council’s website,” he stated.
The DSC is required by law to publish a monthly list of successful tender recipients online, but the winner of the $2,828,100 contract referred to by the QAO is not listed.
That contract came to light through an audit of the council books by the state auditor-general.
The QAO report, which was tabled in last week’s council meeting, stated that the contract was originally put out to tender for an estimated $500,000-$1m value, then an about $480,000 “variation” was granted by the council chief executive via email in November, 2024.
“The initial contract and the subsequent extension were not published on Council’s website, as required by the Local Government Regulation 2012,” the report stated.
A Newsport investigation of the council’s published “details of particular contracts” since November last year showed no $2,828,100 contracts had since been published in that list.
Council chief executive Scott Osman - who was appointed to the position in October, 2024 - said in last week’s council meeting he had been working with the auditor-general’s department to make sure the DSC became fully compliant with state regulations surrounding the awarding of council contracts.
“The majority of these findings were initial engagements relating to TC Jasper,” Mr Osman said.
“The team had identified these procurement deficiencies prior to the audit and I’ll continue to keep bringing these forward.”
The QAO audit disclosed at least one “significant deficiency” with the council’s tendering processes, but Mr Osman said in the meeting most began under the previous council and administration - council elections took place in March 2024.
“I think this clearly shows examples of why you, as a new council, last year, decided to bring in a new CEO and a new executive to actually try and work through some of these issues,” Mr Osman said.
“We will continue that review into our activities as we’re going forward.”
Other “deficiencies” listed by the QAO included that the council could not provide documentation supporting the initial engagement of a contractor for works totalling close to $150,000, with four contract extensions up to June 2025 then approved after that.
And the council also awarded a contract to a former employee’s company up to March 9, 2025, which was the only supplier that was notified of the four-day tender, and no signed contract was provided.
During the meeting discussion, the councillors praised Mr Osman for being proactive in helping disclose the irregularities in the council’s books to the QAO, and moving to ensure this does not continue to happen.
Later in the meeting, the council passed a resolution to retrospectively allow the chief executive to approve Jasper-related contracts worth more than $200,000 without needing the matter to go before the council first.
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