Logan’s most experienced councillor has accused the mayor of spin doctoring and made references to this year’s budget proceedings in comparison to the corrupt “Luke Smith era”.
Cr Lisa Bradley, who was first elected in 2008, for a second consecutive year voted against the city budget, saying it lacked bang for buck.
Amid a sea of 11 votes “for” the budget, Cr Bradley and Jacob Heremaia were the only ones “against”.
In a post online, Cr Bradley made reference to Logan’s most infamous council, which was sacked in 2019 following a crime and corruption probe.
Former mayor Luke Smith was subsequently convicted of receiving secret commissions from a developer.
“Despite potential disapproval from colleagues, today Cr Heremaia and I voted against Council’s budget (for our own expressed reasons) – for me the second consecutive year with a near-record percentage increase,” Cr Bradley said in the post.
“This reminds me of Luke Smith era when Darren Power and I voted against the budget.”
Cr Bradley said she was not comparing the current council to former corruption.
She was pointing out that voting was similar in both eras.
Mayor Jon Raven said he was “disappointed that such an experienced councillor would resort to using social media to compare the hardwork of her colleagues on this budget to the actions of a former mayor convicted of corruption”.
“We had a full public platform where her concerns could be debated during the special council meeting, but didn’t raise any of these issues for discussion,” he said.
Cr Bradley said she could not accept the 6.42% increase to rates put forward in the budget.
“… which is why I voted no,” she said.
“The mayor’s pre-adoption spin, claiming to have avoided over 23% increases is misleading. The reality is some increases will be exceeding 23%, a burden I cannot consciously support.”
Cr Bradley was critical of the innovation lab at Underwood which she said cost ratepayers millions with “zero outcomes”, of the mayor’s “business class overseas trips”, and of the city’s charitable trust that she called a “ratepayer funded election platform”.
“Ratepayers remember this next election,” she said.
“In my opinion, you have every right to question if you can continue to afford to stay in the City of Logan, or move up the road to Brisbane – it’s becoming more attractive.”
Cr Bradley’s rejection of the budget comes just months after she resigned as deputy chair of the governance and special budget committees.
“I’ve contributed a lot over the past 17 years, in committees and the budget. I no longer feel I can have an impact like I’ve had,” she said in April in a post online.
During Wednesday’s announcement of the 2025 budget, multiple other councillors praised the budget and their colleagues for working hard to find savings.
“Some people may not be happy with the budget, but I certainly would not say that this is a bad budget,” Cr Tony Hall said.
“Any budget that helps the residents, looks after the communities, and especially looks after residents and our veterans is a fantastic budget in my opinion.”
Cr Teresa Lane acknowledged many residents, particular in her division around Kingston, were suffering from rising costs.
“Last year we sat in this chamber, really proud of ourselves for producing a budget that was responsible, that helped people. And literally months later we were slapped with bills that we just weren’t expecting – depreciation being the number one thing,” she said.
“Instead of just passing that onto the ratepayers, we all worked together to actually get great outcomes, and I think that is an amazing testament to the strength and reislience of the councillors in this room, the staff in this building, and the people in our community.”
Picture: Steven Hoare.
