Queensland MP David Gibson has stepped down as chairman of Parliament's Select Ethics Committee after it was revealed he was charged with theft in 1999.

Former Liberal National Party (LNP) member turned independent candidate Scott Elms yesterday released court documents that show Mr Gibson was charged with four counts of theft while serving in the Army.

He was accused of creating false invoices worth about $7,000.

Mr Gibson, who is the Member for Gympie, said today he pleaded guilty but no conviction was recorded.

He argued that a lot of people make mistakes and he was entitled to move on.

However, this afternoon he said he did not want the matter to affect the committee's work.

"The media interest this morning with regards to my role as chair of the ethics committee brings, unfortunately, the findings of that committee, whatever they may be, into question and I don't believe the people of Queensland need that distraction," he said.

"So I'm making the right decision."

Premier Campbell Newman said Lockyer MP Ian Rickuss would take over the chairman's role.

Mr Gibson also hit back by accusing Mr Elms of targeting him because he was unhappy with the approval process for a local development.

"Let's call it what it is: it's political blackmail. Mr Elms is an associate of a developer who's upset that a development application out at Rainbow Beach was subject to appropriate scrutiny," Mr Gibson said.

"He lobbied very hard for that not to occur, but this Government did the right thing."

News Corp Australia quoted Mr Elms as saying he had not blackmailed Mr Gibson.

"I don't understand, how does blackmail work?" Mr Elms said.

"Normally, you blackmail someone and they give you money. I can't remember ever receiving any money from David Gibson or [for] any other favour for that matter.

"There is no evidence of blackmail."

In a statement Mr Newman also said he had asked the Speaker and police to investigate whether there had been an attempt to blackmail and intimidate Mr Gibson.

'We deserve freedom of speech', Elms says

Mr Elms was recently expelled from the LNP over a preselection dispute, and will run as an independent candidate in the seat of Gympie in next year's election.

He defended his decision to release the documents, saying Gympie residents have a right to know who they are voting for.

"I'm not being judge and jury on this - I'm saying that the community has the right to be judge and jury on this when they go to the polls," he said.

In response to Mr Gibson's accusations, Mr Elms said he had not done anything wrong.

"I honestly believe that I have done nothing wrong. This is a free country last time I looked," he said.

"We deserve freedom of speech and we deserve to be able to advocate to our local member."

Mr Elms also said he had previously written a five-page complaint letter to the LNP about Mr Gibson's behaviour.

"[I made the complaint] after he met with me and had intimated that he would work against things that I was trying to achieve, including growth of the economy, growth of development potential, growth of jobs ... and [removal of] beach fees," he said.

Mr Elms alleged it was difficult for him to get anything done in the community.

He believed Mr Gibson had been blocking him from speaking to ministers over the past few years.

"Mr Gibson promised that he would improve the tourism aspect of our region by removing the beach fees. He promised that he would resign from politics if he didn't remove those beach fees that are affecting so badly our area in a tourism sense," he said.

Second controversy for Gibson

It is the second controversy Mr Gibson has endured since the Newman Government rose to power in 2012.

He was forced to resign as police minister after just a few weeks when it emerged he had failed to pay speeding fines and had driven without a licence.

There have now been three controversial departures from ethics committees in the Newman Government.

LNP defector Alex Douglas, who is now with the Palmer United Party, was dumped as chairman of the ethics committee in November 2012.

He later accused the Premier of tampering with due process.

His replacement, the LNP's Peter Dowling, was forced to quit as chair last August over a sexting scandal.

Mr Gibson will continue to sit in the parliament.

ABC/wires