The Quirk administration says there is nothing untoward about council property sales to LNP donors. Credit:Chris Hyde Both deals needed the approval of the sitting Queensland local government minister. The $1.5 million price tag for Lot 2 was more than $100,000 below market value, according to the council's own valuations. But a spokesman for BMI, which had made more than $80,000 in donations to the LNP in four years, said the company did not believe it had received special treatment. "We do not believe we have ever received any benefit from donations to any political party or candidate and actually believe that any transactions we have undertaken attract a higher level of external scrutiny because of past donations," he said.

BMI sponsored a golf day for Lord Mayor Graham Quirk in 2015. Credit:Facebook A spokesman for Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said BMI, the parent company of then-Murrarie site owner Siveressence, did not want to part with the southside property and "utterly rejected" any suggestion of favourable treatment. "Their (Murrarie) business was closed down and they sought compensation of $36 million, but settlement was later reached for $10.5 million," he said. "Part of the $10.5 million compensation included a land swap with an agreed purchase price of the Nudgee Road site for $1.5 million based on market value (remaining $9 million in cash). "The site was considered surplus to council's needs and by entering into a land swap it meant council did not need to find the total value from its cash reserves."

Cr Quirk's spokesman said an independent valuation of the property gave it a sales value of $1.61 million, more than $100,000 above the agreed value reached by the two parties. "However, council considered it failed to take into account requirements of the Nudgee Road bikeway and the uncertainty at the time of getting a 'general industry' area designation," he said. Then-local government minister David Crisafulli signed off on the deal on February 28, 2013, about 1½ months after the council requested the exemption on November 23, 2012. Mr Crisafulli said it was just one of "dozens" of ministerial exemption requests he received as minister. "I had a simple rule. If council put forward a case that it was in the public interest and there was a valuation to ensure ratepayers dollars were protected I'd back the council," he said.

"I'd do that whether it was Graham Quirk in Brisbane or Jenny Hill in Townsville. "Political affiliations or donations were never factored into my decision." According to Electoral Commission of Queensland disclosures, the BMI Group had made $82,700 in donations to the LNP between 2011 and 2015. BMI also sponsored a corporate golf day for Cr Quirk last year, photos of which were posted on its Facebook page. The BMI spokesman said the company believed the overall resumption compensation was "below the true value of the Murarrie asset".

He said BMI also had to comply to what it considered to be "onerous" conditions to build its new waste facility on the site. "We believe that the amount which BMI was required to pay would have been well in excess of the market value of the property at the time, given that it was not approved for industry at that time and give that the MCU [material change of use] was an impact assessable application," he said. "A development application was lodged in April 2013 and in February 2014 it was approved subject to numerous conditions – the most onerous of which required BMI to improve and signalise the intersection onto Nudgee Road. "Another condition removed direct access onto Nudgee Road from the property." Cr Quirk's spokesman said BMI's financial support of the LNP did not enter into the council's consideration.

"There was no material personal interest on the part of any councillor in relation to the disposal of the property," he said. Labor lord mayoral candidate Rod Harding once again accused the LNP administration of making secret deals to escape scrutiny. "This is yet another land deal with a mate they didn't want to tell us about and this deal got the rubber stamp from Campbell Newman," he said.



"The question for Graham Quirk and the LNP remains: if it was such a good deal, why keep it a secret all this time?" Greens lord mayoral candidate Ben Pennings said political donations would continue to cloud council decisions as long as they continued to be made. "These matters will continue to arise while it's legal for political parties to accept donations from vested interests," he said.

The attempted sale of Lot 1 has been referred to the Crime and Corruption Commission. NOTE: This story has been updated to include comment from Labor lord mayoral candidate Rod Harding. For independent news coverage, be sure to follow our Facebook feed.