Ipswich acting mayor Paul Tully has disclosed his biggest donor on the day of the mayoral poll - and he's a Gold Coast lobbyist who works for property developers.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
ECQ disclosures today showed Cr Tully's campaign had received $18,000 from Consultum, a registered lobbying firm run by Graham Staerk.
Mr Staerk told Fairfax Media he had given the money on his own account and not on behalf of a client. He said he had approached Cr Tully when he nominated and offered financial support.
"I've known Paul Tully for 30 years," he said.
Mr Staerk said he wanted to see someone with Cr Tully's experience running Ipswich and his campaign team had had difficulty raising funds.
"They had trouble paying for billboards, paying for T-Shirts," Mr Staerk said.
Cr Tully has until now declined to say who had paid for three large roadside billboards promoting his campaign, which first appeared about a month ago.
Mr Staerk said he had paid the bill for the billboards on August 8, having received it "the day before or thereabouts".
"I received the bill, I paid the bill," he said.
New ECQ disclosure rules require electoral donations to be disclosed within seven days of being received.
Mr Staerk said he had no business interests in Ipswich and neither did any of his clients.
He has represented property developers proposing large schemes in Southport and elsewhere on the Gold Coast including the controversial Ocean Liner Terminal project.
According to the Queensland lobbyists' register, Consultum's clients include Gemini Towers, Leda Holdings and Telstra.
