Queensland

Pressure on Adams to resign following $450,000 Brisbane City Council fraud

Brisbane City Council's Labor opposition has demanded the finance chairman resign over systemic failures that saw ratepayers defrauded of more than $450,000.

A damning Deloitte report delivered to the council this week identified a series of failures that allowed fraudsters to change banking details of an existing council contractor, resulting in the loss of $450,904.96.

Labor has called on finance chairman Krista Adams to resign.
Labor has called on finance chairman Krista Adams to resign. Photo: Glenn Hunt

As a result of that report, Lord Mayor Graham Quirk announced the dismissal of the council's chief auditor on Thursday.

Labor opposition leader Peter Cumming said the buck stopped with elected officials and not a council bureaucrat.

"Last year, the Queensland Audit Office report on fraud management in local government warned that councils weren't doing enough to combat the risk of fraud," he said.

"Quirk was warned last year and did nothing to ensure the security of council's payments system. He can't be trusted to handle the city's finances.

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"The buck stops with finance chair Krista Adams. She should resign."

That audit office report found most Queensland councils were "not effective in managing their fraud risks" and their responses to potential fraud risks were "by and large, inadequate and demonstrate a lack of leadership and a failure in governance".

"Quirk and Adams did nothing, despite being warned a year ago that this council wasn't doing enough to avoid being defrauded, and now ratepayers have been fleeced of $450,000," Cr Cumming said.

"Other councils had processes in place which stopped this fraud in its tracks, including Bundaberg City Council.

"Quirk must take full responsibility for this fraud. He was warned last year and did nothing to ensure the security of council's payments system.

"He can't be trusted to handle the city's finances."

Cr Quirk dismissed the calls for Cr Adams' resignation and said Deloitte's report had made it clear the issues that led to the fraud lay in the internal audit as well as data reporting and analysis.

"I note the ALP did not call for their own Labor health minister to be removed when Queensland Health was defrauded of $16.6 million during the Tahitian prince scandal," he said. 

"As Lord Mayor I am stepping in to ensure it doesn't happen again. 

"The buck ultimately stops with me."

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