Gold Coast lawyer Tony Hickey has been found guilty of providing the Crime and Misconduct Commission with documents in April 2005 containing information he knew to be false or misleading in relation to the 2004 Gold Coast City Council election.
He provided the information during the CMC’s preliminary inquiries into the matter when it was considering what action should be taken.
Despite the existence of two separate clients’ trust accounts used for a select group of candidates for the Gold Coast election, Hickey supplied information detailing the transactions for both accounts as if they had all been conducted on the trust ledger of Lionel Bardon.
The record Hickey’s firm supplied to the CMC was contrary to his own trust ledger records and did not disclose that Councillor David Power, and the now deceased Councillor Sue Robbins, initially controlled the trust fund.
Hickey had said at the CMC’s public inquiry that he was not involved in the preparation of information sent to the Commission and that he had no intention of misleading the Commission.
In handing down the decision, Magistrate Noel Nunan said the CMC played an important role in maintaining the integrity of public life, including the conduct of Gold Coast City council elections.
In formulating his decision, Magistrate Nunan took into account the nature of the offence and that the penalty had to be a deterrent to others.
The Magistrate said Hickey was an experienced, mature solicitor who should have known better.
A conviction was recorded against Hickey. He was fined $6000 plus court costs of $3500 and given two months to pay.
In a separate Brisbane Magistrates Court appearance, Deputy Gold Coast Mayor Councillor Power is also facing a charge under the Crime and Misconduct Act 2001 in relation to the Gold Coast City Council election of 2004. A decision on his case is expected to be handed down on September 22.
By Nelson Yap
