Mayor
Tom Tate
13th Mayor of the Gold Coast
Assumed office
28 April 2012
DeputyDonna Gates
Preceded byRon Clarke
Personal details
Born (1959-01-15) 15 January 1959
Vientiane, Laos
NationalityAustralian
Political partyLiberal National
Other political
affiliations		Independent
SpouseRuth Tate
Alma materUniversity of NSW
Websitemayortomtate.com.au

Thomas Richard Tate is a Laotian-born Australian businessman, property investor and politician who is the current mayor of the City of Gold Coast. He was first elected on 28 April 2012 and re-elected on both 19 March 2016 and 28 March 2020 with more than two thirds of the preferential vote.[1]

Personal life

Tom Tate was born in 1959 in Vientiane, Laos, to a Thai mother and an Australian father.[2] His father, Warwick, was an engineer who met Tate's mother, Prapai, when building an airport for the Americans in Thailand.[3] At 11 months of age, Tate's mother took him to Thailand and falsely claimed it was a home birth in order to gain Thai-born citizenship.[4] His parents separated when his father moved back to Sydney from Thailand in 1970, and Tate joined him a year later.[5] Tate attended school at Scots College in Sydney where he was a drummer in the school's pipe band.[3]

A qualified civil engineer, Tate graduated from the University of NSW in the early 1980s.[6] He started his career in the construction industry, but transitioned into tourism and hospitality when he moved to the Gold Coast to manage his family's Queensland properties, including the Park Regis at Southport.[3][6] Tate has been married to his wife, Ruth, for 39 years, and they have four children.[6] His father died on 19 January 2015 after a long illness,[7] and his funeral service was held at the Scots College Chapel in Sydney.[2]

Tate is bilingual and speaks two languages fluently – English and Thai – with limited elementary proficiency in Laotian.[3]

Business career

Tate worked across the world before joining his father's development company in 1994 at the age of 35.[2] In 1992, Tate Sr bought the Islander Resort Hotel in Surfers Paradise,[2] where Tate managed the refitting of the building. In 1993, he took over management of the Islander. During the Asian economic downturn in the late 1990s, he offered hotel rooms for $2 per night, leading to the 1999 'off-peak price war'.[8]

In 2015 he sold the Islander Hotel Resort for $26.5 million.[9]

Political career

Tate was elected mayor in 2012 as an independent,[10] after the previous incumbent, Ron Clarke, resigned in February 2012, having announced his nomination as an independent candidate for the seat of Broadwater in the 2012 Queensland state election.[11] Tate had two previous attempts at the mayoralty before his successful attempt, including as an endorsed Liberal candidate in 2008.[12]

His re-election saw a significant increase in his primary vote, from 37% in 2012 to 63.86% in 2016.[13]

On 28 March 2020, Tate won a third term as mayor, receiving 55.73% of first preference votes and 66.93% after the distribution of preferences.[14]

He is noted for his claim that he does not accept political donations and self-funds his campaigns.[3]

Misconduct investigations

ABC investigation

In September 2017, Tate was the main focus of a ABC Four Corners investigation and resultant program titled All That Glitters.[15] The report was compiled and presented by Walkley Award winning ABC journalist Mark Willacy and investigated claims that Tate had possibly acted inappropriately in his role as mayor.[15]

The ABC report covered conflict of interest concerns, alleged council secrecy and the conduct of councillors and the mayor, questioning the integrity and legality of conduct within the council on specific major issues including development and the proposed oceanside cruise ship terminal for the city.

A day after the program was broadcast on national television, Tate banned ABC journalists from attending his press conferences in the local council chambers.[16]

At the time, the Premier of Queensland, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said the program raised valid concerns about the integrity of the council, stating, "I think there were concerns about conflicts of interest, I think there are concerns about the nexus between developer donations and councillors voting ... we take those issues very seriously."[16]

In December 2017, Tate filed a lawsuit against the ABC and his fellow Councillor Peter Young citing his allegations that the program and the named parties had defamed him.[17]

In July 2019 Tate was ordered to pay 90 percent of the ABC's legal costs for legal argument in preparation for his defamation claim against the national broadcaster after he sought to amend his statement of claim midway in the proceedings.[18]

In December 2019, Tom Tate withdrew his lawsuit against fellow Councillor Peter Young.[19]

In July 2021 a Deed of Settlement was reached between Tate and the ABC in which resulted in no adverse findings against the ABC.

A representative of the ABC stated at the time, “Following a mediation process the legal action brought by Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate over the ABC’s September 2017 Four Corners program All That Glitters has been discontinued. The program remains online with an Editor’s Note added. There has been no apology. No damages have been paid. The ABC has agreed to pay the mediation costs.”[20]

An Editor's Note was published alongside the video and story reading, "In September 2017, the ABC broadcast this 4 Corners report, All that Glitters. Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate commenced defamation proceedings against the ABC in relation to the report. He was concerned that viewers would understand it as accusing him of corruption. Mr Tate strongly denies any corrupt conduct, either on his part or that of the Council. The ABC wishes to make clear that the 4 Corners report did not contend that Mr Tate was corrupt or had acted unlawfully."[21]

CCC Operation Yabber

On 2 March 2018, Queensland's Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC), Queensland's state government authority for investigating official corruption in all tiers of government and public services,[22] announced it would be investigating Mayor Tom Tate as part of a broader investigation into the City of Gold Coast titled Operation Yabber, investigating matters relating to decision-making by some sitting councillors.[23][24]

In May 2018, the Crime and Corruption Commission announced it would be widening its investigation into Tate after further allegations of official misconduct were received.[25]

In April 2019, Tate was cleared over corruption concerns relating to decision-making processes in council and concerns regarding conflicts of interest in the sale of council assets and allegations relating to the Waterglow development.[26]

In January 2020 the CCC released its 84-page report into Operation Yabber which investigated the Gold Coast City Council as well as allegations of misconduct and corruption against Tate and his former Chief of Staff, Wayne Moran.[27]

The 84-page Yabber report detailed multiple instances in which Tate allegedly breached official policy, used taxpayer money to purchase personal items,[28] used council funds to make donations up to ten times the permissible amount under policy,[29] misused powers to direct the council's Chief Executive Officer and failed to update his register of interests in the required timeframes.

The Operation Yabber report was described by the Australian Financial Review as a "scathing rebuke" of the actions of Mayor Tom Tate whilst in office.[30]

The report concluded that Mayor Tate's Chief of Staff Wayne Moran's friends and associates were the beneficiaries of his position at the City of Gold Coast Council,[30] and highlighted the alleged inappropriate use by Tate of section 170 of the Local Government Act 2009.

In its findings the CCC also reported that the Operation Yabber investigation had shown there is a risk that political staff/advisors may, whether at the urging of a mayor or councillor or of their own initiative, inappropriately interfere in council business.[31]

Despite the report's findings against the council, against the Mayor's Chief of Staff and against Mayor Tate, the CCC did not find there was justification to warrant pursuing any criminal proceedings against Tom Tate or any Councillor or staff member, instead referring several matters to the Office of Independent Assessor (OIA) for further investigation.

Since the OIA was established by the Queensland State Government in December 2018, over 70 complaints have been lodged against Tate, with zero findings of misconduct.[32]

The final result of the Yabber investigations including the resulting OIA investigations saw multiple recommendations and reforms actioned, intended to improve the ethical and legal conduct of local council staff and officials after instances of misconduct, perceived conflicts and actual conflicts were exposed.

Response to CCC investigations

Tom Tate has repeatedly maintained his innocence and that he has been the victim of an unnecessary campaign against him, alleging that the CCC overstepped its mandate in its investigations into himself and the City of Gold Coast council.

Tate has often been publicly vocal in his responses criticising the CCC and its chairperson, Alan MacSporran QC, calling on him to resign from his position as a result of his investigations into several South East Queensland councils, Tate and the City of Gold Coast council.

After significant pressure from the Local Government Association of Queensland and others, including Tate, the Queensland State Government announced a Parliamentary Inquiry into the CCC's investigation of former councillors of Logan City Council. The Inquiry report was released on 2 December 2021 with significant negative findings regarding the CCC's actions and recommendations for reform.[33] Following the release of this report and after resisting calls to resign, MacSporran eventually resigned in January 2022.[34]

Other misconduct

In December 2018, Tom Tate was found guilty of official misconduct by the Local Government Remuneration and Discipline Tribunal and was ordered to undergo counselling as well as pay a $1250 fine after the tribunal found he had published "untrue and unreasonable comments" on his social media account criticising fellow city Councillor Glenn Tozer.[35]

The matter concerned Tate bringing a policy to Council for review after he discovered that the council's CEO had approved funding of Councillor Tozer's MBA through a local university. Tate made comments after the Council meeting, including that he did not believe ratepayer funding of a Councillor's personal university studies passed the "pub test".[36]

After being found guilty, Tate said that with regard to protecting ratepayer funds he was “guilty as charged”.[37] This led to a further allegation of inappropriate conduct being brought against Tate, but the decision maker ultimately found that there was insufficient evidence to make a finding of inappropriate conduct.[32]

References

  1. ↑ "2020 Gold Coast City Council - Mayoral Election". July 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Mayor Tom Tate loses his father Warwick who had long battled with illness". GoldCoastBulletin. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Houghton, Des (30 June 2012). "Fascinating man breathes life into Coast". The Courier Mail. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  4. ↑ Robson, Frank (2 March 2016). "Only way's up for mayor of paradise Tom Tate". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  5. ↑ Robson, Frank (5 March 2016). "Only way's up for mayor of paradise Tom Tate". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 "Mayor Tom Tate". City of Gold Coast. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  7. ↑ "Mayor's father dies after long illness". 27 January 2015.
  8. ↑ Potts, Andrew (27 April 2019). "FLASHBACK - SURFERS OFFER: BEDS FOR $2/NIGHT". Gold Coast Bulletin. p. 61.
  9. ↑ Tod, Quentin (24 June 2015). "Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate sells Surfers Paradise Islander Hotel Resort for $26.5 million". Gold Coast Bulletin. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  10. ↑ "Gold Coast mayoral race gets nasty". News.com.au. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  11. ↑ Kelly, james (27 February 2012). "Clarke says Gold Coast needs independent MP". ABC News. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  12. ↑ "Stateline Queensland". www.abc.net.au. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  13. ↑ "2016 Gold Coast City Council - Mayoral Election - Election Summary". www.results.ecq.qld.gov.au. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  14. ↑ Electoral Commission of Queensland. (July 2019). "2020 Local Government Elections - Gold Coast City Mayor". Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  15. 1 2 Willacy, Mark (13 September 2017), All That Glitters, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, retrieved 26 November 2018
  16. 1 2 Caldwell, Felicity (19 September 2017). "Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate banned the ABC from a press conference". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  17. ↑ "Gold Coast May Tom Tate sues the ABC and Peter Young". Gold Coast Bulletin. 3 January 2018. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  18. ↑ "Mayor ordered to pay ABC legal costs in pre-trial stoush | The Australian Business Review". The Australian. 10 July 2019. Archived from the original on 29 October 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  19. ↑ "Mayor Tom Tate drops defamation case against councillor Peter Young | Gold Coast Bulletin". Gold Coast Bulletin. 9 November 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  20. ↑ "Marathon legal fight between Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate and ABC ends". Gold Coast Bulletin. 21 August 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  21. ↑ "All That Glitters". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 13 September 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  22. ↑ "Role of the CCC — Crime and Corruption Commission Queensland". www.ccc.qld.gov.au. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  23. ↑ "CCC to investigate allegations of corruption relating to Gold Coast City Council decision-making - 2 March 2018 — Crime and Corruption Commission Queensland". www.ccc.qld.gov.au. Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  24. ↑ "Gold Coast Mayor at centre of corruption watchdog investigation". ABC News. 9 March 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  25. ↑ "CCC widens its investigation into Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate". ABC News. 25 May 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  26. ↑ Elise Kinsella (18 April 2019). "Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate and council cleared over corruption concerns". abc.net.au. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  27. ↑ "Operation Yabber | An investigation into allegations relating to the Gold Coast City Council" (PDF). Crime and Corruption Commission. 20 January 2020.
  28. ↑ Dennien, Matt (24 January 2020). "Gold Coast mayor spent ratepayer funds on luggage, Titans membership: CCC". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  29. ↑ "'Haters gonna hate': Gold Coast Mayor shrugs off corruption report over buying luxury luggage, NRL membership". ABC News. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  30. 1 2 "Gold Coast mayor rebuked in CCC report". Australian Financial Review. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  31. ↑ "Operation Yabber | An investigation into allegations relating to the Gold Coast City Council" (PDF). Crime and Corruption Commission: 32.
  32. 1 2 "Code of Conduct for Councillors". www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  33. ↑ "Inquiry Details | Queensland Parliament". www.parliament.qld.gov.au. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  34. ↑ "Statement from CCC Chairperson Alan MacSporran QC – 25 January 2022". 25 January 2022.
  35. ↑ Dakin, Rebecca (11 December 2018). "Mayor Tom Tate fined and ordered to undergo counselling over misconduct ruling". myGC.com.au. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  36. ↑ "Mayor's crackdown on council spending". The Gold Coast Bulletin.
  37. ↑ "Misconduct ruling against Coast mayor".
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