by Judith Kerr
A HOME video of a Redland City councillor having sex with his then girlfriend has allegedly been found on his council-issued phone.
TROUBLED: Redland City councillor Craig Ogilvie says documents from an incomplete government inquiry were leaked as part of a political tactic in the lead up to the March 19 election.
The video of Division 2 councillor Craig Ogilvie was allegedly found during a council inquiry into the councillor after his computer, phone and iPad were seized on August 31 last year.
The results of the inquiry were forwarded to the Local Government Department, which has not released details of its findings even though allegations were leaked to journalists and published in The Sunday Mail.
Council chief executive Bill Lyon forced Cr Ogilvie to hand over the equipment in August after a hacking scandal found his council email address on a list of those registered on the dating site Ashley Maddison.
Mr Lyon said evidence was found that the councillor’s iPhone was used to access three international sex websites in May 2015.
The Local Government Department referred that matter back to Mayor Karen Williams to deal with as inappropriate conduct.
Council reprimanded Cr Ogilvie last year about using a council phone to access international sex websites.
The mayor also ordered that any repeat of that type of conduct be referred to a regional conduct review panel as misconduct.
Those are the only two orders the mayor can make under section 181 of the Local Government Act 2009.
A council investigation found no evidence Cr Ogilvie accessed the Ashley Maddison site using council devices. But the site had sent Cr Ogilvie five emails since 2010.
Mr Lyon said the Local Government Department referred two other allegations to a regional conduct review panel in which Redland City Council has had no direct involvement.
One of the allegations is about repeated inappropriate conduct and use of a council device and the other relates to a complaint about the councillor’s register of interests.
Council is not able to provide any further information about the detail of, or the handling of, those matters as the Local Government Department investigation is still under way and no findings have been made.
Documents leaked to The Courier-Mail claim the investigation found Cr Ogilvie’s iPad was wiped but three sex videos were found on his iPhone along with photographs of women on beaches.
Cr Ogilvie said some of the allegations were rubbish.
He told Redland City Bulletin releasing the details this week was nasty gutter politics in the final two weeks of a vicious council election campaign.
“The computer and equipment was seized more than six months ago and the Local Government Department is yet to finalise its findings,” he said.
“I have not even heard what the findings are and have not been contacted by the department over the latest allegations and yet there has been a leak about what was found two weeks before an election.
“This is misuse of government power for political purposes.”
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