Townsville, North Queensland, October 11, 2021
Townsville, North Queensland, October 11, 2021, RE: ‘TOOLAKEA BEACHFRONT ASBESTOS CONTAMINATION SCANDAL’ – JEPSON COURT DECISION ON THIS THREATENS TO EXPOSE SIGNIFICANT CRIME AND CORRUPTION BEHIND RELATED TCC-CHINESE LANDMARK BILLION DOLLAR DEVELOPMENT SECRET DEALS
An ongoing TRRA investigation has produced extensive evidence of apparent ‘crime and corruption’ linked to secret deals behind the current billion dollar Qld government development application by Chinese Landmark [https://www.statedevelopment.qld.gov.au/coordinator-general/assessments-and-approvals/coordinated-projects/current-projects/north-qld-country- club-resort-and-equestrian-centre]. It seems that these were the real reason why not one but two separate Remediation orders against the notorious Rimbanun Hijau (and Chinese govt agency partners) for causing massive asbestos contamination of the prime North Queensland site and adjacent World Heritage areas around Toolakea Beach were ‘reversed’ to cover up accountability and related serious conflicts of interest by being falsely blamed on local Townsville farmer Gavin Jepson and a labouring assistant Brendan Buckland.
After Buckland took his own life soon afterwards, TRRA has related evidence that Jepson was made the fall-guy without any real chance to defend himself because the earlier Remediation orders threatened to permanently block these Chinese Landmark plans and related dodgy deals with Mayor Hill and Townsville Enterprise as well as other associates. This was after a retired building inspector Laurie Bowater had alerted a TCC officer John Waetford who – before issuing the first order against Chinese Landmark (and before also apparently losing his job as a result) was able to verify that they (Chinese Landmark) – had (a) first illegallyevicted some Vietnam Vets and their families from the idyllic beachfront Toolakea site, (b) then also illegally and wilfully demolished the Vets’ asbestos-ridden houses without any of the required permissions and processes before directing this to be dumped on beachside pits and adjacent mudflats of pristine Halifax Bay, and (c) before the making extensive efforts to cover this all up because of how Waetford’s and another later Remediation Order threatened to permanently block the Chinese plans.
In recent days the Qld government has contacted Jepson to tell him that they will enforce a multi-million dollar order on him that will certainly bankrupt him at Qld taxpayer expense in order to allow the suspicious Chinese billion dollar Development plans to proceed. This was after his appeal-related legal actions in the QIRC’s Industrial Court [WHS/2019/31] which had previously held up for several years both the Chinese Landmark plans and their related Qld government application supported at the time by Minister Cameron Dick – before extensive evidence in support of Jepson was presented in a five-day Court hearing last November that soon after resulted in the temporary ‘suspension’ application of the Chinese Landmark application. The Decision would appear to relate it seems to how TRRA associates reported the presence weeks ago of Warwick Powell in Townsville seen in the vicinity of TCC and TEL offices to reportedly try and reactivate the Development plans ‘suspended’ earlier this year.
Amongst the extensive evidence listed in court in support of Jepson were at least two items that alone should have been a sufficient basis for the Court to grant Gavin Jepson’s appeal and uphold the original remediation order against Chinese Landmark by the then TCC officer John Waetford (and a second by OIR investigator Karim De Ridder before he later suspiciously reversed this on to Jepson without ever interviewing him – also clearly ignoring all the extensive evidence that he got it right the first time). One was the internal 10/2/2017 OIR memo (No. 233410) that Waetford’s original Remediation Order was blocked for political reasons as part of an apparent TCC cover up of its secret Development deals (and thus should not ever be taken up again by the OIR or anyone else). The other was the exposé of not only Jepson’s original solicitor (and TEL Director) Keir Steele Principal Moya Steele failing to disclose her serious of conflicts of interest – but how she got caught out in court lying about her role as also a Chinese Landmark rep and employee.
As this case has gone on and more evidence has emerged, it has become clear to Jepson supporters (including us the TRRA and associates – who have been investigating these matters for several years now and sharing related new evidence) that this case has great potential to expose the long history of corruption in North Qld (e.g. directly linked back to how several of the key players including Jenny Hill and Warwick Powell as well as Tony Mooney have been named in the Shepherdson Inquiry and elsewhere as part of electoral fraud and related illegal activities in relation to foreign as well as local development – and how all are closely linked to dodgy solicitor Barry Taylor, widely believed to be a state as well as local ‘bagman’ for Qld Labor as well as for Mooney and more recently Hill in particular).
The person who has taken over this role from Taylor up north (his protégé Moya Steele) has not only been a close policy advisor of Hill (also as a fellow director of Townsville Enterprise Limited – which has also closely supported the Chinese development secret deals) and the main person working for the Chinese on their secret deal submission to the Qld government for major project status to avoid scrutiny). She has also been the Principal of the Townsville-based legal firm (Keir Steele & Partners) that failed to adequately represent Gavin Jepson whilst they were not only secretly representing Rimbanun Hijau and their Chinese govt partners such as the CCCC (and CCCC Director ‘William’ Sun) in their secret deal arrangement with Hill (and certain Qld govt reps closely linked to Hill) to also falsely blame Jepson – but worked with RH reps such as Warwick Powell as she personally (also as a Townsville Enterprise Director closely linked to fellow director Hill) drafted and personally submitted the billion dollar Chinese Development to the Qld Coordinator General’s Office. This was something she got caught out lying about in the Jepson court case as can be easily verified also.
There are many such related and additional claims that can be further verified – with many revolving around the Steele’s Project application partner (Chinese Australian and disgraced electoral fraudster) Warwick Powell in negotiating support by his former colleagues for the application initially assisted by Jackie Trad (we are told by an insider ready to be a witness in any proper investigation) and then the Qld Coordinator General’s Office to be processed under the watch of then Minister for Infrastructure and Planning Cameron Dick. This was after Powell ‘resurrected’ his influence in Qld Labor using his Chinese contacts to re-establish his former links with some key reps in the current Qld govt (e.g. he is understood to be a former flatmate of Curtis Pitt). Powell was also in partnership with another key Rimbanun Hijau and Chinese govt Rep Simon Lee (a former long-term Qld trade commissioner to China) in dodgy HK-based investment banks and also China-Australian trade groups (e.g. Sister City Partners) that suspiciously disappeared or were accused of financially fraudulent activities – along with APRA and ASIC banned Ross Honeyman also.
We have extensive evidence that Powell along with Lee and another Chinese local rep David Wadley were all directly involved in not only the illegal eviction of Vietnam Vets and their families from Toolakea but also extensive related illegal activities including fraud, malicious damage, intimidation to silence witnesses, and also the ‘corrupting’ of local senior police as well as local Reps of some key involved government agencies under the control of key figures in the current Qld government.
The extensive related evidence of selective ‘wilful blindness’ unfairly and disingenuously directed at Gavin Jepson both before and after the original OIR Decision to falsely blame him to cover up for RH and partners about extensive corruption and fraudulent profiteering allegations against Chinese Landmark (i.e. Rimbanun Hijau and their Chinese govt agency partners such as the CCCC) would seem to have been replicated multiples times beyond these particular Development plans (and the related application to the Qld govt). As our related investigations have revealed (e.g. how the ‘Seafarms/Project Sea Dragon’ takeover of the Australian tiger prawn export industry to China also assisted by Hill and TEL as well as others) Chinese Landmark is just of the great many Rimbanun Hijau and other Chinese shell companies operating around Qld and indeed Australia (as well as PNG, New Zealand and other countries) in terms of verifiable claims of money-laundering and fraud as well as destruction of local communities and natural environments (e.g. https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/research/the-untouchables-rimbunan-hij/).
[For a background to ‘the great betrayal’ also behind the Jepson case go to https://www.facebook.com/tsvratepayers/posts/2942363519196771 and https://www.facebook.com/tsvratepayers/posts/2140442156055582 – just two of our series of related posts of the last three years (see also https://cirnow.com.au/the-great-betrayal/)]
[CR1] – Peter Newey, Townsville Residents & Ratepayers Association, peterjn2453@gmail.com
