The Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) wants Cairns MP Rob Pyne to publicly apologise for his “baseless” claims against councils.

The Queensland Labor MP recently tabled documents in State Parliament that he claims “blow the door right off its hinges” to council corruption.

It comes after the former Cairns councillor labelled Cairns Mayor Bob Manning and councillors Terry James and John Schilling as “climate sceptics”.

He has repeatedly called for an inquiry into Local Government as well.

“I have received a number of allegations of undisclosed (and disclosed) conflicts of interest, bullying and fraud,” Mr Pyne said, using parliamentary privilege to detail alleged illegal activities at the Tablelands Regional Council, Mareeba Shire Council and the Cairns Regional Council.

Mr Pyne says that as a councillor for seven years, he had gained an “intimate knowledge” of local government complaints handling.

Spokespeople for the councils say the claims are baseless and untrue. 

While he conceded he may have been acting like a “loose cannon”, Mr Pyne maintains that the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) had “consistently failed to identify and punish wrongdoers”.

“Indeed, in over 95 per cent of low-level corruption complaints, the CCC has handed matters back to local councils to investigate – that is, back to the alleged perpetrator,’’ he said.

“Call me crazy, but getting the alleged perpetrator to investigate seems a bit odd – a bit like reporting the local used car salesman to the used car lot.”

LGAQ president Margaret de Wit said Mr Pyne’s allegations of corruption were unfounded and a clear abuse of parliamentary privilege.

“It’s entirely inappropriate for Mr Pyne to make baseless allegations that reflect on all 578 elected members in the local government system in Queensland,” she said.

“He is not the Crime and Corruption Commission, he is not the Ombudsman, he is not the Department of Local Government and he is not the Remuneration and Discipline Tribunal.

“The Deputy Premier herself said yesterday his original allegations were baseless and unproven.”

Ms de Wit said it was just an attempt to get media attention.

“It is very detrimental to the ongoing relationship between the Queensland Government and councils and the LGAQ for Mr Pyne to continue this outrageous behaviour under parliamentary privilege,” she said.

“He owes an apology to every elected member in local government in Queensland.”

“I have received a number of allegations of undisclosed (and disclosed) conflicts of interest, bullying and fraud.”