Stevens hints at claiming a mandate
Mermaid Beach MP Ray Stevens still refuses to answer cableway questions but claims he is “accountable and transparent”
MERMAID Beach MP Ray Stevens has refused for the 86th day to answer questions about his links to Gold Coast Skyride but claims he is “accountable and transparent”.
After months of questioning, Mr Stevens finally invited the Bulletin to his Mermaid Beach office to talk yesterday.
But the “interview” quickly descended into a farce as he again refused to explain his connection to the project.
Instead Mr Stevens trotted out another version of the same tired lines he delivered to State Parliament in October.
“I have had clear direction with my dealings from the integrity commissioner in terms of public comment which could be seen as lobbying,” he said.
“In terms of my statement to the parliament it was cleared by the integrity commissioner before I made that statement to the parliament.
“All matters from the commissioner’s point of view have been dealt with appropriately and there is no project before the government at this current time.
“I have been on the front foot, accountable, transparent before an election and so there are no surprises after the election.”
Mr Stevens declined to take any questions on the matter, including 10 key queries the Bulletin has been putting to him for months.
These include whether he used advance knowledge of new laws opening up national parks to commercial development to set up his Gold Coast Skyride Company.
He also will not release the integrity commissioner’s report.
The Newman Government has blocked attempts by the The Bulletin to obtain the report.
Mr Stevens is the sole director of a member company of the $100 million Gold Coast Skyride proposal.
The former mayor was captured on camera reacting bizarrely earlier this week when asked about the project.
The video, which has been viewed more than 57,000 times shows him standing toe-to-toe with the journalist, waving his arms and dancing side-to-side like a bird before making a quacking duck beak with his hand and swatting at the reporter like a fly.
Mr Stevens yesterday said the viral video should not tarnish the work his has done since he was first elected in 2006.
“In terms of the video footage, the 10 seconds of footage does not represent eight years of hard work I have done for the residents of Mermaid Beach,” he said.
“I hope to continue that hard work and achieve great results like the bike gang and the party house laws.
“It has been a hard slog and I have never stopped working.”
While Premier Campbell Newman laughed off the encounter, a goldcoastbulletin.com.au poll found 72 per cent of respondents did not think his response was appropriate for the state’s leader.