Where rates rise, services fall, and accountability is whatever the Mayor’s having for lunch. Mr Untouchable and The Logan Council that audits itself and still fails.
Choose Your Own Misadventure: Pay More or Get Less
In what may be the most Logan thing ever, Mayor Jon Raven recently asked residents to pick their poison:
“Would you rather higher rates, or fewer services?”
That’s not civic engagement — that’s emotional blackmail with a rates notice attached.
This is the same council now facing yet another round of scrutiny from the Queensland Audit Office, which is apparently on a first-name basis with Logan’s finance department. The QAO says there are “concerns” over how money’s spent. Locals say there are “concerns” over how anything’s done.
Meanwhile, Raven’s team assures everyone it’s fine — the books are balanced, the consultants are paid, and the new $70 million “digital transformation” is “futureproofing the city.”
Translation: It’s like a Netflix subscription, except you don’t get to cancel it when it sucks.
🧾 The Audit Office vs. The Magic Accounting Department
The Audit Office found:
- Weak internal controls.
- Dubious procurement.
- “Creative” recruitment deals worth millions.
Logan found:
- A new slogan: “Mistakes were made, but not by us.”
There’s also that awkward little $2.4 million recruitment contract tied to one company — awarded faster than you can say “conflict of interest.” The Audit Office wants answers. The Mayor wants applause.
It’s like watching an accountant on fire insisting he’s “just passionate about numbers.”
The Donation Tango: Follow the Money, Ignore the Music
Logan’s long-running romance with developer donations is back — a political love story written entirely in planning approvals.
Mayor Jon Raven, once a humble councillor with a high-vis smile, now finds himself at the centre of fresh conflict-of-interest chatter.
It’s the classic Logan rhythm:
- A business donates to a campaign.
- That business gets a nice little tick of approval from council.
- Everyone says it’s just coincidence.
- The Audit Office adds another folder to the stack labelled “Coincidence.”
Sure, no laws were technically broken — but let’s be honest, in Logan, the line between “legal” and “LOL” is more of a guideline.
A City with a Reputation for Learning Nothing
Remember when the entire council was sacked in 2019 over corruption allegations?
Well, they’re back — rebranded, refreshed, and still allergic to transparency.
They say history repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce.
In Logan, it’s both — on the same day, with a catered morning tea.
Even the Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) gave up trying to keep up, like a weary babysitter saying, “Look, just don’t burn the place down while I’m gone.”
Raven’s Rate Rise: The Art of Shifting Blame
Mayor Raven says he’s being “realistic” with his “hard choices.”
Because nothing says realism like asking residents to fund a council that can’t pass an audit.
It’s like being mugged and then told you’re lucky to “have a say” in how much they take.
Logan’s “services or rates” ultimatum is built on the idea that governance failure is inevitable — that accountability costs extra.
But maybe, just maybe, if the council stopped handing contracts to their mates, the garbage bins might get emptied without another rate hike.
The Hollow Centre Verdict: Governance by Gaslight
Logan City Council’s motto should just be:
“We’re not corrupt — we’re just very, very coincidental.”
Every audit report reads like the sequel to one we’ve already seen: “Procurement II: The Tendering Strikes Back.”
Jon Raven’s transparency is like Logan River after the floods — murky, unpredictable, and full of things you probably shouldn’t touch.
If the council wants to rebuild trust, here’s a start:
- Stop treating ratepayers like investors in a pyramid scheme.
- Stop asking for money until you can explain where the last lot went.
- And stop pretending accountability is optional.
The Real Logan Choice
It’s not “higher rates or fewer services.”
It’s “more audits or more excuses.”
Because at this rate, the only thing thriving in Logan isn’t infrastructure or transparency —
It’s the Audit Office’s overtime budget.
– The Hollow Centre
