More than 20 local councillors, across the State, have been charged after Crime and Corruption Commission investigations, and every single one of them has been found to be unsubstantiated.

That’s a fact. But behind those prosecutions, according to those councillors and mayors, has been the waste of millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money, a denial of natural justice, and a campaign of intimidation and harassment.

Tony Fitzgerald, QC, this week recommended an overhaul of the CCC, but the evidence to him around the personal impact of unsubstantiated charges should not be lost in the reform agenda.

A suicide. Two cases of self-harm. Broken marriages. Sleepless nights. Depression. Humiliation. Unemployment. Isolation. Trashed reputations. Dim futures.

A trawl through the submissions behind Fitzgerald’s recommendations shows just how likely big compensation claims will be too, as some of those 21 elected representatives fight back against years of public accusations.

Fitzgerald Mark 2 commenced earlier this year on the recommendation from the Parliamentary Crime and Corruption Committee’s inquiry into a CCC probe of former Logan City councillors.

And some of those – including Cherie Dalley, Trevino Schwarz, Russell Lutton, Phil Pidgeon, Stephen Swenson, Laurence Smith and Jennifer Breene – joined forces in a submission to demand big changes to the CCC.

In their case, the charges were dismissed 23 months after they were first charged.

One of them, Laurence Smith, describes how they became “victims’’ of a “pre-determined outcome’’. “We were publicly humiliated and sacked from our roles as elected members with no natural justice applied. We lost our incomes, and the ability to contest our seats in the 2020 election,’’ he told Tony Fitzgerald.

“Emotional and mental anguish became our norm…Our reputations have been destroyed and we will forever have the shadow of the word FRAUD casting a false impression against us.’’

While Logan was the impetus for the inquiry, the personal cost in other councils was just as high. Andrew Antoniolli, a former mayor of Ipswich, told Tony Fitzgerald he had served 18.5 years, including a year in the top job, before being dismissed over fraud charges. (He was later acquitted of every one)

He said he had “suffered financially, mentally and reputationally’’. His marriage had broken down, and he remained separated from his wife.

Antoniolli says that in addition to the suicide of one officer – attributable in part to the CCC investigation – he knew of two other staff members “who through either harassment and intimidation by CCC officers or the ever present CCC investigation itself, required immediate intervention from self-harm’’.

Allan Sutherland, former Mayor of Moreton Bay Regional Council, said the changes against him abruptly ended decades of service. “I was arrested, treated like a criminal, and in a matter of moments, had lost not only my career but my reputation,’’ he said.

“I was unable to keep my phone number which I had had for over a decade meaning that people were unable to contact me, making me isolated and leading to people thinking I had gone into hiding,’’ he said. “I have also missed out on other career opportunities while the charges were hanging over my head for the last two years.’’

But the most challenging part was seeing what it did to his family. His wife was forced to take extended leave. “The effect on my parents was devastating to watch, bringing my elderly mother to tears on many occasions through the last two years of her life,’’ he said.

“I have had many sleepless nights and had to seek ongoing professional help to get through the last two years which I have been the hardest of my life.’’

Allan Sutherland says he still struggles with many unanswered questions. “What evidence was tendered by the CCC to support the recording of over 8,000 phone calls over a 6 month period including many personal phone calls? Was this recording reasonable action?’’

It’s a good question, deserving of an answer. So is the time it takes for the CCC to determine a course of action.

While outside Fitzgerald’s remit, the circumstances in which the CCC lost its attempt to publish its findings on allegations that led to the suspension but not charging of the former Public Trustee, Peter Carne, are further revealing of its flaws.

Consider this timeline as detailed in the Court of Appeal judgment which shut the door on this four-year-long affair. The CCC was anonymously advised of allegations of “corrupt conduct” by Mr Carne in June 2018 and was given further information the following August. It leapt to action and commenced an investigation in September 2018. It took until mid-2019 for the allegations (ie, a full year) to be put to Mr Carne.

What good was served by such delays? How could the public benefit from having a public trustee under a corruption cloud (now removed) for a full year. And how is it fair to Mr Carne to be under investigation for a full year before being told about it?

Yes, the wheels of justice turn slowly but this is simply the investigative wheels. No wonder Mr Fitzgerald suggests the CCC needs to broaden its skill set.

Reading the submissions to Tony Fitzgerald’s inquiry, it’s easy to make the case that the CCC has received much fairer treatment than those it spent months and months and months hunting down.

That’s probably only a minor point in massive compensation claims that will almost now certainly be the next step in this long sorry saga.