Police lease at Stones Corner: A$116 million, never occupied

The watchdog also found that the QPS had no funding lined up when the contract was signed. According to the report, police committed before the government money they relied on had been secured, and before checking the deal in detail.

The QPS skipped its own internal leasing steps, and the Queensland Government Accommodation Office had no role. The report adds that many key decisions were not recorded, so it is hard to tell who made them or why.

The CCC’s own release says the investigation “identified no dishonesty, improper relationship or personal benefit on the part of any person”. It pointed instead to governance and control weaknesses that let a commitment of this size become binding.

The report said police never carried out a basic comparison of options to test value for money. Brisbane Times says the report also notes the building’s worth was lower than the rent to be paid across the term.

The numbers

Brisbane Times reports the QPS committed in 2023 to roughly A$116 million of lease costs across 15 years, which works out at more than A$500,000 a month.

The CCC made nine recommendations to the QPS, targeting governance and internal culture, plus two for the state government.

The newspaper says the building’s unsuitability emerged only after the commitment was made, when withdrawing was no longer possible.

What’s next

Acting police commissioner Brett Pointing told reporters on Thursday afternoon that the QPS would accept every recommendation, Brisbane Times reports. He apologised to the Queensland community and to police staff, calling the money a large waste of public funds.

Pointing did not explain how a superintendent came to lead the talks, and would not say whether anyone faces losing their job. He said the matter would go through the police discipline system.

He said officers were talking with the landowner about options for the lease and did not rule out using the building in some form. He also said he believed the QPS culture had shifted dramatically since the lease was signed.

The article does not say what police and the landowner have agreed, or when those talks might end.

Sources: Crime and Corruption Commission Queensland media release, 5 November 2026; Brisbane Times, 5 November 2026. Details beyond the CCC release are as reported by Brisbane Times.