UPDATE 1PM

AN ELECTORAL Commission Queensland spokesman has confirmed a complaint was received.

However, ECQ determined no breach of the Local Government Electoral Act 2011 happened.

EARLIER

A CANDIDATE in this month's council elections has filed an official complaint with the Electoral Commissioner of Queensland over what she called an "extraordinary public attack" by Mayor Mal Forman on Councillor Wayne Honor.

Tracey Jackson, who is running for Division 8, said she emailed the commissioner on Sunday to lodge a formal complaint.

Cr Forman called a press conference last month to condemn comments by Cr Honor on future costs related to the Rubyanna Waste Water Treatment Plant as "rubbish, lies and scaremongering".

He suggested Cr Honor "held a grudge" over the council's failure to approve a $10 million waste water treatment in Gin Gin.

Ms Jackson said Cr Forman's comments may have breached section 182(2) of the Local Government Electoral Act 2011.

The section says: "A person must not, for the purpose of affecting the election of a candidate, knowingly publish a false statement of fact about the personal character or conduct of the candidate."

Cr Honor, who will recontest Division 3, defended his comments, saying they had been "taken out of context and turned on me to damage my credibility."

In a Facebook post yesterday, Ms Jackson said: "There was absolutely no doubt in my mind when watching Mayor Forman's interview that he was questioning Councillor Honor's honesty, integrity and motivation and that he was attempting to affect Councillor Honor's chances of being re-elected."

If Cr Forman had disagreed with Cr Honor's comments, he need only have said so and explained why, Ms Jackson wrote.

"Instead, he launched into a scandalous personal attack. With the election less than three weeks away, Mayor Forman should unequivocally withdraw his statement and apologise unreservedly to Cr Honor."

Ms Jackson did not return the NewsMail's calls yesterday.