A decision to allow a mining company to bulldoze a patch of bushland it had already flattened has been referred to Queensland's corruption watchdog.
The Department of Mines and Natural Resources has asked the Crime and Corruption Commission to investigate a retroactive land clearing approval given to Goondicum Resources by former Liberal National Party (LNP) government.
Natural Resources Minister Anthony Lynham says he was tipped-off about the decision by locals.
"The director-general of my department has since referred the matter to the Crime and Corruption Commission," he told AAP.
Goondicum Resources's parent company, Melior Resources, admits bulldozing the bush to lay a 900-metre road in central Queensland in November last year without approval.
"We are working with all departments to get a vegetation clearance in retrospect," Melior CEO Mark McCauley told ABC at the time.
"We can't hide from the fact we should have waited for approvals."
The LNP government later approved Goondicum Resources's land clearance retrospectively.
Local landowners claim one of the LNP's biggest donors, Ian McCauley, holds a financial stake in the mine.
His wife is former local member Di McCauley.
At the time of the approval local MP Jeff Seeney was deputy premier and minister for state development.
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