The decision proved to be controversial. The following week, the Greens, who had polled 11.5% of the vote at the 1995 election, had suggested they may not preference Mooney due to his pro-development stance and previous clashes with the environmental movement, especially over the Nelly Bay resort development on Magnetic Island, and Davies, who was directing all calls to the Sydney promoter Harry M. Miller, announced that he had a story that would "rock the Goss Government" when it was told. On 21 December, Davies hit out directly at Goss, accusing him of breaking a promise made to him before he entered politics, saying, "It was a package he was offering me. He made a commitment to me and I expected him to abide by that commitment." He asserted the claims he would be bankrupted by the legal case were "uninformed", and that the case was public knowledge before he was appointed to the Ministry. He announced on 9 January 1996 that he would run as an independent, and told the media he had been discussing with Liz Cunningham about "how two independents could work together for the benefit of the people of Queensland".
