Councillor says motion on Mayor Antonio was not personal

The councillor who unsuccessfully tried to remove embattled Toowoomba Mayor Paul Antonio as the council’s Inland Rail spokesman said it was not personal.

Bill Cahill. Toowoomba Regional Council Candidate Forum at the City Golf Club. Wednesday 3 Mar , 2016.

THE Toowoomba councillor who unsuccessfully tried to remove embattled Mayor Paul Antonio as the council's Inland Rail spokesman said his motion was not personal, but rather that he was "doing my job".

Cr Bill Cahill, who was the only councillor to submit a complaint last year about Cr Antonio's conduct in commissioning a secret alternative route for the Inland Rail near Millmerran, also queried why some of his colleagues didn't also raise questions about it.

It comes as several councillors threw their support behind the mayor after his apology at the ordinary meeting yesterday in response to three rulings of misconduct by an independent review panel.

Following the admission, Cr Cahill put forward a motion that Deputy Mayor Carol Taylor become the spokeswoman for the council on the Inland Rail.

No one seconded the motion, and it lapsed.

The move continued a long-running conflict between the Mayor and Cr Cahill, but the latter rubbished any suggestion the motion was politically or personally motivated.

"To suggest that it was for political gain is a sad indictment on the community," Cr Cahill said.

"This is the favourite tactic pulled out of the bag every time the status quo is challenged.

"I thought it would be a show of good faith to the community that we understood the seriousness of the findings and it would go some way to restore the faith in the council from the broader community."

Cr Cahill said he also wasn't the only councillor to see the ABC interview in September 2017, which revealed the Mayor had paid for the map and given it to Groom MP John McVeigh and former federal minister Ian Macfarlane.

"Those who knew about the mayor's actions, why didn't they report it?" he asked.

At least four councillors, Anne Glasheen, Nancy Sommerfield, James O'Shea and Joe Ramia, told The Chronicle they supported the mayor in his position.

Cr Ramia said he believed Cr Antonio had done nothing wrong.

"The only mistake he was accused of was helping someone in his community, because that's what we do every day," he said.