Cairns mayoral candidate Amy Eden accused of plagiarising Toowoomba councillor’s social media post

A Cairns mayoral candidate has admitted using passages of a Toowoomba councillor’s social media post during her campaign.

Cairns Regional Council division 5 councillor Amy Eden says it is time to do things differently to combat a crime crisis in the CBD. Picture: supplied.

A Cairns mayoral candidate is facing calls for her to withdraw from the race after admitting to using passages of a Toowoomba councillor’s social media post during her campaign.

But Division 5 councillor and mayoral aspirant Amy Eden dismissed claims she is a plagiarist and has vowed to challenge the region’s six other candidates despite her quest to claim the city’s top civic posting hitting turbulence.

Ms Eden, who announced she would run for mayor last July, posted a rallying cry for voters on Monday evening demanding the next council be “transparent and accountable” in its conduct.

Councillor Rebecca Vonhoff is elevated to the position of deputy mayor of Toowoomba Regional Council following a special meeting, Friday, July 28, 2023. Picture: Kevin Farmer

The pledge to voters contains multiple sentences that are either identical or almost exactly the same as a post by Toowoomba Regional Council deputy mayor Rebecca Vonhoff earlier this month.

Those familiar with the incident said Dr Vonhoff was “shocked” to learn of the striking similarities between her words and Ms Eden’s post.

Toowoomba Councillor Dr Rebecca Vanhoff was reportedly "shocked" to learn her words had been used to help promote Cairns mayoral candidate Amy Eden's campaign.

The Toowoomba council candidate received text messages containing screenshots of hers and Ms Eden’s posts on Thursday – the first three sentences of which are almost verbatim.

In a statement, Dr Vonhoff said she hadn’t collaborated, nor did she have any prior knowledge that Ms Eden may be using her writings on social media for her campaign.

“I didn’t give permission for my words to be used,” Dr Vonhoff said.

“I was made aware of Amy’s post after it had been published.

“I care about Toowoomba Region and being Deputy Mayor is a huge privilege.

“Every word I wrote when I announced I would be re-contesting the local government election came from my heart.”

Cairns mayoral candidate Amy Eden's Facebook post earlier this week bares a striking resemblance to Dr Rebecca Vonhoff's, published earlier in the month.

A campaign spokesman said Ms Eden “did not consider her post as plagiarism” and had reached out to Dr Vonhoff to inform her she was using elements of her work.

“Rebecca Vonhoff is part of Amy Eden’s extended peer group formed through Amy’s role as a councillor over the last four years,” the spokesman said.

“Amy did provide a copy of her post to Rebecca at the time of posting for openness and transparency.

“Unfortunately Rebecca missed the message and Rebecca did not explicitly provide permission and Amy accepts the comments subsequently made.”

Ms Eden has since apologised to Dr Vonhoff.

Division Nine councillor Brett Olds has called out Cairns mayoral candidate Amy Eden for using a Toowoomba councillor’s social media content without permission. Image: Isaac McCarthy

Division 9 councillor Brett Olds, who served as an ally of Ms Eden’s through much of her first term, said he was concerned what impact this may have on the first term councillor’s campaign.

“It doesn’t look good,” Mr Olds said.

“If we can’t trust someone in a Facebook post, how can we trust you to lead our region?”

Having admitted to using some of another candidate’s post meant Ms Eden was now unsuitable to run for mayor, the northern beaches councillor said.

“To me, that’s a big deal,” Mr Olds said.

“As an elected representative, we have to be held accountable. And if your words aren’t yours … you just have to call it out.

“If this is true and you’re running your campaign on integrity ... if you’re going to be a leader and ask people to trust and then steal someone’s else’s words and pretend they’re yours, that’s a problem.

“If you want to be a leader and sit with prime ministers, premiers and director generals and we can’t even believe your words are your own, how can you represent 176,000 people?”

It has been a difficult 48 hours for Ms Eden, who was criticised for providing incorrect information in relation to the council’s green waste policy by Division 1 councillor Brett Moller on Wednesday.

She also struggled to give details on what Team Eden’s green waste management policies would be during a press conference.

The CBD councillor then cancelled an interview at late notice with ABC Far North’s breakfast program on Thursday morning after being asked to explain her stance.

Ms Eden was elected in 2020 as a member of the then Bob Manning-led Unity Team.

She later became an independent councillor following disagreements within the party.

Originally published as Cairns mayoral candidate Amy Eden accused of plagiarising Toowoomba councillor’s social media post