Lockhart River Mayor Wayne Butcher charged with deprivation of liberty, choking, suffocation or strangulation

The Lockhart River Mayor will be replaced by the deputy mayor after he was arrested on serious domestic violence matters.

Lockhart River Mayor Wayne Butcher. Picture: Brendan Radke

The Lockhart River Mayor will be replaced by the deputy mayor after he was arrested on serious domestic violence matters.

Deputy Mayor Alister Bowie has been installed in the top job at a crisis meeting called in response to Wayne Butcher being held in custody.

Mr Butcher has been arrested and charged with seven domestic violence offences including one count of assault occasioning bodily harm, one count of deprivation of liberty and two counts each of common assault and choking, suffocation or strangulation.

Police charged the 53-year-old following an alleged assault at a Lockhart River property on Friday, June 28.

Mayor Wayne Butcher with Lockhart River locals at the new social club. Photo: supplied.

He was taken into police custody on June 29.

All charges are alleged domestic violence offences.

Mr Butcher has also been charged with one count of grievous bodily harm relating to an alleged incident in December 2022.

At an emergency meeting of council on Wednesday the deputy mayor was appointed as acting mayor as per Local Government Act regulations.

Mr Bowie will step in while Mr Butcher addresses police allegations through the courts.

“The council now considers this a personal matter, in the hands of the legal system, and has no further comment,” a council statement read.

“The council remains committed to its duty of care and business as usual, including essential services and infrastructure projects, will continue as planned.”

Mr Butcher fronted Cairns Magistrates Court on Monday after which he was held in custody until an expected application for bail on Thursday.

Mr Butcher was elected Mayor in 2012 and has been a fierce advocate for his Lockhart River community of about 640 people.

Mayor Wayne Butcher of Lockhart River. Picture: Liam Kidston

Regularly rubbing shoulders with state government MPs, the Cape York Mayor has been celebrated by leaders at all levels of government and was due to meet with federal ministers in Canberra this week for the Australian Local Government Association’s national assembly.

However due to being in custody, the audience with Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Housing Minister Julie Collins to secure desperately-needed funding for remote housing has been cancelled.

Only last week Mr Butcher spoke out against the sly grog trade and the damage binge drinking causes in the community.

“It’s very destructive, you get a spike in DV and it’s not good for the future of the community,” he told the Cairns Post on June 29.

However, it’s not known if alcohol was a factor in the alleged violence Mr Butcher is accused of.

Mr Butcher also sits on the policy executive of the Local Government Association of Queensland.

Lockhart River Aboriginal Shire Council chief executive officer Dave Clarke, when contacted by the Cairns Post on Tuesday, was travelling back to the eastern Cape York community after supporting his Mayor in court.

He said a crisis meeting of council would sit on Wednesday morning to decide how to proceed in light of the domestic violence charges.

“We will get back to you then,” he said.

Mr Butcher is due to reappear at Cairns Magistrates Court on Thursday, July 4, where it is expected he will make an application for bail.

The Office of the Independent Assessor declined to comment on the Mayor’s arrest and stated allegations were a “matter for the Queensland Police Service”.

LGAQ has also been contacted for comment.

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Originally published as Lockhart River Mayor Wayne Butcher charged with deprivation of liberty, choking, suffocation or strangulation