Why tense meeting may topple Cairns Regional Council’s Unity Team

The Cairns Regional Council Unity Team is under threat as divisions appear following a secret, tense meeting held behind closed doors.

Mayor Bob Manning convened a spontaneous, closed-door meeting exclusively for councillors on November 16 that resulted in tension among those in attendance. Picture: Brendan Radke

The Cairns Regional Council Unity Team is under threat as divisions appear following a secret and tense meeting late last year.

The team has been a dominant majority in the past decade, deciding major decisions on behalf of ratepayers.

But the bonds between leader Bob Manning and his followers are weakening after Cr Manning called a closed-door meeting in the council’s committee room on November 16.

The date coincided with the debate over the council’s proposed rate hike on non-principal places of residence, otherwise known as the “tenant tax”, including councillor Brett Old’s declaration the day before that he would not support the proposal.

According to at least five councillors, Cr Manning called the meeting to lament the lack of cohesiveness among the council, and urged teamwork.

Some councillors said they felt mayor Bob Manning accused them of submitting complaints about him to the OIA. Cr Manning denied this. Picture: Brendan Radke

He also referenced a number of complaints related to him.

According to one councillor, Cr Manning said: “I didn’t realise you all loathe me so much”.

An additional councillor said any complaints being raised to the OIA between the mayor and councillors amounted to little more than personality clashes.

Cr Manning confirmed the topic of OIA complaints was discussed but denied there were any accusations.

“What was discussed in that meeting is confidential,” Cr Manning said.

“If you want to run rumours out there, it will not be in the best interests of council; therefore, it will not be in the best interests of the people of Cairns.”

Cr Manning said the meeting was a “frank discussion”.

Whether the meeting was the origin or a symptom of a deeper rift, several councillors have thereafter questioned the longevity of the Unity Team, mirroring council CEO Mica Martin’s comments in December the team could eventually disband.

Some councillors said they felt mayor Bob Manning singled-out Cr Brett Olds for being intractable during the November 16 meeting. Picture: Stewart McLean

One councillor said the team was “Unity in name only”, a second described it as a burden to be avoided, a third said confidence between the mayor and councillors had diminished and a fourth said the Unity ticket would struggle at the next election without recruiting strong candidates.

The fallout from N-PPR also signalled new voting lines on key issues. Rather than seven Unity members voting in a block and at least one of the three independents, as some label them, dissenting, three factions are fading into view.

Team Bob includes councillors Brett Moller, Kristy Vallely and Rhonda Coghlan. The dissenters include councillors Amy Eden, Brett Olds and Cathy Zeiger. The pendulum group includes councillors Max O’Halloran, Rob Pyne and Terry James.

Cr Manning agreed with the assessment of the factions but downplayed the significance of the Unity Team as an entity with broader clout.

“The little groupings … that’s my read of it too,” Cr Manning said.

“I think a council can be constructed on those lines, and that wouldn’t be a bad thing. You will never have a council where everyone is in the same faction.

Cairns Mayor Bob Manning’s Unity Team that ran at the 2020 local council election. John Schilling, Max O'Halloran, Amy Eden, Rhonda Coghlan, mayor Bob Manning, Kristy Vallely, Brett Moller and deputy mayor Terry James. Picture: Brendan Radke

“There is no entity called Unity … you can’t disband it because Unity is not an entity.

“It’s a group of like-minded people … you could call that group whatever you like.

“We used to be more like-minded.”

But Unity affiliation has been a common denominator of past success. Three councillors – Cr Eden, Cr Coghlan and Cr Vallely – were successful in their 2020 electoral campaigns as part of Unity, as were Cr O’Halloran in 2012 and Cr Moller in 2016.

Cr Coghlan was previously unsuccessful in her 2012 bid when not affiliated with Unity.

After an unsuccessful electoral campaign in 2008 when not affiliated with Unity, former councillor Richie Bates found success with Unity in 2012 and 2016, but lost as an independent in 2020 to his Unity replacement Cr Eden.

Unity will lose its leader in 2024 when Cr Manning steps down, and Cr O’Halloran who is seeing out his third term.

With a Unity mayoral candidate not yet clear — Cr James has declared he intends to put his hand up but Cr Moller has not — the team’s future leadership is uncertain.

Then there’s Cr Eden, who was the first, and only, Unity member to denounce the N-PPR proposal. She has also hinted at her own mayoral ambitions.

With two confirmed, and a potential four, departures from Unity, the group’s leverage could be significantly lessened heading into the 2024 election.

Originally published as Why tense meeting may topple Cairns Regional Council’s Unity Team