How Troy Thompson lost Townsville: From stunning victory to political collapse
From commanding victory to humiliating defeat: Insiders reveal what it was really like to lead the city under controversial ex-mayor Troy Thompson.
The tumultuous reign of former Townsville mayor Troy Thompson has drawn to a decisive close, as voters delivered a crushing blow to his bid for re-election, ending a near two-year saga that thrust North Queensland’s capital into the national spotlight.
Irate ratepayers, acting as judge and jury, emphatically rejected Thompson at the ballot box, meting out their own punishment ahead of any findings from an ongoing Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) investigation.
The CCC is yet to release the findings of its probe into allegations Mr Thompson misled ratepayers during his initial campaign, but it appears that the electorate has already delivered its verdict.
Allegations of any wrongdoing have always been strongly denied by Mr Thompson.
Mr Thompson’s tenure, which began with a stunning upset over long-serving incumbent Jenny Hill in 2024, quickly unravelled.
His leadership at Townsville City Council was plagued by a litany of scandals and revelations, culminating in his suspension and eventual resignation. Despite his adamant defence, consistently maintaining his innocence against all accusations, voters remained unconvinced.
The message from the electorate was unequivocal.
From a commanding 46.6 per cent (50,167 votes) in the 2024 mayoral election, his support plummeted.
With just over 70 per cent of enrolled electors counted in the 2025 by-election, Thompson secured a paltry 4.9 per cent of the vote so far – a mere 4,871 ballots.
The scandals that consumed his turbulent 18-month reign brutally slashed his primary vote.
This definitive outcome finally closes a chapter of political upheaval that plunged Townsville City Council into chaos and saw the garrison city endure national embarrassment during Thompson’s brief, 18-month tenure.
THOMPSON SECURES THE MAYORALTY
On the 2024 campaign trail, Mr Thompson cut out a position as an anti-Establishment, populist disrupter, promising transparency and accountability – with a keystone promise to implement a four year rates freeze.
The rates freeze, welcomed by voters among crushing cost-of-living pressures, was walked back almost immediately after Mr Thompson was certified as the incoming mayor-elect, with him hosing down the promise and admitting it may not be financially feasible.
After a campaign where he faced tough questions over his association with a convicted murderer and his alleged links to far-right conspiracy group MyPlace, Mr Thompson implemented a “ban” on the Townsville Bulletin.
Despite mounting media pressure and questions over his background and past affiliations, Mr Thompson, and the wider council’s first few weeks in the job involved a lot of on-the-job training for the newest faces.
Councillor and Deputy Mayor Ann-Maree Greaney, then in her third term and one of the few Team Jenny Hill aligned councillors to survive their thrashing at the election, described the first few weeks of post-election business as “a blur”.
“We had a lot of new councillors come in. There was a lot of assisting them, helping them to learn the ropes, getting to know council,” Ms Greaney said.
“I found myself saying to councillors a lot ‘this is not how a normal council is run’.”
Councillor Paul Jacob, who had returned to politics after time away from council, ran alongside Vera Dirou as part of Team Change, said the council lacked a “common focus” and “organisational skills” in it’s early days.
A sharp contrast to the previously top-down and tightly controlled Jenny Hill-led council he’d been a part of – and previously split from over policy differences.
“There’s not supposed to be ‘unity’ in council, we’re all independent, but there was no real common focus. There wasn’t really any council organisational skills – that was the big difference between my first term and my second.”
Brady Ellis, who along with Ms Greaney has been a staunch critic of Mr Thompson, said despite his misgivings about Mr Thompson, he’d been intent on working with him.
“He really wasn’t acting in the city’s best interest,” Mr Ellis believed.
“...That really rubbed me the wrong way, but I was prepared to still work with him and just watch cautiously.”
MAJOR DIFFERENCE
Peppered by questions about his claimed military history on the campaign trail from day one of his mayoralty, Mr Thompson once again banned the Townsville Bulletin from engaging with him – insisting the questions were baseless.
Appearing on right-wing conspiratorial video blog North Queensland Freedom Network during his campaign, Mr Thompson described his supposed military career in detail.
“I spent five years in the military in Perth, so I was in signals, in … Karakatta, Fremantle and SAS Swanbourne,” Mr Thompson said at the time – achievements and postings that were repeated on social media on his social media, but quickly deleted after his victory.
Members of the ADF in Townsville and elsewhere were quick to question the claims and the Townsville Bulletin repeatedly asked Mr Thompson to provide his service number.
Following Anzac Day, where the then-Mayor wore only his father’s medals, and was again called on to produce records his service history, the department of local government referred the matter to Office of the independent Assessor for investigation.
Paul Jacob said the mounting scrutiny on council and its operations, and a lack of continuity with the previous administration, had made the situation harder for some than others.
“I was never really worried about anything until it sort of – with the media – really got out of hand,” Mr Jacob said.
“I think some members, who had been in the Hill team, it was very hard for them to accept their mayor didn’t get back in.
“They were in a brand new council, with someone leading us who nobody knew. There was no continuity for what was going to happen.”
Amid mounting scrutiny, Mr Thompson produced a social media video showing him holding his service record, saying the matter had been “put to bed”.
However, the Townsville Bulletin soon after revealed the document’s contents, showing that Mr Thompson’s previous claims to have served for five years and in multiple signals units, were not accurate.
Records seen by the Townsville Bulletin show Mr Thompson completed a two-week recruit course from June 8 to June 22, 1991, before completing a reservist cooking course between July and December 1991, with no listed courses or activities past 1991 until his date of self-requested discharge on October 23, 1993.
Five days later on May 28, the investigation into Mr Thompson was referred by the OIA to the CCC, with it also being revealed that Mr Thompson’s university degrees and donations made to him on the campaign trail were also being scrutinised.
Two days after that, on May 30, Mr Thompson would appear on A Current Affair for an interview that would up-end his shortened term as mayor.
“Troy did start his own problem when he campaigned – but when he did that interview with Channel 9, that was the real turning point,” Mr Jacob said.
NATIONAL DISASTER
Appearing on the nationally syndicated A Current Affair at the end of May, Mr Thompson apologised for embellishing his military service and for incorrectly claiming university degrees he had never completed.
“Those who know me know that I’ve had multiple concussions, 100 plus, and I suffer from epilepsy,” he told the program.
“That’s not an excuse. But what it says is, you’re going to forget things from time to time.”
Pressed on whether he was apologetic for his comments on the campaign trail, Mr Thompson insisted he respected those who served.
“Look, I apologise to all services as well as Veterans and Defence. And I think it’s important to put that out there because, you know, I respect the military,” He told A Current Affair.
The next day, Councillor Suzy Batkovic, flanked by all nine other Townsville City Councillors, read an open letter to Mr Thompson to media outside council chambers on Walker Street, declaring they no longer had confidence in Mr Thompson’s leadership and urging him to stand down.
“If you do not resign we will move a motion at next week’s council meeting calling for the Minister for Local Government to suspend you pending the outcome of ongoing investigations,” Ms Batkovic read.
Ms Greaney described the immediate moments after the now infamous televised interview as a “train crash that you couldn’t do anything about”.
“Things just unravelled after that. It happened very quickly and then the personal attacks started to occur and that was kind of when you have to throw your hands up and just say that enough is enough,” Ms Greaney said.
“We were there to deliver for the community and I just think that Mr Thompson forgot all of that.”
Mr Ellis described it as “the final straw”.
“It made it very clear that we couldn’t let this go on – the stakes were just way too high. It wasn’t fair on the entire city,” he said.
While Mr Thompson would ultimately take a leave of absence following the interview and calls to stand down, allowing for over a month without him present in council chambers, much of the damage had already been done, according to Mr Jacob.
“Even though we moved that no-confidence motion, we were starting to be tarred – not with the same brush, exactly, but there was definitely a resentment in the community over what was going on,” Mr Jacob said.
“We had to wear that as councillors and it got worse as it progressed, with the OIA and the CCC investigations.”
THE FALL OF TROY
Returning to his position, Mr Thompson found himself alone and prone to lashing out, becoming entangled in public spats with the then-interim Council CEO Joe McCabe, who Mr Thompson had previously endorsed for the city’s most prominent administrative position.
Following three months of bruising interpersonal battles, including a threat to request the dissolution of Townsville City Council, Mr Thompson was eventually served a show-cause notice by Meaghan Scanlon.
After the state government’s plans to act on the Townsville mayor become a political target in the lead-up to the state election, both sides of state parliament eventually commit to taking action.
Following Labor’s crushing electoral defeat, incoming Premier David Crisafulli promises Townsville he will clear up the city’s “tarnished reputation”.
In November, the new government acts, with Local Government minister Ann Leahy announcing that Mr Thompson will be suspended for 12 months, with full pay, while the CCC investigation continues.
“I absolutely refute any and all allegations that have been made to date, and will rightfully defend my position through the legal system,” Mr Thompson posts to social media in response to the suspension.
Despite understanding community ire at the suspended mayor continuing to collect his pay of roughly $225,000, Councillor Ellis said it was ultimately worth it.
“I was annoyed and disappointed, but I still firmly believe that we were better off as a city paying him $250,000 to go away and do nothing than to come into that building,” Mr Ellis said.
“Unfortunately, this whole saga took up uncountable dollars and hours from not just us as councillors, but the executives, the CEOs, the legal team – so much of our days in that 18 months was spent dealing with this ridiculous issue.”
Mr Thompson’s suspension would ultimately never be fully served, with the embattled mayor resigning and plunging Townsville into a mayoral by-election.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Mr Thompson declined to comment on this piece but has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
More Coverage
Originally published as How Troy Thompson lost Townsville: From stunning victory to political collapse
Fans fight to bring rockers to North Queensland
