Calls for state to sack council as mayor refuses to back annual report
A local council mayor has voted against the rest of her council not to adopt the city’s 2024-2025 annual report, after raising questions about integrity and ethical reporting.
Redland City Council has formally adopted its 2024–2025 annual report but without the mayor’s support after Jos Mitchell voted against the document following questions about transparency in audit and integrity reporting.
The vote came as the council faced calls for its suspension, with a petition signed by 1495 residents tabled in State Parliament last week urging the Local Government Minister to sack the mayor and councillors and appoint an administrator.
The petition alleges “conflict and dysfunction” within the council and claims it is “in the public interest for the mayor and councillors to be suspended or dismissed”.
Despite that backdrop, councillors voted on Wednesday to approve the annual report.
The report shows the council raked in an extra $23.5 million from ratepayers in general rates, levies, and charges compared with 2023–24, bringing total contributions from ratepayers to $332 million, which was a 7.6 per cent increase.
Most of the extra money was offset by rising costs and spending.
Overall, the council generated $431 million in total revenue for the year, with rates, levies, and charges from ratepayers accounting for 77 per cent of that total.
When all income and expenditures were tallied, Redland finished the financial year with a modest $1.7 million surplus, meaning it spent almost every dollar it earned.
But the underlying books show a $28.3 million operating deficit, pointing to long-term cost pressures despite record rate revenue.
Mayor Mitchell, who received $197422 for the year, questioned why the Audit and Risk Management Committee’s ethics and complaints reporting to the Office of the Independent Assessor was not included in the annual report, highlighting concerns about transparency.
Council officers said that ethics and integrity reports were tabled to the Audit and Risk Management Committee and reflected in meeting minutes, but only statutory reporting was included in the annual report.
Despite the mayor’s opposition, the report noted that council staff worked through challenges including ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, delivering $9 million in clean-up works while maintaining regular services. Councillors approved an $89 million capital works program spanning transport, water, and waste infrastructure — one of the largest in the city’s history — while also investing in community and sporting facilities, including upgrades at Charlie Buckler Memorial Sporting Fields, Pinklands Sporting Complex, and a temporary relocation of Capalaba Library for the Capalaba Town Centre Revitalisation Project.
All councillors attended at least 11 of the 13 ordinary meetings, with the council’s 11 elected representatives collectively receiving $1.38 million in salaries and superannuation.
Deputy mayor Julie Talty was paid $134,605 in a base salary, and the nine other councillors each received $116,660.
The council also allocated $121,844 through the Mayor and Councillors’ Community Benefit Fund to local organisations and individuals over the year.
The report confirmed a $24 million increase in long-term borrowings to $90 million, largely to fund major works.
Over the year, council crews and contractors maintained more than 1300km of roads, collected 46,800 tonnes of general waste, 8500 tonnes of recycling, and 10,000 tonnes of green waste, while mowing more than 1100 hectares of parks and roadsides.
The report said there was one order against a councillor for a conduct breach and named the mayor for being reprimanded.
There were no applications heard by the Councillor Conduct Tribunal but there were 57 notices given by the CEO or a councillor to the Independent Assessor about a councillor’s conduct, but no names were given.
The council finalised four cases of inappropriate conduct referred by the Independent Assessor under section 150AG(1) of the Local Government Act, cases involving the mayor.
