Ipswich councillor Paul Tully withdraws motion claimed to ‘gag’ mayor

An unprecedented move to ‘gag’ a South East Queensland mayor from speaking to media or issue press releases about major issues has been put on ice.

Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding and councillor Paul Tully.

An unprecedented move to ‘gag’ the Mayor of Ipswich from speaking to the media or issue press releases about major issues has been put on ice.

Ipswich City councillors have instead unanimously agreed to hash out changes to its media policy at a closed-door meeting helmed by the council’s chief executive in a bid to inject an independent voice into the fray.

Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding faced being ‘gagged’ from speaking to the media or issuing press releases, under a controversial motion put forward by long-serving councillor Paul Tully.

Mr Tully’s motion would have allowed the heads of the council’s five committees, of which he chairs two, to speak on behalf of council.

Ms Harding was elected to her second term as Ipswich Mayor in 2024.

Three of the eight other councillors in Ipswich, including Mr Tully, lost their jobs when the council was sacked in 2018 amid an integrity scandal that led to two mayors and several officials being charged with corruption and fraud.

Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding after the general meeting on Thursday. She heralded the outcome as a positive for the council and the community. Picture: Grace Koo

Current councillor Andrew Antoniolli, the successor to disgraced longtime Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale, was charged then convicted of seven counts of fraud before being acquitted on appeal.

Councillors on Thursday unanimously decided to take the motion off the table — which Ms Harding had labelled a political attack — before voting to discuss potential changes to the media policy at a roundtable on a date yet to be decided.

Ms Harding heralded the outcome as a positive for the council and the community.

“I would appreciate an approach where we can work collaboratively on this policy to ensure any changes are fair and inclusive of the mayor and all councillors,” she said.

“Good policy making doesn’t happen on the fly. It needs to be informed by evidence, the view of all stakeholders, relevant experts and it must be in accordance with the Local Government Act.”

Ipswich City councillor Paul Tully said the roundtable was a good outcome.

Mr Tully, who has denied he was trying to gag the mayor and instead clarify the role of committee chairs, said the roundtable was a good outcome.

“I’m confident that any changes to the policy and if necessary any of the procedures associated with the policy will ensure equitable application of the policy and confirm the existing right of the mayor to be the spokesperson on identified major matters,” he said.

Local Government Minister Ann Leahy said it was critical that the council remains focused on delivering for its residents.

“Ipswich residents expect the democratically elected mayor to be the spokesperson for their council,” Ms Leahy said.

University of Southern Queensland emeritus professor John Cole said this was a distraction that the people don’t need as they got bigger things to consider.

“At a council containing quite a number of Labor Party or affiliated councillors, partisan politics comes into play, and it’s being raised here in procedural matters,” he said.

“Council would be better concerned getting on with the issues that really matter to people.”
Griffith University political scientist Paul Williams said voters will not like it as there was a public expectation for the mayor to be able to comment on any matter.

“In a Western liberal democracy cabinet like Australia, a mayor should have the right to speak on any matter under their local jurisdiction,” he said.

“You can see that’d be problematic about how it would limit communications.”