Rockhampton mayor Margaret Strelow ‘driven’ from office by OIA

One of Queensland’s most popular mayors was left with “no choice but to resign” after relentless pursuit by the local government watchdog.

The relentless pursuit of one of regional Queensland’s most popular mayors by a controversial council watchdog left the respected leader with “no choice but to resign”.

Margaret Strelow yesterday accused the Office of the Independent Assessor of creating a “climate of fear” among Queensland councillors.

The veteran Rockhampton mayor, who was in office for over 16 years, quit in late 2020 following a misconduct trial after failing to update her register of interests following a trip to India to meet with Adani.

She stepped down on “principle” after a Councillor Conduct Tribunal finding – prompted by an OIA investigation – found she engaged in misconduct.

Ms Strelow said yesterday the OIA should be reviewed, declaring common sense “has gone out the window”.

Her comments followed The Courier-Mail’s revelation the OIA was investigating Barcaldine Mayor Sean Dillon after he questioned the ability of health authorities to vaccinate his electorate.

It is understood Deputy Premier and Local Government Minister Steven Miles is meeting with the Local Government Association of Queensland on Monday to discuss its concerns about the OIA.

Neither Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk nor Mr Miles would comment yesterday.

Ms Strelow said the OIA had advised her it was investigating a complaint in January 2019 – eight months after she had already told the Local Government Department, which had received a similar complaint against her, she had declared the necessary trip details as “official ­hospitality”.

Former Rockhampton mayor Margaret Strelow

The OIA referred the matter to the CCT which found Ms Strelow was guilty of misconduct late last year.

The CCT asked her to apologise to her council, however Ms Strelow refused and instead quit.

“I’m not going to apologise and say something that I genuinely did not believe to be true, and can I say there should not be a place in democracy where we require a forced confession,” she said.

“I no longer felt safe, I no longer felt as though I could continue to do my job for my community when I felt so distrustful of the state government’s processes.”

Ms Strelow said she chose to appeal the decision because at the time, official hospitality was not required to go on the register of interests, while she also claimed the CCT had included inaccurate information regarding the trip in its findings.

This information was Adani had paid for her and other mayors to fly to Mumbai where they attended a dinner with Adani’s board.

Speaking about calls this week for the OIA to be reviewed, Ms Strelow said: “It’s a climate of fear, you’ve got to understand what the OIA have created in local government.

“Common sense has gone out the window.

“Councillors and mayors have less rights than anybody else and it’s just incredibly difficult.”

The OIA said councillors must abide by local government laws and it was required to assess complaints about councillors’ conduct according to those laws.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner defended the OIA as a necessary evil that had hit teething issues.

Mr Schrinner signalled mayors at the LGAQ conference next week were set to have a “robust” debate about the councils watchdog, and hoped a “united” solution would emerge.