Sacked, resigned, stood down: Queensland shock high-profile firings
The high-profile firings, terminations and resignations that saw distinguished and controversial Queensland figures in the headlines.
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No industry can avoid the sackings, terminations and resignations – with even some of the state’s most high-profile and distinguished figures caught in the ‘firing’ line.
Embroiled in court cases, investigated by the CCC and hit by social media scandals, these well-regarded Queensland figures have all made headlines when their high-paying and sought-after jobs all came under threat.
From politicians and councillors to CEOs and top-dog lawyers, here’s our list of Queensland’s high profile resignations or firings that shocked the state.
SHAUN DRUMMOND
Following scrutiny after advocating against whistleblowers, the Queensland Health boss Shaun Drummond announced his resignation via a letter to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on July 28, 2023.
The Queensland Premier announced Mr Drummond would be stepping down from his role as Director-General just eight months into his tenure, stating the decision was his “own” of which the reasons were “a matter for him”.
In a statement given to departmental staff, Mr Drummond said it was “with sadness” that he announced his resignation and was “a matter I have been considering for the last few weeks” without detailing his decision why.
Mr Drummond was appointed the role in October 2022 by former health minister Yvette D’Ath after previously serving as the chief executive of Metro North Hospital and Health Service and other public health positions around the country.
His resignation came just days after Mr Drummond’s department advocated for criminal penalties to be given to whistleblowers who tell journalists about medical mistakes - censorship recommendations put forward by the former health boss in a formal submission from the department to the inquiry into Public Interest Disclosure laws.
Health Minister Shannon Fentiman told Mr Drummond that she did not support the push for gag laws for those who speak out about issues in the health department, a spokesman on her behalf stating that “the Minister does not support introducing penalties for the disclosure of information to journalists”.
AfterThe Sunday Mail revealed the health department had submitted a letter to the Public Interest Disclosure inquiry, Mr Drummond wrote to the editor saying the decision was a “departmental one”, not a personal one, and denied that the submission called for whistleblowers to be penalised and instead “provides feedback” about the current Public Interest Disclosure laws.
Mr Drummond was paid $222,000 in his first 3.5 months in the role according to the latest health report data in his role as the head of Queensland Health.
CATHIE ALLEN
Cathie Allen, the managing scientist of the Queensland Government-run DNA testing lab was terminated in May 2023 after findings from a Commission of Inquiry in June 2022 found that the state-run lab had misled police and manipulated data.
Findings from the $6m inquiry showed more than 1800 false witness statements in at least 1260 court cases were made by the Queensland Health Forensic and Scientific Services on whether DNA had been detected in samples that were up for testing.
In handing down the findings, Commissioner Walter Sofronoff said that Ms Allen’s leadership was blamed as “the single biggest problem” within the lab.
The inquiry’s report, handed down by retired Supreme Court justice Walter Sofronoff KC found that in early 2018, the Queensland Health Forensic and Scientific Services stopped testing DNA samples below a certain threshold, telling police and courts that the samples were in a range that was “insufficient DNA for analysis”.
Mr Sofronoff reported that Ms Allen had “deliberately provided false information” to her executive director and deliberately mislead them about the number of samples to keep a process in place that improved turnaround times and eased backlogs.
During the inquiry in October 2022, when questioned about allegedly “trying to conceal from the public” the misleading conduct she’d engaged in at the beginning of 2018 over lab practices, Ms Allen said “I was not trying to mislead the public. I was trying in that June period. to rectify as best I could the human error that I had made”.
Ms Allen also denied operating the lab like a factory line and refuted that there was a culture where staff felt they could not speak up for fear of reprisals.
While being questioned by a barrister acting for Queensland Police Service, Ms Allen agreed to her barrister Matthew Hickey’s proposition that during the commission she had been depicted as “some kind of Disney villain”.
“I find it quite distressing, it upsets me as you can see, I’m just trying to do the best job that I can because I care about the community and I want to try to provide as many resources to the lab so that they can do the best possible job that they can,” said Ms Allen
“I work really hard to do that. I’m a human being and I make mistakes and it’s been really, this past 12 months has been really distressing and has had an enormous impact on my mental and physical health.”
Government sources confirmed Ms Allen was terminated in May 2023, five months after the findings of the Commission of Inquiry.
She was dismissed alongside the former Forensic Scientific Services team leader Justin Howes and lab manager Paula Brisotto.
STUART ROBERT
A former cabinet minister and the Shadow Assistant Treasurer, Fadden MP Stuart Robert announced he would be quitting federal politics in 2023 after a career spanning 16 years.
Officially handing in his resignation on May 18, 2023, the high-ranking Liberal Minister was criticised by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese who accused the politician of not turning up to work despite receiving a pay cheque after announcing his resignation, Mr Robert missing three consecutive days of parliament, including the day the budget was handed down.
“If you’re a member of parliament … you have to turn up. He (Robert) continues to be paid as the representative of the people of Fadden, and they deserve better.” said Prime Minister Albanese.
After nearly two decades in politics, Mr Robert announced his retirement from politics in a statement, stating he was the “first to acknowledge his time in parliament has not been the smoothest ride”.
“People throw the kitchen sink at you. And promises of a kinder, gentler Parliament need to be taken with a grain of salt,” he said.
“We may all aspire to it, but ambition in politics will always win — as Labor stalwart Graham Richardson aptly put it: ‘whatever it takes’.”
The former Fadden MP was forced to resign from Cabinet in February 2016 following a private trip to China where he met with a major Liberal donor and members of the Chinese Government.
Prime Minister at the time Malcolm Turnbull revealed that Mr Robert had indirect financial stakes from the Beijing-based company he had met with in the off-the-books August 2014 trip and was in breach of ministerial rules, with Mr Robert insisting he did not act “inappropriately” during the trip.
Mr Robert also took “absolute responsibility” in March 2023 for his part in the controversial Robodebt scheme which took place from 2015 and was scrapped in 2019 he was the minister in-charge and saw $720m illegally garnished from 380,000 victims via Centrelink, resulting in a $1.8bn settlement.
In the Royal Commission into Robodebt, Mr Robert acknowledged the scheme was “flimsy” from the start.
“Ministers are required to defend the government’s programs as part of Cabinet solidarity regardless if they agree with them or not,” he said.
“I have implemented many things that I passionately disagree with but I’m still required as a Minister to represent them and defend them.”
A by-election for the Division of Fadden on the Gold Coast to replace Stuart Robert is to be held on July 15, 2023.
TOM SEYMOUR
The former boss of PricewaterhouseCoopers Australia (PwC), Tom Seymour officially resigned from the global international firm PwC in May 2023 following pressures regarding a tax leak crisis.
The firm which is recognised as one of “The Big Four” accounting firms alongside KPMG, Deloitte and Ernst & Young, was embroiled in controversy after a former partner allegedly shared confidential tax reform information from the Australian Government with partners and clients.
PwC tax partner Peter Collins was banned by the Tax Practitioners Board over his alleged involvement in sharing the confidential government information and is now the subject of a federal investigation.
Brisbane-based Mr Seymour stepped down as the CEO after the scandal went public, confirming that he was one of the partners who received emails about “the marketing approach and financial success of the tax advice”.
Following Mr Seymour’s resignation, PwC Australia board chair Tracey Kennair said the firm had “agreed with Tom that this is in the best interests of the firm and our stakeholders” for him to leave his chief executive position.
Mr Seymour worked at PwC for almost 21 years, including three years as CEO, but still remains a partner at PwC.
BEN ROBERTS-SMITH
Former Australian soldier Benjamin Roberts-Smith resigned from his role as general manager of Seven West Media’s Queensland operations on June 3, 2023, one day after losing the biggest defamation trial in Australian history.
The announcement came following the outcome of the defamation trial made by Mr Roberts-Smith against 2018 articles by The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Canberra, alleging the publications painted the former soldier as a war criminal.
Holding the role since 2015, Mr Roberts-Smith’s resignation was confirmed in an email from Seven West managing director and CEO James Warburton, reading “Ben has been on leave while the case was running, and today has offered his resignation, which we have accepted”.
In the marathon defamation trial that began in June 2021, Federal Court judge Justice Anthony Besanko found the allegations of Mr Roberts-Smith to be “substantially true” in a landmark ruling and 110-day trial that substantially proved imputations which alleged Mr Roberts-Smith had unlawfully killed unarmed Afghan prisoners between 2009 and 2012.
Mr Roberts-Smith denied the allegations against him and claimed the articles defamed him by implying he was a murderer who had “broke[n] the moral and legal rules of military engagement” and thereby “disgraced his country and the Australian army”.
Mr Roberts-Smith is Australia’s most decorated living soldier and was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC) for Australia in 2011, Australia’s highest military honour, for his service in Afghanistan in 2010.
On June 28, 2023, it was announced Todd Dickinson would take over Mr Roberts-Smith’s role as Managing Director at Seven West Media after previously serving in the role of Sales Director Brisbane.
PAUL TAYLOR
Former Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Paul Taylor sensationally resigned from his role in August 2022 following a Commission of Inquiry which heard that he had referred to a gynaecologist friend as a “vagina whisperer” at a professional leadership conference.
The incident involving Mr Taylor as well as Chief Superintendent Ray Rohweder was used as an example at an inquiry into Queensland Police Service Responses to Domestic and Family Violence looking at bad police culture.
Mr Taylor was dealt with through his manager at the time, Commissioner Katarina Carroll who told the Inquiry council in relation to his comments that “he used that in the context that his friend is a gynaecologist and obstetrician”.
Following the inquiry, Mr Taylor sent an email to his colleagues apologising for his behaviour and announced his resignation after 45 years in the Queensland Police Service, stating “It was never my intention to offend anyone, and I am deeply apologetic for the harm it has caused”.
The other officer involved in the incident, Chief Superintendent Ray Rohweder, went on leave following the inquiry after it emerged he had called out “did she shut her legs on you” when the MC joked about a rough promotional process.
KIP WIGHTMAN
Former Nova 106.9 radio host Kip Wightman made headlines when he announced he would be leaving the top-rating breakfast show on Nova in October 2021 to focus on spending time with his son as a single dad.
The Brisbane radio personality announced his resignation from the hit Ash, Kip, Luttsy and Susie morning show after hosting for 15 years, just a few months after separating from his wife Amber in March 2021 after four years of marriage.
Mr Wightman said that following his separation, his priorities had shifted to spend more time with his young son, Rafael.
“It has been a privilege to hang out with the people of Brisbane over breakfast these past 15 years, but the time is right for me to switch off the alarm and consider what’s next in my professional and personal life,” Mr Wightman said.
“Living in these strange times have made many of us reassess things, and while I’ve still got a lot of love for radio and broadcasting, my priorities have shifted.”
Three months after his departure from Nova, Mr Wightman announced he would be joining rival breakfast show KIIS 97.3FM, replacing the recently resigned Bob Gallagher and joining Robin Bailey and Terry Hansen.
Speaking to QWeekend in February 2022, Mr Wightman said that his three months after resigning from Nova cemented his decision to leave stations.
“I think the reality is you don’t leave a No.1 show if you’re happy and I definitely wasn’t happy,” he said.
“And I definitely didn’t feel like there was room for me on the show anymore. These last couple of weeks alone have just absolutely cemented my decision, that it was the right decision, because I’m just feeling like, when I left I had a weight off my shoulders.”
In part of his deal with 97.3FM, Mr Wightman gets to leave early on the days he picks his son Rafael up from day care, and has been open about accepting a pay cut as a way to incentivise him and the show to reach No.1.
“I just also felt like the station was right for my personality and even my age; I thought this is somewhere I could be for 10 years,” he said.
“I want us to shoot to be No.1 and hopefully there’s some good bonuses when we get there,
“That was something for me, I want to be incentivised because I’m here to hopefully take us to No.1 and stay there. I like that challenge – If we don’t succeed then we don’t get paid as well.”
Mr Wightman continues to host breakfasts on KIIS 97.3FM.
NEIL SCALES
The former boss of Queensland’s Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR), Neil Scales stood down from his $600,000 a year position as Director-General in June of this year.
Working at TMR for more than a decade, Mr Scales announced his retirement on June 2, just nine months after hundreds of Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) workers stormed the TMR building demanding his resignation over a “systemic noncompliance” with government standards.
Hundreds of CFMEU protesters stormed the Brisbane building on August 24 2022 and earlier at the Tower of Power on August 4, after alleging that Mr Scales and the Department as a whole were failing to comply with new government policy which included local procurement, bargaining standards and safety requirements.
CFMEU state secretary Michael Ravbar said Mr Scales’ actions results in “cheap, inferior imported product being used on major public works – at the expense of quality local manufacturers” and that the government policy directives were “simply being ignored by bureaucrats like TMR director-general Neil Scales”.
Mr Scales announced his resignation on his LinkedIn page, stating “all good things must come to an end” in addition to a letter to staff where he said “I am sad to leave TMR”.
“I feel that now is the time to hang up my TMR hard hat and boots, and look after me, my family and my mates.” he wrote in the letter.
Following Mr Scales’ resignation, the CFMEU posted a message on Facebook saying “don’t let the door bang you on the a*** on your way out”.
NEIL BREEN
Brisbane-born and bred shock jock Neil Breen shocked the state when he announced his resignation from his position as an afternoon radio host on 4BC after three years with the station.
The host of the weekday afternoon show Brisbane Live announced he would be leaving his role live on air on May 5, 2023, telling listeners he wanted to prioritise his family after “three very tough years”.
Mr Breen had been commuting between Brisbane and Sydney, living in Queensland five days a week after facing difficulties trying to movie his family during Covid lockdowns.
Describing his time as “very difficult”, Mr Breen said he had struggled with loneliness while being separated from his family.
“It’s taken its toll and I’ve told the bosses at Channel 9 I’m going to resign from 4BC radio,” said Mr Breen.
“It’s very sad for me and I think it’s going to be quite upsetting for a lot of the listeners.”
Mr Breen officially resigned from his position on June 23, 2023 and has been replaced by journalist Peter Gleeson as a temporary fill-in.
MACKAY HOSPITAL BOARD
The board of Mackay Hospital and Health Services (MHHS) made headlines in 2022 after a scathing report found that there was “substandard clinical care” in the hospital’s gynaecology and obstetrics department, resulting in the sacking of nine board members by former Health Minister Yvette D’Ath.
The report examined the MHHS from July 2019 to November 2021 and interviewed 81 women who had experienced poor clinical incident monitoring, complications and poor management of safety and quality which had resulted in dozens of women suffering lifelong physical and mental injuries.
The damning report also shows that the substandard obstetrics and gynaecology services had resulted in three infant deaths.
After the report was handed down Ms D’Ath told the media that “no family should ever have to experience the devastation of the loss of a child and certainly not under these circumstances”.
“To all the women and families who had been impacted by these statements, I offer my sincerest apology,” she said.
“Many women describe the experience of being interviewed as part of the investigation as the first time they felt heard.
“What we have seen in this investigation is unacceptable.”
Nine board members were given a cause notice on September 30 after the report found systematic failures within the hospital system, with the board officially dismissed on November 22, 2022, former Minister D’Ath defending the sacking, saying she doesn’t believe they had the skill set needed to implement a cultural change.
During the investigation into Mackay Hospital in August 2022, the hospital’s chief executive Lisa Davies Jones resigned to spend more time with her family overseas, just months before the findings of the report were handed down.
CHRIS LOFT
The former Mayor of the Fraser Coast Regional Council, Chris Loft was sacked as Mayor in February 2018 by Local Government Minister Stirling Hinchliffe for “serial and flagrant” breaches which saw him jailed in 2019.
Appearing before Hervey Bay District Court in November 2019, Chris Loft pleaded not guilty to one count of misconduct in public office between April 3, 2016 and February 28, 2017 and was convicted to 12 months imprisonment, suspended after six months after a Crime and Corruption Commission investigation found Mr Loft had created a $180,000-a-year council job so he could appoint his friend to it.
The newly created chief of staff role was advertised in September 2016 and created by Mr Loft with the intention to appoint his former campaign manager Brian Downie who had helped write the job description and was provided with Council documents relating to the job panelling process by Mr Loft.
Mr Loft has always maintained that he had acted as he did for the sake of council staff amid claims of a toxic bullying culture, telling the media on his way to the trial in November 2019 that “the truth will prevail”.
Hervey Bay District Court found that Mr Loft had dishonestly gained a benefit for his friend between April 2016 and August 2017 by involving him in the recruitment process and was found to be in abuse of his power in office.
When handing the sentence, Judge Long called the crime a “breach of trust” which required a sentence where the “inherent seriousness … needs to be made clear to the community”.
In August 2020, Mr Loft spoke out about his six month jail experience, saying he spent much of his time in prison reading, describing the main prison experience as “hell on earth” due to the noise.
PAUL THOMSON
The founding school principal of Kimberley College, Paul Thomson along with his daughter Amy Leigh Ferguson and her husband Kevin Robert Ferguson were all charged in September 2019 after allegedly siphoning $4.6m from the Logan private school.
Mr Thomson is facing four counts of fraud of or above $30,000, and one count each of extortion, false declarations and using a computer without consent.
His daughter Amy Ferguson is accused of seven counts of fraud of or above $30,000, two counts of computer hacking and a count each of perjury, extortion, and fraud, with her husband standing accused of three counts of receiving tainted property and one of fraud of or above $30,000.
Mr Thomson was sacked in June 2018 from the board of Kimberley College and last appeared before court in March 2023 after a letter was sent to the college community by board chairman Paul Wilton regarding the school’s finances, the College alleged he was involved in serious misconduct.
At Brisbane Magistrates Court in 2019, police alleged Mr Thomson was behind 33 individual transactions totalling more than $500,000, ranging from the use of a college credit card totalling a $197,000 spend, a $150,000 trip to Finland and the UK, plus a trip to China that was just over $60,000.
When the private school principal appeared before court in March 2023 a former guidance counsellor at the school, Christine Harman, testified that Mr Thomson had also bullied her while she was employed at the school, alleging he asked her to prepare a number of documents relating to his “interrogation” of a child that allegedly resulted in complaints from parents.
Mr Thomson and his daughter, who was the former chief financial officer of Kimberley College and her husband, are yet to enter pleas over their alleged embezzlement in school funds dating back to 2012.
DR BRIDGET CULLEN
After being newly appointed to the board of the Presbyterian and Methodist Schools’ Association (PMSA), Dr Bridget Cullen quit following a series of public social media posts where she came under fire for “stereotyping poor people” and using obscene language.
Formerly on the board of PMSA which oversees Brisbane Boys’ College (BBC), Somerville House, Sunshine Coast Grammar and Clayfield College, Dr Cullen was also the acting chair of the BBC school council when she resigned in February 2021 after making a Facebook page posing as the juvenile who allegedly stole her luxury BMW from her Indooroopilly home.
Dr Cullens made the Facebook page named ‘Bridget’s BMW Rescue Journey’ on December 23, 2020, which included satirical posts made by Dr Cullen in which she poses as the person who allegedly stole her vehicle, using extreme profanity stating “That Indro b**** must have 2 Beamers, and I’ve got the key for the wrong one. F***.” and “Every c*** in Indro must be out walking their tiny little dog this time of day”.
In her posts, she makes up a narrative of the alleged offender being a meth-addicted teenager with a dysfunctional home life whose mother is a prostitute, father has spent time at Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre and whose drug-dealing brother Tyson sleeps with his own girlfriend.
After her resignation from her volunteer positions at the PMSA board and as acting chair of the BBC school council, Dr Cullen released a statement in a letter stating that “I am not anti-poverty, or elicit. My fictional work was also a parody of privilege, and myself”.
“I own my mistake in thinking that, as this was fictional satire written from the perspective of a character, that it would not be seen as an expression of my own views, and certainly not of any of yours.” said Dr Cullen
Dr Cullen stated that the Facebook page “is not a picture of me, or the views I hold”.
She continues to work as a top lawyer and was recognised as Woman Lawyer of the Year by Women Lawyers Association of Queensland in 2019.
Originally published as Sacked, resigned, stood down: Queensland shock high-profile firings
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