Former Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale: from council to courtroom

HE was one Queensland’s most popular politicians. Now, in a stunning turn of events, he could be facing life in jail.

FOR 26 years the residents of Ipswich have voted to keep Paul Pisasale in the job of representing the city, but the next group of people to decide the former mayor’s fate could be a jury.

The once popular politician, usually seen smiling and dressed in a smart and tidy yet approachable way, has presented a far different image in his past few public appearances.

Charged with extortion and assault charges and facing a barrage of negative reports since his resignation just weeks ago, Mr Pisasale’s formerly squeaky clean reputation has taken a battering.

Former Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale’s June 6 resignation kicked was only two weeks ago. Since then he’s been charged with extortion. Picture: Stuart Layt/AAP

Things started to go downhill for the much-loved leader after his dramatic resignation in a hospital lobby earlier this month.

The outgoing mayor was dressed in a sympathy-inducing hospital gown, pink pyjamas and socks, and wheeled along an IV drip while revealing a long struggle with multiple sclerosis that he said had forced him to retire. Onlookers commented that they’d never seen him in such poor shape.

Since then, it’s been revealed his home has been raided by Queensland’s Crime and Corruption Commission, he was intercepted at Melbourne Airport on May 13 by Australian Federal Police carrying $50,000 cash in a bag, and was yesterday arrested and charged with extortion and assault-related offences.

Today, sitting in the dock at the Queensland Law Courts after his night behind bars, Mr Pisasale appeared even further removed from the man-of-the-people image he has so long upheld.

Facing three charges, the 65-year-old appeared dejected. Reports from inside the courtroom described Mr Pisasale as looking “dishevelled” and “tired”, dressed in a prison-issued brown tracksuit after his night in the Brisbane police watch-house.

But the course that led to Mr Pisasale spending a night in a cell, being arrested and now on bail with the possibility of life behind bars — the maximum sentence for extortion — would never have been suspected by his loyal constituents.

Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale is excited about the take off of the Ripley Town Centre.

Paul Pisasale was one of Queensland’s most popular politicians. Picture: Annette Dew

One of Queensland’s most popular politicians, Mr Pisasale was last elected with 83 per cent of the vote at the 2016 local government election. His majority has previously been as high as 88 per cent.

He was mayor almost 13 years since his election in 2004, and has sat on the Ipswich Council since 1991. A member of the Labor Party, Mr Pisasale represented the city as an independent.

He was a popular leader, known for being approachable, always on his phone, and a straight shooter who wasn’t afraid to criticise other levels of government. He earnt the nickname “Mayor 24/7” for the amount of time and hard work he was willing to put in for the city.

Mr Pisasale’s leadership was occasionally clouded by controversy when he was accused of being too cosy with the city’s developers, but accusations never managed to stick.

In a 2012 interview he said he stood up to developers, and stuck up for those he had worked with.

“Any developer that thinks they can put dollars to my campaign and it will change the way I operate, they’ve got another thing coming,” he told the Queensland Times.

“You look at the developers in the city — Stockland, Wingate, Springfield — they’re not like that; they’re not going to go to jail.”

Mr Pisasale also called Ipswich planners “the most ethical people in the country” and distanced himself from their decisions.

“I don’t make the decisions; we have planners and in my whole life I have never interfered in a planning decision in council,” he said.

His dramatic resignation took everyone by surprise. Picture: Tim Marsden

Paul Pisasale had previously said he would resign when he stopped enjoying himself. Picture: Tim Marsden

Though suspicions around Mr Pisasale’s relationship failed to stick over the years, they came up again last year when he was called as a witness to the Crime and Corruption Commission’s investigation into donations and alleged corruption in the city’s landslide election.

During a lengthy grilling Mr Pisasale defended his dependence on developers, arguing election campaigns were costly and “poor old developers” had to help fund them.

He elicited sympathy for the companies that had supported him and argued for a public funding model for campaigns. He also claimed no Ipswich planners would be “bought off by a developer”.

CCC investigators continued to pursue Mr Pisasale, conducting a series of raids at properties linked to the mayor and seizing items including his mobile phone and Apple Watch.

His sudden resignation followed the next day which was also the same time it emerged the former mayor had been stopped by Australian Federal Police at Melbourne Airport carrying $50,000 in cash inside a plastic bag as part of his hand luggage on a flight to Brisbane. Brisbane lawyer and Mr Pisasale’s friend, Sam Di Carlo, said he was transporting the cash as a favour and that it had nothing to do with a meeting with a Melbourne developer Mr Pisasale was coming from.

Mr Pisasale has not been charged in relation to that incident.

Just last week, independent Queensland MP Rob Pyne tabled a four-page document in state parliament attacking Mr Pisasale and again raising alleged links with developers.

On Tuesday Mr Pisasale was arrested and charged by the CCC and in a court appearance today was granted bail.

Deputy Chief Magistrate Terry Gardiner granted him bail subject to a number of conditions such as travel restrictions.

Leaving the watch house, Mr Pisasale said he would fight the charges and “continue to fight for Ipswich” and hoped “the perpetrators of this are brought to justice”.

- With AAP