Troy Thompson, Townsville mayor referred to Qld council integrity watchdog over military claims
Queensland’s council integrity watchdog has been asked to investigate Townsville Mayor Troy Thompson’s military history after questions were raised during official Anzac week duties.
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Queensland’s council integrity watchdog has been asked to investigate Townsville Mayor Troy Thompson’s military history after questions were raised during official Anzac week duties.
As reported in Saturday’s Townsville Bulletin, Mr Thompson has failed to produce any official records of his time in the Army and SAS after claiming throughout his mayoral campaign to have served in multiple units in Western Australia for five years.
Army veterans raised questions after the mayor made a speech at Townsville’s Anzac Day Dawn Service without any medals of his own, including the Australian Defence Medal for 4+ years of service, and telling media he “can’t remember” his service number.
The Department of Housing, Local Government, Planning and Public Works confirmed they had referred the matter to Queensland’s council integrity watchdog, which investigates complaints about councillor conduct.
“The department has referred the matter to the Office of the Independent Assessor for investigation,” a Department of Housing, Local Government, Planning and Public Works spokeswoman told the Bulletin on Monday.
“The Office of the Independent Assessor is an independent statutory body that has significant power and discretion under the Local Government Act.”
Federal Member for Herbert Phillip Thompson was asked if he would be willing to contact the Department of Defence and investigate the matter on the mayor’s behalf.
He said there was a specific process to be able to get the information.
“As the Federal Member for Herbert, I am often contacted by veterans seeking assistance to access their service records,” he said.
“Any requests made to me in relation to service records are a private matter between my office and the individual involved.”
Mayor Troy Thompson has been approached for comment.
Mayor’s medals missing in action
Friday, April 26: Presenting himself as an army veteran throughout his election campaign, Townsville’s new mayor Troy Thompson’s left side of his chest was bare at Anzac Day’s Dawn Service.
Mr Thompson wore his father’s medals on his right side, telling his Facebook followers in a video Wednesday night from Anzac Park that he often visits the wall where his father’s name appears on a plaque.
During his mayoral campaign, Mr Thompson regularly sat in front of a sign that labelled him a “proud father and son, business man, global traveller, soldier, gas fitter, business graduate and cancer survivor”.
Mr Thompson made a post on his campaign page on January 20 titled “My life in the Army” accompanied by a photo of him wearing a camouflage shirt, outlining his time with 109 Signals in Perth, 105 Signals in Fremantle and 152 Signals Swanbourne.
“If you’re also enlisted in the Army, feel free to share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below,” he told voters.
In an online interview with the North Queensland Freedom Network on YouTube in February, the aspiring politician said he got his “fighting style” from his mother who served for 20 years, along with his father who served 25.
“I spent five years in the military in Perth, so I was in signals, in … Karakatta, Fremantle and SAS Swanbourne.”
But in his speech to thousands at this week’s Anzac Day Dawn Service, Mr Thompson made no mention of his life in the army.
Asked after the Dawn Service if he had any medals of his own, Mr Thompson said: “No, I do not have any medals of my own, I’m here to respect my dad”.
According to the Department of Defence, ex-serving personnel who have served for four years either as an ADF Regular or Reserve member since the end of World War II (September 3, 1945) are eligible for the Australian Defence Medal.
Individuals are also allocated service numbers upon enlistment into Australia’s armed forces as a form of identification, and since 1921 all army personnel including reservists are issued with a unique army number or what’s known as PMKeyS.
When the Townsville Bulletin asked Mr Thompson if he had a service number, he replied: “Look, mate I’d love to say I do, but I can’t give you that”.
Mr Thompson later told the Townsville Bulletin he simply couldn’t recall his service number.
“The only reason I don’t know my number is it’s written on a book, it’s back in 1994 or ‘95 (when he says he left the army) and I actually don’t remember my number so it’s written on a book at my house with my ex-wife. That’s it.”
The mayor told media he had asked Federal Herbert MP Phil Thompson to “try and find my number”.
“I want to know what the actual service number is. I don’t know it, which is probably sacrilege when you think about it but my dad always said to me, he knows his number like that, but it was that long ago I simply don’t remember.
“Now I didn’t go to Vietnam or anything like that, so I guess those days were different to now.”
Anyone wanting a copy of their personal service records can request it via the Department of Defence’s ‘personal information request’ with two forms of ID.
When the Bulletin asked whether this request had been made, Mr Thompson replied: “once I have the information discussed, as the request has been submitted, I will let you know”.
When asked to see a copy of the request having been submitted to Defence or the federal member, Mr Thompson did not provide documentation and said he “will not be issuing further comment”.
Federal MP Phil Thompson confirmed he had not yet received a request to access records on the mayor’s behalf.
Asked about his time in the army on Anzac Day, the mayor told the Bulletin he was a reservist with the 109th Signals Squadron, before shifting over to the 152 Signal Squadron (SAS) “through a family member” where he spent “a bit of time” and “exited through 105” in Karrakatta.
Since being sworn in as Townsville Mayor, Mr Thompson’s social media posts mentioning his service have been wiped from his official Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn pages.
His official profile on the Townsville City Council website has no mention of his own military service, but does mention his “father was posted with the Australian Army”.
During his first press conference as mayor, Mr Thompson was asked by Channel 7 if he wanted to make a comment about scrutiny in the community around his claimed military history.
He replied: “I have made a comment exactly where I was and what units I was attached to and I just left it at that. I’m not going to address any other issues around the past other than I’ve been very, very open and clean with where I sat. My service history is able to be brought up through the federal government.”
The Department of Defence is unable to release information on individuals’ service history without the consent of the individual.
Responding to questions raised over why he wiped his social media clean, Mr Thompson said he had “chosen to transition from my current campaign pages to the mayor elect page to become my official mayoral page as of the 10th of April”.
“I have been advised to start fresh and rebuild my page for the next four years,” Mr Thompson said, adding he would remove negative or “not respectful” comments from his page and block users if need be.
It should be noted that Mr Thompson has blocked a number of Townsville Bulletin staff and Townsville community leaders from his official mayoral social media pages.
“If people wish to live in the past that’s where they’ll remain with my comments,” he said.
Originally published as Troy Thompson, Townsville mayor referred to Qld council integrity watchdog over military claims
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