Ipswich council backs down on bid to gag its mayor

An extraordinary move to gag the popularly elected Ipswich mayor from speaking with the media has been put on hold as local councillors consider legal advice.

Ipswich mayor Teresa Harding. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

A move to gag the Ipswich mayor from speaking with the media has been put on hold as local councillors consider legal advice.

Mayor Teresa Harding, who has twice been directly elected by ratepayers to lead one of Australia’s largest councils, faced a motion by a bloc of councillors to change rules to prevent her from speaking with the media or issuing press releases on major city issues.

The proposed amendments to the council’s media rules would have delegated the public role of a spokesperson for the city to various councillors, several of whom have been Ms Harding’s political rivals.

Veteran councillor Paul Tully had initially pushed for a vote on the media rules on Tuesday but backed down after his proposed changes were revealed in The Australian, drawing widespread criticism on radio talkback and websites across the state.

Instead, Mr Tully “laid the matter on the table”, meaning it would not go to an immediate vote but could be debated at a later, unspecified meeting.

Mr Tully told the council meeting that he wanted to give councillors more time to consider the motion.

He and five other councillors, who previously used their numbers in the nine-member council to remove Ms Harding as the head of the council’s dis­aster management group, voted on Tuesday to keep the motion in the council and ready for debate.

It is also understood that Ms Harding sought and received advice on the legality of the then proposed motion.

That advice cannot be publicly released but will be given to the councillors.

Ms Harding said Mr Tully had “backed down” on his ­motion in the face of “community outcry”.

“What is clear is that we have seen democracy in action with the community and media holding him to account in this move to gag a directly elected mayor,’’ she said. “We have shown that these things can’t just be pushed through and discussed in the shadows; the council won’t be going back to the dark old days.”

Ms Harding was referring to the 2018 sacking of the Ipswich City Council by the then Labor Queensland government.

Three current councillors, including Mr Tully, were among elected local government politicians who lost their jobs when the council was sacked after two mayors and two of the council’s chief executives were charged.

Longtime Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale was convicted and jailed for corruption and sex ­assault.

His successor, Andrew Antoniolli, was charged with seven counts of fraud, of which he was later convicted and then acquitted on appeal.

Mr Tully could not reached for comment on Tuesday.

On Monday, he told The Australian he was not intending to restrict Ms Harding from speaking to the media.