Townsville mayor Troy Thompson blasts Premier Steven Miles over removal bid

Townsville mayor Troy Thompson has blasted Premier Steven Miles’s eleventh-hour push to remove him from office, hours before the government went into caretaker mode for the state election campaign.

Townsville mayor Troy Thompson has been issued a show cause notice by the Queensland government. Picture Facebook

Townsville mayor Troy Thompson has blasted Premier Steven Miles’s eleventh-hour push to remove him from office, hours before the government went into caretaker mode for the state election campaign.

Mr Thompson, who was elected as the mayor of Australia’s largest garrison city in March, was referred to the Crime and Corruption Commission in May after allegedly lying about his military career, university and business qualifications during the local government elections.

The anti-corruption watchdog is also understood to be probing allegations that Mr Thompson accepted political donations linked to property developers.

Local Government Minister Meaghan Scanlon used her ministerial powers to suspend Mr Thompson and issue him a show-cause notice after a cabinet meeting on Monday night.

She said she had waited until the eve of the campaign proper to issue the show-cause notice because “new information came to light”.

Ms Scanlon would not detail what the information was because it was “confidential in nature, and as such, I need to let that legal process run”.

“Based on the latest legal advice and information in front of me, I reasonably believe that it’s in the public interest for the Townsville mayor to be suspended,” she said.

Queensland Local Government Minister Meaghan Scanlon in Townsville on Tuesday. Picture: Adam Head

Mr Thompson said he rejected “every allegation made in the letter to me this morning” and described it as “one-sided” and an attempt to “subvert natural justice”.

“I have formally written to the minister, demanding any actions she seeks to take be deferred until after the caretaker period. This is the only appropriate course of action,” he said on Facebook. “It is unacceptable for the Labor minister to take such drastic measures during the caretaker period.”

In his letter to Ms Scanlon, Mr Thompson said the CCC had not issued any adverse findings and accused the government of acting on “hearsay and limited evidence”.

He accused the government of “ulterior motives” ahead of the October 26 election, describing the letter as a “political hit job” by the Labor government.

Mr Thompson also flagged a potential Supreme Court judicial review challenge to the show cause.

He has three weeks to respond to the notice.