Toowoomba deputy mayor Rebecca Vonhoff refers herself to Office of Independent Assessor over Kerry Shine photo scandal

A regional Queensland deputy mayor has referred herself to the local government watchdog following growing criticism for her role in a scandal involving a compromising photo of a colleague.

Deputy mayor Rebecca Vonhoff. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Toowoomba’s deputy mayor referred herself to the local government watchdog over her role in a scandal that saw a compromising photo of a councillor circulated on social media.

Popular councillor Rebecca Vonhoff revealed on Wednesday she had referred herself to the Office of the Independent Assessor, which investigates all complaints of councillor conduct across Queensland.

It comes two days after Ms Vonhoff revealed she had taken a photo of colleague Kerry Shine asleep in his chair during a meeting, which then appeared on social media just weeks before the March local government elections.

Multiple current and former councillors have said the circulation of the photo of the political stalwart and former state Attorney-General was designed to discredit him, calling for accountability.

Ms Vonhoff has repeatedly stressed she did not share the image outside of the council chambers but has not explained how it was circulated.

“Earlier this morning I referred myself to the Office of the Independent Assessor (OIA) of the Queensland Government,” Ms Vonhoff wrote on Wednesday.

“Following my self-reporting, the OIA process will unfold according to legislation and I’ll accept the outcomes including any judgment.”

It marks a significant development in the scandal that was first broken by The Chronicle as part of a series into allegations of inaction and disunity within the council.

Ms Vonhoff rang Mr Shine on Friday to apologise and after The Chronicle asked questioned her again about the photo on Monday the deputy mayor then released a statement on Monday confirming she had taken the photo.

On Tuesday morning, The Chronicle then questioned Ms Vonhoff about who she had sent the photo to and how it ended up from her phone on to social media.

This was followed by an unusual statement on a letterhead of mayor Geoff McDonald signed by all councillors on Tuesday, saying they wouldn’t be commenting on the matter any further.

Despite growing questions from the community as to who Ms Vonhoff sent the photo to, on Wednesday morning Mr McDonald denied the move was to shut down discussion on the matter but rather demonstrate the councillors’ unity, even comparing it to all 11 elected officials signing a pledge against domestic violence late last year.

Mayor Geoff McDonald during an ordinary meeting of council, Tuesday, May 28, 2024. Picture: Kevin Farmer

“It was a collective conversation of councillors, all councillors have signed it, I’m certainly not a dictator,” he said.

“The criticism has come around the idea that there’s no unity around council, the leadership is failing and people aren’t working together.

On Tuesday all 11 councillors signed a document claiming they will not discuss the photo scandal moving forward

“That was to show that we had discussed this and we’re all on the same path moving forward.

“What we need to do as a community is have rigorous debate, differing views, when a decision is made, that is a council decision and we move ahead.

“It’s run its course, to be honest and no one in that room knows who distributed the photo, so from our perspective it’s finished.”

Mr McDonald also took aim at the news coverage to hold councillors accountable for their actions, arguing it was divisive.

“The worst thing this region wants is a media outlet, whether it’s (News Corp) or elsewhere, trying to wedge councillors against each other,” he said.

Former Toowoomba councillor Joe Ramia said the statement didn’t explain how the photo was distributed.

“Is that the way the council functions — if they don’t want to talk about it, they can just close ranks, say it’s finished, (that) it’s gone away?” he said, referring to the signed letter.

“We all know who did it, but it doesn’t answer the question of who shared it to discredit councillor Shine.

“Until we find that out, it’s going to hang over the head of the council.”