Townsville City Council chief executive calls for suspended mayor Troy Thompson’s ‘damaging’ posts to stop

Townsville City Council’s chief executive has labelled endless social media rants from suspended mayor Troy Thompson as “damaging”, saying staff’s wellbeing is at risk.

Acting CEO Joe McCabe. Townsville City Council general meeting. Picture: Shae Beplate.

The chief executive of Townsville City Council has labelled endless social media rants from suspended mayor Troy Thompson as “damaging”, saying staff’s wellbeing is at risk.

Since his suspension in November, Mr Thompson has been vocal on social media, sharing his thoughts on the state of the council and the effectiveness of councillors, encouraging feedback and posing questions to the public.

In the past week, Mr Thompson has conducted polls asking if the council should be put into administration, who should be deputy mayor, should we have fluoride in the water, the salary for the council’s CEO and if the Townsville Bulletin should stop printing.

The mayor was stood down for 12 months on full pay — about $225,000 — amid an ongoing Crime and Corruption Commission Queensland investigation into his misrepresentations over his business, army and university qualifications, which the Bulletin has extensively covered since April 2024.

Embattled Townsville mayor Troy Thompson. Picture: Evan Morgan

Mr Thompson’s poll on January 13 asked if the Townsville City Council should be put into administration or if it should be dissolved, citing the “dysfunction within the current councillors and the poor representation towards ratepayers”.

Mr Thompson also said in a post on January 11 that “Townsville needs a complete restart”.

After a recent pop-up stall at Willows Markets with his new community outreach venture with partner Michelle Blythe, they posted a series of paparazzi-type images on his page of Acting Mayor Ann-Maree Greaney and Councillor Kristian Price claiming they were “having a sneaky peak” out their “busy” pop-up stall.

The couple has also used Mr Thompson’s Facebook page to criticise councillors, claiming they aren’t doing enough in their divisions and posting their mobile phone numbers and email addresses encouraging them to make complaints.

Council chief executive Joe McCabe said in a statement on Tuesday that council staff members were Townsville residents and ratepayers and it was “not easy” for them to feel like their their hard work was being brought into disrepute.

Troy Thompson and partner Michelle Blythe have rebranded their social media page to 'Our Community Matters.'

Townsville's suspended mayor Troy Thompson and Michelle Blythe have rebranded their social media page to 'Our Community Matters.'

“Council’s number one priority is staff safety, and this includes their physical safety at work as well as their general and psychological wellbeing,” he said.

“Attacks on the efforts of council staff members are damaging to their wellbeing and their safety in our community, and should stop.”

Mr McCabe said the social media posts were “not productive”.

“It is not helpful and it is harmful for our city’s unity and reputation,” he said.

After being elected mayor in March 2024, discrepancies in Mr Thompson’s military records were revealed by the Townsville Bulletin following Anzac Day.

Mr Thompson was referred to the CCC, with investigations ongoing.

In September tensions were high between the chief executive and mayor, with Mr Thompson accusing Mr McCabe of lying to the media about pursuing the permanent chief executive officer role and blamed him for internal communication leaks in a social media post.

Mr McCabe strongly denied the accusations.

Mr Thompson told the ABC he was “complying” with the council’s social media standards.

“I’m neither a councillor or mayor, I’m suspended in my role, I’m a citizen of Townsville like anyone else,” he said.

“I’m entitled to freedom of speech, I’m entitled to make comments, I’m not letting out confidential information.”

The CCC are yet to make any findings from their investigation into Mr Thompson. No action has been taken.

Originally published as Townsville City Council chief executive calls for suspended mayor Troy Thompson’s ‘damaging’ posts to stop