Ann Leahy defends troubled Townsville Council

Local Government Minister Ann Leahy said she wished the Crime and Corruption Commission would resolve wrongdoing claims against suspended Townsville mayor Troy Thompson, as she defended the council.

Ann Leahy.

Local Government Minister Ann Leahy said she wished the Crime and Corruption Commission would resolve wrongdoing claims against suspended mayor Troy Thompson, as Townsville’s council leadership remains in limbo after seven months.

But she defended the council’s decision-making efforts after it was attacked this week by Federal MP Phillip Thompson, unrelated to the suspended mayor, who slammed its lack of backbone after agreeing last year to shift $100 million in funding for a concert hall to the ReefHQ aquarium.

Ten months after that funding decision, which the suspended mayor had been a part of, a major classical music event’s organisers decided to shift the event to Cairns instead, sparking outrage over the council’s leadership.

The state government also recently stepped in to cover $25,000 to save India Fest, recently crowned the state’s best event in Queensland Day’s awards, but which had suffered cuts as part of the council’s decision to scale back on community event funding.

But Ms Leahy said “we don’t step into those decisions” as she backed the troubled council’s process while it remained under the leadership of an acting mayor.

“It will be the people of Townsville who will pass that judgement in due course as to the performance, as they do with every other council in Queensland,” Ms Leahy said.

She believed regional advocacy groups were “persistent” in their lobbying pushes weeks before the state budget at a recent community cabinet meeting in Townsville, claiming they were “hunting as a pack.”

Ms Leahy said the government was still waiting for the watchdog’s investigation results, but did its best to offer stability, including suspending the mayor and maintaining a six-month appointment of state-appointed advisor John Oberhardt, who wrapped up his term in April.

“I met with him a number of times, and I think he has certainly helped settle things in council and get good governance in place,” she said.

“We’re still waiting for the integrity bodies to give us whatever the outcome is of their investigations, I don’t know what that is. “Obviously I’d like that to be quicker, but that’s up to the integrity bodies.”

Originally published as Ann Leahy defends troubled Townsville Council