Townsville city councillors relieved as Premier looks to oust Mayor Troy Thompson

Townsville councillors say news the premier is seeking legal advice to remove the city’s troubled mayor is a relief, albeit a little late as the mayor breaks his silence. See the full timeline of the saga so far.

Mayor Troy Thompson may be issued a notice of suspension pending the outcome of a Crime and Corruption Commission probe. Picture: Shae Beplate.

Townsville councillors say news the Queensland Premier is seeking legal advice to remove the city’s troubled mayor is a relief, albeit a little late.

As reported Thursday, Premier Steven Miles has sought advice to stand down Mayor Troy Thompson until the outcome of a Crime and Corruption Commission investigation is complete.

The mayor is currently being investigated after he misled the public on his military, university and business qualifications, as well as a number of election campaign donations, with the government reportedly receiving advice the probe could take more than a year.

Townsville councillor Brady Ellis told the Bulletin he had hoped the Premier would have stepped in months ago, when councillors declared a vote of no confidence against the mayor in May.

“You’ve had both sides (of government) say the position is untenable, and now it seems like in a last-ditch effort as caretaker mode takes over on Tuesday we might be getting some action out of Mr Miles, which is nice,” Mr Ellis said.

“It’s never too late to fix wrongs.”

The Division 10 councillor maintained Mr Thompson was not fit to hold his position.

“I cannot think of any scenario where any person with the facts could suggest that he is,” Mr Ellis said.

Councillor Brady Ellis. Picture: Shae Beplate.

Deputy Mayor Paul Jacob said he had no confidence in Mr Thompson’s ability, even as he served as a mediator between the other nine councillors and the mayor.

Mr Jacob supported the Premier’s efforts to make Mr Thompson stand aside while a CCC investigation was under way, saying he would be prepared to fill in as acting mayor “short-term” as he had previously.

Mr Jacob told the Bulletin he had no intention of taking on the mayoral role for more than a year however, and that if the position became vacant with a by-election he would not contest it.

His wife had a heart condition which was what prompted him to step away from his own mayoral ambitions at the start of last year, deciding to run as Division 1’s councillor against then incumbent Margie Ryder.

“Even if another mayoral election was being held, my position hasn’t changed … I would not put my hand up,” Mr Jacob said.

Townsville MP Scott Stewart on Friday said he backed the Premier’s decision to seek legal action to remove the mayor “110 per cent”.

Mr Thompson was showing lack of leadership that was having detrimental effects for the city, and he was spooking investors from coming into the city.

Local Government Minister Meaghan Scanlon’s decision to appoint a state-appointed adviser early this month was supposed to de-escalate the situation between councillors, and it had not.

Resources and Critical Minerals Minster Scott Stewart. Picture: Paul Brescia

“We’ve asked them time and time and time again to put their differences aside, put the city first and foremost in their thinking,” Mr Stewart told the Bulletin.

“Now we’re at the point where something needs to happen, because when I’m out talking to people, when I’m in the markets in the city, when I’m out door knocking with people, they’re telling me time and time and time again, ‘what are you doing about the mayor?’”

Mr Stewart praised leadership abilities within the council chamber, specifically identifying Suzy Batkovic’s Olympic background, and Kurt Rehbein’s disaster management experience.

But for those skills to work effectively he said the mayor had to be a rallying point.

“He needs to step up, he is the leader of the city, he needs to put those personal differences aside, he needs to set that moral compass and drive this city in the direction that we need it to be driven,” Mr Stewart said.

Meanwhile, Division 4 councillor Kristian Price spent much time with Mr Thompson during the campaign trail, who had rallied the support of right-wing conspiracy group MyPlace members.

Councillor Kristian Price. Picture: Shae Beplate.

While Mr Price looked to be his biggest supporter when the council was sworn in, their relationship soured after Mr Thompson acknowledged he had lied about his military and education history, first exposed in the Bulletin and culminating in an embarrassing appearance on A Current Affair.

At last week’s council meeting, Mr Price emotionally called for the mayor to apologise after he was accused of misconduct and the accusations were cleared by the council’s chief legal office and the Office of the Independent Assessor.

He said the mayor had two sides to him.

“When he’s hard towards us, nobody sees it,” Mr Price said.

“I see more of him going out enjoying himself at invites … he seems to be having a great time, but he’s not doing anything, but where are these investors coming to us?

“I don’t see it, I see Troy’s pages, he’s out having a good time … look at me, look at me with somebody else.

“I just don’t know if that’s how mayors should be doing his job, like, is that his way of networking with people, I don’t know.

“To me it’s like he’s having a good time while councillors are doing their jobs.”

Mayor Troy Thompson. Picture: Shae Beplate.

Mr Thompson on Friday branded the latest development from the Premier’s office “Labor political grandstanding”.

“I am deeply concerned by the report in the Townsville Bulletin this morning, which appears to quote Labor Premier Steven Miles stating his intention to remove me as Townsville’s democratically elected Mayor without cause, seemingly due to personal dislike,” the mayor said.

“It seems that the Labor Premier Steven Miles is attempting to create chaos ahead of the upcoming election on October 26, where he faces a potential and devastating defeat.”

Mr Thompson further said Mr Miles’ intention to remove him from his “democratically elected position without legitimate cause” was “alarming”.

“Such actions undermine our democratic principles and suggest a level of disregard for democracy in Queensland,” he said, adding it served as “a warning” about the actions Labor could take “against those they oppose” in the future.

It’s not just Labor who have been outspoken during the saga, with political leaders from every faction including the LNP and Katter’s Australia Party calling on the mayor to stand aside for the good of Townsville.

LNP leader and likely new premier David Crisafulli last week called for an examination of the Local Government Act to find any flaws that enabled the appointment of Mr Thompson to begin with.

Speaking in Townsville, Mr Crisafulli again urged the mayor to stand aside while the CCC investigation took place.

“For the sake of the city and the order of the council my view is the mayor shouldn’t be in that position,” Mr Crisafulli said.

Speaking after the A Current Affair interview, Federal LNP Member for Herbert Philip Thompson echoed other leaders’ calls for the mayor to “step aside” pending the outcome of the CCC investigation.

“This has disappointed a lot of people in the largest garrison city in the country, and certainly the correspondence I’ve received from the veteran community following these reports has been of shock and upset,” the MP and former army veteran said.

Federal LNP Member for Herbert Phillip Thompson.

Katter’s Australia Party deputy leader Nick Dametto told the Bulletin July: “No one can take their eyes off this absolute bin fire that’s going on across the road at Townsville City Council chambers”.

“It has turned into a complete disaster and it might be fun for some people watching but while this circus continues on, Townsville continues to be impeded by a council that isn’t functioning properly, a mayor that is still under investigation,” Mr Dametto said.

KAP candidate Margie Ryder called the mayor saga “embarrassing”.

“I’ve got someone flying up from Sydney in August and the first thing that came out of their mouth is ‘Marg, are you sure we can actually do business with the turmoil that’s in Townsville?’” she told the Bulletin in July.

Originally published as Townsville city councillors relieved as Premier looks to oust Mayor Troy Thompson