Townsville councillors have unanimously passed a no-confidentiality motion against Mayor Troy Thompson, who has admitted to making false statements about his military service and qualifications. They’re calling on the local government minister to suspend him while the crime and corruption commission investigates.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Ratepayers ready to watch and a wall of security.
00:06Show starts in 10 minutes, boys and girls.
00:08Unprecedented scenes for a Townsville Council meeting.
00:11I have no idea what's going to happen but I'm definitely needing to see.
00:16Mayor Troy Thompson has been under intense pressure to resign
00:20after admitting to inflating his military history.
00:23What do you think of the Mayor's conduct thus far?
00:25Pretty appalling.
00:27I think she got a good kick up the butt
00:29and I think you should keep your job because we the people voted him in.
00:32I want to hear him talk. Listen to his voice.
00:35They didn't get a chance.
00:37Troy Thompson was a no-show, taking leave from Council
00:40while the Crime and Corruption Commission investigates.
00:44I'm still Mayor, he wrote on social media,
00:47telling followers he's taking a break for mental health reasons
00:50and to allow the investigation to take place without further pressures.
00:55In his absence, Councillors unanimously moved a no-confidence motion.
01:00All those in favour?
01:02Requesting the Local Government Minister step in to suspend or dismiss him.
01:07As a spouse of a veteran, I'm concerned about reputational damage,
01:12not only within our garrison city but also throughout the nation.
01:16The meeting livestream crashed due to public interest.
01:20Local Government Minister Megan Scanlon says
01:23she won't consider taking action until the CCC investigation is complete.
01:28The Corruption Watchdog has declined to comment on how long that process will take.
01:33The Premier says the Mayor should go.
01:36I think it's clear that he wouldn't have been elected
01:39if Townsville locals knew the truth.
01:42Councillors are determined to get back to business as usual,
01:45including preparing for the budget.
01:47We don't want all this chaos around us to stop us from doing our job.
01:53Deputy Paul Jacob will step up as Acting Mayor.