Embattled Townsville Mayor Troy Thompson has failed to show at a council meeting and has sought a leave of absence as councillors this morning voted in favour of a motion of no confidence.
He had been facing pressure to resign since admitting to making false claims about his military history and education in the lead-up to the March local government elections.
His military history has been investigated by Queensland's council watchdog and referred to Queensland's Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC).
At a council meeting today, Townsville city councillors unanimously voted in favour of a motion to call on Queensland's local government minister to suspend the mayor.
Cr Thompson did not appear at the meeting despite earlier issuing a directive that media would not be allowed to take cameras into chambers.
"I have decided to take a leave of absence until the conclusion of the CCC investigations," Cr Thompson said in a statement he issued on Facebook.
"I'm still mayor, I'm just taking a break for mental health reasons, and also allowing for the investigation to take place without further pressures."
Motion of no confidence
Last week all 10 Townsville City Council members said they would move the motion, but Cr Brady Ellis was absent from today's vote due to illness.
The nine councillors present voted in favour of a motion that they did not have confidence in the mayor, requested for him to resign, remove him from all committees and boards, and require that councillors be notified of any of the mayor's dealings with operational council staff.
The motion presented by Cr Brodie Phillips also required the CEO to write to the Department of Local Government with material about the mayor's fitness for the job.
"Requesting that the [department] chief executive consider recommending the minister suspend the mayor pending the outcomes of relevant investigations," he said.
"If the information publicly available and provided is sufficient, determine the mayor should be dismissed from his office in the public interest. "
Packed public gallery
Today, Townsville City Council staff had to turn away members of the public who packed-out the small public gallery within the chambers.
"This action of no confidence must happen due to the loss of confidence in the wider community," first-time councillor Vera Dirou said.
"The ACA story resulted in cancelled meetings and councillors taking on external mayoral engagements as the mayor has been unable to fulfil his duties.
"As the spouse of a veteran I'm concerned about reputational damage — not only in our garrison city, but also throughout the nation."
In a statement, Local Government Minister Meaghan Scanlon said she would not take action until the CCC probe was completed.
"It's important that Queenslanders have confidence in their local government representatives," Ms Scanlon said.
"We are continuing to monitor this situation, but the CCC is the appropriate entity to investigate these matters.
"I will consider any options that may be available to me once the outcomes of this investigation are known."
False claims
During his election campaign Cr Thompson claimed he served with three signals including the SAS, and vaguely repeated those claims on Anzac Day.
Last week he admitted to spending just two years in the military as a reservist, largely as a cook.
He also acknowledged he had never completed the two university degrees he claimed to have.
Cr Thompson told Channel Nine's A Current Affair that he had suffered "100-plus" concussions and could not remember when he had joined the Army.
The revelations sparked calls from Premier Steven Miles and local federal MP and veteran Phil Thompson for Cr Thompson to stand down.
He has also come under fire from veteran advocacy groups, including the RSL Townsville branch, which said false claims of military service were "deeply disrespectful".
Responding to the fallout, Cr Thompson said he was the victim of a political witch-hunt and bullying from the media.
On Wednesday, before the council meeting, Opposition Leader David Crisafulli said the mayor's position was untenable.
"The best thing would be for him to step aside," Mr Crisafulli said.
Mayoral record
On Monday, first-time councillor Brady Ellis and LNP party member criticised the mayor's commitment to transparency.
"Troy Thompson's first action as mayor was to try make councillors vote in a secret ballot to determine the deputy mayor's position instead of an open and transparent vote," Cr Ellis said.
"Troy's second motion was to blindside councillors by trying to remove us from the CEO recruitment procedure."
The Townsville City Council CEO and the chief financial officer resigned after the March local government elections.
Cr Thompson lost a bid to select the interim CEO and a majority of councillors later appointed interim Joe McCabe.
What happens now?
Political scientist Maxine Newlands said although Cr Thompson's military history had been referred to the CCC, the body cannot charge a person with a criminal offence.
"There is no reason why the [Townsville] mayor at this stage has to step down unless there are other reasons we are not aware of. Process has to take place, " she said.
But Dr Newlands said there were examples of councils being dismissed for dysfunction and said if councillors refuse to work with the mayor it would likely create problems.
"If you've lost the support of the locker room then it's very hard often to do business," Dr Newlands said.
"In 2007 the Johnstone [Shire] Council was dismissed, there was a vote of no confidence, and the council became so dysfunctional it couldn't perform the duties it was sworn in to do and was dissolved."
Queensland's then-local government minister Andrew Fraser dismissed the council due to internal conflict, inappropriate behaviour, and financial problems.
In 2019 the entire Logan City Council was sacked after eight councillors, including the mayor, were charged with criminal offences including fraud.
Then-local government minister Stirling Hinchliffe said the council could "no longer function effectively", but almost two years later all charges were dropped.
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