Mayor accused of attempting to gag representatives in council media bust-up

Allegations a south-east Queensland mayor is attempting to “gag” councillors is at the heart of a local government scrap south-west of Brisbane, as well as claims council resources will be overwhelmed by the new rules.

Under policy changes expected to pass at Ipswich City Council, its media team will be permitted to work with councillors on their own communications. Under present rules, it is only permitted to act on behalf of the mayor or institution of council.

All councillors at a Finance and Governance Committee meeting on Tuesday voted in support of the proposed amendments – made possible by new legislation – except for mayor Teresa Harding and her deputy Nicole Jonic who opposed, and councillor Marnie Doyle who abstained.

Harding used the official council media channels to put out a personal statement blasting the move on Thursday, arguing it would drain resources and be of no benefit to ratepayers.

“I have never seen an example of a council’s corporate communications team being used to draft the personal views of councillors,” Harding said.

“There have been several attempts during my time as mayor to amend this policy to serve the political interests of councillors instead of serving the Ipswich community. I am sure residents are sick of seeing this tired political tactic.

“Residents should hold significant concerns about what is being proposed here. While ratepayers will be funding this proposal, it is hard to see how it will deliver benefits for anyone other than these councillors.”

Speaking over the phone to this masthead, longtime councillor Andrew Antoniolli shot down those arguments, accusing Harding of attempting to maintain centralised control of communications.

“I just think that these fanciful deflections by the mayor are just to try and take away from the fact that she wants to … and has shown a pattern of behaviour so far of gagging her fellow councillors,” he said.

“It’s my experience that they are currently underutilised, and that the current media pressures that exist are certainly less than what they were 10 years ago.

“It’s laughable. I think we’re all growing weary of the whole debate.”

Councillor Pye Augustine similarly said she didn’t believe the resourcing argument stood up to scrutiny.

“I don’t think that holds water… I just don’t understand what her thinking is,” she said.

Harding has previously accused councillor Paul Tully of attempting to gag her from speaking as official spokesperson on council matters. This masthead has contacted him for comment.