Curious case of Townsville Mayor: Facing the sack by council, now he’s vanished
A north Queensland mayor accused of misconduct has taken a leave of absence, missing a council meeting that unanimously voted to remove him.
But Troy Thompson insisted he was still Townsville mayor in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
Mr Thompson was absent when the no confidence motion was passed unanimously by Townsville councillors on Wednesday.
The motion asked for Mr Thompson to step aside pending the outcome of a corruption watchdog investigation.
Mr Thompson has been referred to the Crime and Corruption Commission over claims made during his mayoral campaign that he had served five years in the military.
He conceded in an interview on Nine Network’s A Current Affair last week that he had misled voters about his army record as well as his tertiary studies, blaming “100-plus” concussions.
The Townsville Council will now write to Local Government Minister Meaghan Scanlon, asking her to suspend or dismiss Mr Thompson.
Moments after the vote, Mr Thompson posted on Facebook he would be taking a mental health break but was “still mayor”.
“I’m still mayor, just taking a break for mental health reasons and also allowing for the investigation to take place without further pressures.
“I will not be commenting further on these matters, other than day 57, is a day of rest for your elected mayor.”
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Mr Thompson asked for privacy, saying “perhaps media can find a new toy to kick”.
“It would be appreciated if the news reporters could respect mine and my families (sic) privacy at this time, and not bang down the door, as they did yesterday afternoon.”
Mr Thompson earlier claimed he was the victim of a “witch hunt”, saying any effort to suspend him before the watchdog probe was completed would be political interference.
Ms Scanlon said on Tuesday she was monitoring the situation and would consider any options available to her once the investigation was complete.
