‘Unfair, untrue and hurtful’: Councillors take aim at mayor in fiery meeting

The Ipswich mayor has been accused by councillors of making “unfair, untrue and hurtful” remarks about a change to the council’s media policy.

The change, which was passed following a vote on Thursday morning, will give councillors access to the local government’s media team to distribute public statements, rather than just mayor Teresa Harding.

Last week, Harding argued this would drain resources and lead to inconsistent messages coming from council.

“Residents should hold significant concerns about what is being proposed here,” she said.

“While ratepayers will be funding this proposal, it is hard to see how it will deliver benefits for anyone other than these councillors.”

It’s the latest division at the council bordering Brisbane to the west, where Harding, a former federal candidate for the LNP, leads a largely Labor-associated council.

In discussions about the change, brought forward by Paul Tully, a councillor of 47 years’ standing, multiple councillors took the opportunity to criticise Harding.

Former mayor Andrew Antoniolli accused Harding of undermining council process.

“Mayor, I also thank you for your conciliatory approach to today, in light of many of the comments that you made last week and during the past week, which have been unfair, untrue, hurtful, and certainly unhelpful to this process,” he said.

Councillor Pye Augustine told the council she felt excluded from media releases she should have been part of.

“As the Economic and Cultural Development Chair role of the 17 [releases mentioning the committee], I have been referenced zero,” she said.

Antoniolli echoed that sentiment.

“I feel that pain because I feel that I have been deliberately excluded from some as well,” he said.

He argued the eight-person media team could handle a few more requests, noting there were no longer two local papers, and the team had only produced 44 media releases since the start of July.

When asked by the mayor, council chief executive Sonia Cooper said the change could lead to the team needing between a half and two extra full-time equivalent workers.

But Tully said he was confident the change would not lead to the team requiring more resources.

The policy change passed 7-2 with only the mayor and councillor Marnie Doyle voting against.

Deputy mayor Nicole Jonic was absent from the vote.

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