Residents Relieved: The veil of Ipswich corruption lifted

The dismissal of the Ipswich city council sits in purgatory in Queensland Parliament, but many citizens in Ipswich wanted to remove the council long before the government considered a dismissal.

The recent fraud charges against former Ipswich Mayor Andrew Antoniolli comes after Former Mayor Paul Pisasale was charged with one count of extortion, two counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice and six more charges related to misappropriation of funds.

Mr Antoniolli, who was elected on the promise of accountability and transparency, was charged with seven counts of fraud by the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) for allegedly using council funds to purchase items from charity auctions.  

Two former council CEOs along with at least 11 others have been charged by the CCC, totalling to 66 charges.

Dr Conny Turni submitted a petition to the state government to dissolve the Ipswich City Council, which has to date gained 1,169 signatures.

“It’s a mess,” said Dr Turni.

“The disappointing thing is they haven’t considered the impact on the community, people don’t want to tell anyone they come from Ipswich,” said Dr Turni.

Gary Duffy is an Ipswich resident and previous mayoral candidate.

He said he believed in the council and invested in Ipswich only to find out it was all lies.

Mr Duffy said the council and Mayor were in an untenable position and the council had broken the trust of the community and the community needs someone from outside of Ipswich with a set of fresh eyes.

Although he also said staff who have not done anything wrong should keep their jobs, the new council needs to know they are accountable for their actions.

Jim Dodrill is the President of the Ipswich Ratepayers and Residents Association and spokesperson for Ipswich Residents Against Toxic Environments (IRATE).

He said he doubts the government did not know the full extent of corruption in Ipswich when he had his suspicions five years ago.

Corruption from some members of the Ipswich city council has led to investigations and petitions to end the council (Source: Lawrence Jeffcoat)

There are some who are cautious or completely against a dismissal of the council.

Ipswich resident Donna Pottinger recently submitted a petition called “Save Ipswich City Council”.

Her petition said the dismissal would undermine the democratic system Australia was built on and dismissal would be a significant step backwards for the community, halting developments such as the Ipswich mall.

Dr Turni said this petition was “absolutely ridiculous”.

Since Mr Antoniolli’s resignation, Minister for Local Government Sterling Hinchcliffe has pushed through new laws so he could have authority to remove local governments and install administrators.

Minister Hinchcliffe has suspended four mayors and one councillor, including former Mayor Antoniolli.

The petition hoped to remove the council through section 123 of the Local Government Act 2009, which allows the minister, with the approval of the Legislative Assembly and Governor of Queensland, to dissolve a local government.

Dr Turni’s petition also requested an administrator and forensic accountant be installed.

“Being in administration is not a bad thing,” said Mr Duffy.

Mr Dodrill said the corruption became very clear after Operation Belcarra. 

The operation headed by the CCC sought to investigate the practices of campaign fundraising in the 2016 local government elections in Gold Coast, Ipswich, Moreton Bay and Logan Councils.

Findings from the Ipswich City Council investigation found councillors, including former Mayor Paul Pisasale and Councillor Paul Tully, allegedly had fundraised as a group during the campaign without advising the returning officer.

Former independent candidate for division seven Jim Mckee said he saw the council was not working for the people of Ipswich also around five years ago when the council started redeveloping the Ipswich CBD.

Dr Turni said the business plan for the proposed Norman street bridge cost the council $20 million.

According to a Regional development, Australia fact sheet said the proposed project would have “ignited the economic and civic revitalisation of the Ipswich city centre”.

The project though has stalled and approval or completion does not seem to be in sight.

The official website of the Norman street bridge project, www.normanstreetbridge.com.au, has also been deactivated, now an advertisement to buy the domain is in its place.

Dr Turni said issues with the council include lack of control over private companies, waste management and debt management.

Waste management has been a continuous issue in Ipswich.

The city council released a plan from 2010-2015 and a recent plan from 2017-2031, a two-year gap in waste management planning.

These waste management plans focussed around four goals including a sense of pride in Ipswich, employment enterprises, innovative business and managing waste as a resource.

Managing waste as a resource underlined a trend with the Ipswich City Council’s increase of waste management facilities.

Dr Turni said the waste which is burned only metres away from homes is highly toxic, causing air pollution and toxic ash.

Over recent years development in Ipswich has seen several private landfills opened close to the CBD, with there only being two council-owned “waste transfer stations” in the city.

Dr Turni said she is “very concerned” about waste in Ipswich and has talked to numerous State Government departments, including the department of environment and heritage protection.

She also said all governments need to educate their constituents about recycling and there needs to be a development of a domestic recycling infrastructure.

Mr Dodrill said waste companies need to be prosecuted as they are only given a slap on the wrist currently and there should be no more new waste dumps in Ipswich.

“The people need a good reset,” said Mr Duffy.

Some believe the best path forward for Ipswich would be to install an administrator, who would usually be a former politician.

Dr Turni said many people have been waking up to the truth, although many people were terrified to sign the petition. 

To see more on Dr Turni’s  and Ms Pottinger’s petition:

“Dismissal of the Ipswich City Council”:

https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/work-of-assembly/petitions/petition-details?id=2909

“Save the Ipswich City Council”:

https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/work-of-assembly/petitions/petition-details?id=2927