Later that day, Telstra issued a statement confirming the withdrawal of the award. However, Premier Mr Newman has gone to ground over the controversy, with his office ignoring requests for comment on Wednesday. In addition to appointing Mr Di Bella to his Premier's Advisory Board in 2013, Mr Newman made the long-time LNP donor a director of Tourism and Events Queensland in 2012. That year Mr Di Bella donated more than $18,000 to the LNP. During his time as Brisbane's lord mayor, Mr Newman also appointed Mr Di Bella chairman of the Queen Street Mall economic advisory board.

During the tenure of his successor to the Lord Mayoralty, Graham Quirk, Mr Di Bella has also been made a director of the city council funded Brisbane Marketing, as well as chairman of the recently announced CBD economic development board. None of these influential advisory roles are subject to review in the wake of the revelations of Mr Di Bella's controversial social media history, spokespeople for both Mr Newman and Cr Quirk have said. The businessman has often used online forums to make anti-gay posts, as well as to take aim at welfare recipients and foreign aid, many of them littered with expletives. But while he has the full support of the two political leaders, the same did not apply to Telstra. “We are extremely disappointed by Mr Di Bella’s comments. They do not reflect Telstra’s values nor those of the Telstra Business Awards and were completely inappropriate,'' the statement read.

“While we note that Mr Di Bella has apologised for the comments, we believe in creating and promoting a culture of inclusion and respect and we expect our award winners, as role models and leaders in the business community, to uphold these values. “Regrettably, as a result we have spoken with Mr Di Bella and informed him of our decision to withdraw the award.'' During a brief phone conversation with Fairfax Media from Manila on Wednesday, Mr Di Bella declined to comment but soon after issued two statements via a public relations firm. In one, he again apologised for his State of Origin tirade, attributing it to his being a passionate supporter of Queensland. In the second, he apologised to his staff on the loss of the award.

"Unfortunately I have just been advised that Telstra have withdrawn their business award from Di Bella Coffee. It is with sincere regret that my actions have led Telstra to make the decision to strip the team of an award that belonged to all of you," he wrote in an apology to staff. "This news has deeply upset me as I value and respect you all. You turn up every day and work tirelessly to achieve the goals at Di Bella Coffee and to have you all stripped of this award because of my direct actions upsets me deeply. "I am truly sorry." This year, Mr Di Bella was also named the Lord Mayor's Corporate Citizen of the Year. A spokesman for Cr Quirk said he would retain that title.

"There will be no review of his council-related positions or award," he said.