‘Enough is enough, this will stop, I am stopping it,’ Annastacia Palaszczuk tells parliament

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The Queensland government has moved to sack the scandal-plagued Ipswich city council after its mayor, Andrew Antoniolli, was charged with fraud by the state’s Crime and Corruption Commission.

“Enough is enough, this will stop, I am stopping it,” Annastacia Palaszczuk told state parliament. “The people of Ipswich deserve better.”

“The work leading us to this day has been under way for some time,” the premier said. “Governing is not about being rash, it is about being considered and responsible and taking the right action at the right time. That time is now.”



The local government minister, Stirling Hinchcliffe, will appoint an administrator and ask the council to show cause as to why it should not be sacked.

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Charges against Antoniolli are the latest revelation in a widening corruption scandal that has embroiled 12 elected officials and bureaucrats, including the former mayor Paul Pisasale.



Antoniolli, elected in August on a platform of integrity and transparency, was charged with seven counts of fraud on Wednesday.

The Crime and Corruption Commission alleges he used council funds for his own use for five years until May 2017, to buy auction items from charities.

The government had been under increasing pressure to act against the Ipswich council. The rogue Labor MP for Bundamba, Jo-Ann Miller, last year said under parliamentary privilege she had raised concerns about corruption at Ipswich with Palaszczuk, the deputy premier, Jackie Trad, and Labor officials.

Palaszczuk dismissed the comments at the time as “just Jo-Ann being Jo-Ann”.

Miller, whose electorate encompasses parts of Ipswich, said the community was fed up with the allegations of corruption. “The community is saying to me that they’ve had enough, they’ve had a gutful of all of this,” she told ABC radio on Thursday.

“They’re saying that the stench does not only come from the dumps in Ipswich but it’s also coming from the council.”

Miller said she had been urging governments on both sides of the political spectrum to investigate the council since 2004. “I’ve been ignored for a very long period of time,” she said.

She said she had assisted residents to go to the CCC, the local government minister of the time and the department of local government with their concerns.

“However, that wasn’t much good because the process was that if you went to the minister or the department of local government, they’d go back to the CEOs and ask for an explanation,” she said. “As we now know we have got two CEOs who have now been charged.”

Miller said she had not spoken to Antoniolli but had made her opinions known to the local government minister, Stirling Hinchliffe.

“There are many, many people in Ipswich who have known about the culture of alleged corruption for a long period of time and, quite frankly, they’re calling on the government to do something about it,” she said.

The scandal surrounding Antoniolli is the latest blight on the council’s reputation after Pisasale was slapped with fraud, corruption and misconduct charges last year.

Former Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale charged with corruption Read more

The former longtime council chief executive Carl Wulff was also charged with corruption while his successor, Jim Lindsay, was stood down in January after being charged in September.

The state opposition leader, Deb Frecklington, called on Hinchliffe to grow a backbone and “appoint an administrator immediately”. “This Labor crisis is unprecedented and it’s time Annastacia Palaszczuk cleaned up Labor’s backyard,” she said on Wednesday.

On Wednesday Hinchliffe said he was shocked and dismayed by the charges and was seeking legal advice to “act swiftly”.

He indicated he would take the advice to cabinet on Thursday but could not say whether any reforms could be expedited in the current parliamentary sittings.