Ipswich mayor says new council media policy aimed at gagging her

Ipswich mayor says new council media policy aimed at gagging her In short: Ipswich City Council has amended its media policy so all councillors can use the communications team. The mayor says councillors are trying to "minimise the voice of the mayor and maximise their own". The council chief executive officer said it was unclear how much the amendment would cost ratepayers. Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding says she has been "gagged" by her fellow councillors, following a vote in the council. Ipswich City Council today passed amendments to its media policy that allow all councillors to use communications staff to write and send media releases. Under the previous media policy, only the mayor could use the communications team to send media releases and press statements. The proposal was put forward by Councillor Paul Tully, who said it would "democratise" the council and allow other councillors to put different views to the public. Mayor accuses councillors of factional power play However, Cr Harding said ratepayers' money would be spent propping up the political profiles of individual councillors. At a committee meeting last week, she said this was the "third or fourth attempt" by a faction of councillors to weaken her power within the chamber. "Since my election in 2020 I have seen plenty of attempts from councillors trying to use council's media policy to minimise the voice of the mayor and maximise their own," she said. "This is now the third or the fourth attempt from memory, so it's getting a little ridiculous at this point. "The most infamous attempt of course was Cr Tully's notice of motion at the beginning of last year that effectively tried to gag me. "The Office of Independent Assessor agreed that what was being put forward was the equivalent of a gag". Cr Harding is an LNP-aligned politician, and the first non-Labor Ipswich mayor in more than five decades. However, independent and Labor-aligned councillors, including Labor stalwart Paul Tully, hold the majority in the chamber. In the lead-up to today's vote, Cr Harding issued a media release criticising the proposal as a bid for "ratepayer-funded PR teams". Under the new media policy, media releases must not be used to criticise other councillors or the mayor. Council chief executive officer Sonia Cooper said it was unclear how much the amendment would cost ratepayers. However, she said the team estimated it would amount to between 0.5 and two full-time-equivalent staff workloads. Cr Tully said these were modest changes and that the mayor would remain the council's official spokesperson. He said the mayor would still speak on behalf of the council, and that it would be made clear when councillors were expressing their individual views. Cr Tully said, to his knowledge, no other Queensland council allowed only the mayor to use its communications team. "Councillors have a right to communicate with their communities," Cr Tully said. "I think the [amendments] are fair, they're reasonable, they recognise the role of individual councillors, and they harmonise with the mayor's role." Councillor says he was 'excluded' from statements Councillor Jacob Madsen said councillors had a democratic right to speak to their wards about decisions that affected them. He said the mayor's comments were inflammatory. "I personally think the community are over this sort of rubbish and the attacks they see in the media, and I'm sick of having to defend myself against spurious claims," Cr Madsen said. "The proposal put forward does not involve cutting frontline council services to fund personal PR staff for councillors. That is categorically incorrect." Councillor Andrew Antoniolli said councillors had previously been "excluded" from media releases, even when the topic discussed was part of their committee portfolio. Of the eight councillors, five voted in favour of the change. Two, Cr Harding and Marnie Doyle, voted against it. Deputy Mayor Nicole Jonic was absent. [Image text:] CONDOLENCE Seconded by