Ipswich Council in Australia expands councillors’ access to communications service — ABC News Australia
Ipswich City Council in Australia has approved changes to its media policy that will allow all councillors to use the communications service to prepare and distribute press releases. Previously, only Mayor Teresa Harding had this right, ABC News Australia reports.
The initiative was proposed by Councillor Paul Tully. He said the changes are intended to make the council’s work more democratic and allow other councillors to communicate their own positions to the public. At the same time, the Mayor of Ipswich said the decision effectively restricts her voice and is aimed at weakening her authority in the council.
The mayor’s position
Teresa Harding believes local taxpayers’ money could be spent supporting the political profiles of individual councillors. At a committee meeting last week, she said this was the third or fourth attempt by a group of councillors to weaken her position since her election in 2020.
Harding also mentioned Tully’s proposal from last year, which, she said, the Office of the Independent Assessor equated with an attempt to silence her. Before the vote, the mayor issued a statement criticising the changes as creating PR teams for councillors at taxpayers’ expense.
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Arguments of the supporters of the changes
The new policy prohibits the use of press releases to criticise other councillors or the mayor. The council’s chief executive officer, Sonia Cooper, said the exact cost of the changes has not yet been determined. At the same time, the communications service estimated the additional workload at 0.5–2 full-time equivalents.
Paul Tully described the amendments as moderate and stressed that the mayor would remain the council’s official spokesperson. He added that the communications would clearly distinguish between the council’s position and councillors’ personal statements. According to Tully, as far as he knows, no other Queensland council restricts access to the communications service to the mayor alone.
Councillor Jacob Madsen said elected representatives have a democratic right to communicate with their electorates about decisions affecting them. Andrew Antoniolli said councillors had previously not been involved in press releases even on matters that fell within their committee portfolios.
Five of the eight councillors voted in favour of the changes. Teresa Harding and Marnie Doyle voted against, while Deputy Mayor Nicole Jonic was absent.
