Charges for Ipswich mayor
ONE of Queensland’s biggest councils have been dragged into another major integrity crisis with the mayor of Ipswich hit with criminal charges involving fraud and a bicycle.
The arrest yesterday of Ipswich Mayor Andrew Antoniolli brings to 12 the number of people facing criminal allegations stemming from a Crime and Corruption Commission investigation into Ipswich City Council. Cr Antoniolli has been charged by the CCC with seven counts of fraud, making him Ipswich’s second successive mayor to face criminal allegations within a year.
The charges make Cr Antoniolli the fourth Queensland mayor to be investigated by the integrity watchdog in the past several months.
State Local Government Minister Stirling Hinchliffe last night said he was “shocked and dismayed” by the charges.
He said he was seeking legal advice on what action the Government could take, but would not say if that included removing the council.
There was an expectation last night that administrators would be brought in should the advice indicate it was possible.