Troy Thompson is under growing pressure to resign as mayor of Townsville after revelations he exaggerated his military service, with all 10 of the city’s councillors joining the Queensland premier in urging him to stand aside.
But the former One Nation candidate has dismissed the calls, writing in a Facebook post on Friday that he had “no intention to step aside as some of the naysayers would like”.
Thompson was referred to the state’s Crime and Corruption Commission last week after allegations he embellished his military record by stating he spent five years in the army, including time with “SAS Swanbourne”.
In an interview with A Current Affair on Thursday night, Thompson conceded he had not spent five years in the service, as he claimed during his campaign, and blamed “100-plus” concussions and epilepsy on his poor recollection.
“Look, I honestly, hand-on-heart, thought it was five years,” he told Nine.
“Those who know me know that I’ve had multiple concussions – 100-plus – and I suffer from epilepsy.
“That’s not an excuse. But what it says is you’re going to forget things from time to time.”
In an extraordinary press conference on Friday, all of Townsville’s 10 councillors called on the mayor to stand down.
Cr Suzy Batkovic read out an open letter signed by the councillors.
“You have lost the confidence of us as councillors and the community who believe that its political leaders should be open and transparent, and especially the serving and ex-servicemen and women of a proud garrison city,” she said.
“If you do not resign we will move a motion at next week’s council meeting calling for the minister of local government [Meaghan Scanlon] to suspend you pending the outcome of ongoing investigations.”
Earlier on Friday, the Queensland premier, Steven Miles, said it was “hard to imagine how it’s in Townsville’s best interest for him to remain as mayor”.
“On the basis of what he has acknowledged he’s done, that would seem sufficient to me for him to stand down in the interest of Townsville,” Miles said on Friday.
“Townsville is one of our biggest and most important cities, it can’t afford the uncertainty that’s going to come from a weak leader severely weakened by their admissions.”
In addition to embellishing his military record, Thompson also admitted he “never completed” university, despite describing himself as a “business graduate” during his campaign and claiming he had two degrees.
Thompson’s LinkedIn account previously listed a bachelor of science, occupational safety and health technology with Curtin University and a bachelor of commerce, accounting and marketing from Griffith University. These degrees were removed from his profile after he was sworn into office.
“I started them off. And then life changed. It was that simple,” he said.
Thompson apologised to veterans and the defence force for embellishing his military service – including claims he spent time with the SAS in Swanbourne and had served at 105 signals and 152 signals.
“I probably didn’t say it right pre-election, but I certainly spent some time with people from SAS,” he said.
“I’d never purport to be a soldier of the SAS. And they’re the most respected soldiers we have. So it’s important.
“I apologise to all services as well as veterans and defence and I think it’s important to put that out there because, you know, I respect the military.”
Thompson was disendorsed as a candidate for One Nation two months out from the 2020 election over failing to disclose his legal name and directorship in a company that went insolvent.
Thompson was the director of iPRO Solutions in 2017 when it collapsed owing almost $9m.
The mayor acknowledged he was unable to pay workers $236,000 in owed wages, superannuation, leave and redundancy entitlements, which made him feel “like crap”.
He also conceded he had arranged a payout to his ex-wife, an employee of the company.
Asked how he could manage the Townsville city council budget of almost $1bn, Thompson claimed it was a “different” ballgame.
“It’s so different. This is something I understand really well,” he said.
Thompson said he was “a normal bloke who really has the heart of the city behind him”.
“I know there’s a lot of stuff to deal with but, to me, I’ve put that behind me. I actually really want to wave the flag for Townsville and fight really hard.”
In his post on Facebook on Friday, Thompson admitted he had “made mistakes” but complained about the media coverage he had received, claiming A Current Affair “wrote a story to create negativity”.
“In March 2024, I chose to run against [mayor] Jenny Hill, no one was game … many were too scared, or felt their lives would be destroyed by the beast that was, and yet people have an opinion on who should be mayor,” he wrote.
“I look forward to the many people currently being negative toward me, putting their hand up in 4 years, until then, I will work incredibly hard to be transparent, and clear on our direction, and promote Townsville in the positive light it deserves.”
With additional reporting by Andrew Messenger
