Ipswich deputy mayor found guilty of misconduct over leaked documents

A four-year political feud within Ipswich City Council has culminated in a misconduct finding against Deputy Mayor Nicole Jonic. The dispute centered on whether to continue naming assets after former mayor Paul Pisasale, a convicted criminal.

The Queensland Councillor Conduct Tribunal (CCT) determined that Jonic engaged in misconduct after she unintentionally emailed confidential council documents to a journalist in 2022. This occurred during the contentious debate over renaming a bridge and Pisasale Drive.

The saga has divided councillors for nearly four years and brought Pisasale's legacy back into public focus. Pisasale resigned in 2017 due to ill health and later faced charges for extortion and sexual offenses. The entire Ipswich City Council was dismissed by the state government in 2018 amid findings of corruption, with an administrator appointed until the 2020 elections.

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The finding is the latest in a dispute that has divided councillors for almost four years and has further thrust the legacy of former mayor Paul Pisasale into the public consciousness.

In late 2021, the newly elected council voted to remove Pisasale's name from a Springfield bridge and Pisasale Drive. This decision sparked significant community debate and a consultation process for new names. The dispute intensified when Jonic and fellow councillor Jacob Madsen raised concerns about alterations between the draft and final versions of a community engagement report in 2022. Jonic alleged that thousands of community responses were excluded and that Mayor Teresa Harding had selectively edited the report. The council and mayor's office stated that social media reactions were improperly included in the draft report outside the consultation's scope.

The CCT accepted that Jonic's disclosure of confidential documents was accidental and that she attempted to recall the email. However, the tribunal ruled that the disclosure still constituted misconduct under the Local Government Act. As a result, Jonic has been ordered to undergo training on handling confidential information. This follows an earlier CCT decision that cleared Jonic and Madsen of misconduct allegations concerning their claims about Mayor Harding's actions.

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The tribunal, in the recent decision, accepted the documents were attached to the email by mistake and that Cr Jonic attempted to recall the message shortly afterwards, but ruled the disclosure still amounted to misconduct under the Local Government Act.