Bid to boost power in Katter Country revealed in mayoral race

The conservative political movement led by the Katter dynasty aims to seize further control of North Queensland, with the party’s deputy leader Nick Dametto revealing he will leave state parliament to challenge outgoing Townsville mayor Troy Thompson.

The revelation comes after the scandal-plagued Thompson resigned on Friday morning after a corruption watchdog probe and claims he lied about his military service and elements of his resume in the lead-up to his 2024 victory.

Thompson said he will recontest the upcoming byelection, with the date for the mayoral poll to be revealed next week.

The wide expanse of the far north is often dubbed “Katter Country” due to the grasp the political family has over the federal seat of Kennedy through Bob Katter and three state electorates led by his son Robbie Katter.

KAP comfortably holds all of the seats, including Dametto’s now former Townsville seat of Hinchinbrook, with the party confirming it will run another candidate in the byelection in the hopes of consolidating its margin of nearly 15 per cent.

Dametto told this masthead he will resign from KAP to run as an independent in the mayoral race, but his ties with the party are strong.

Before leaving state parliament, he was viewed as the likely successor to lead the powerful crossbench party if Robbie eventually replaced his father as the federal Member for Kennedy.

“I want to see the city get back on track,” Dametto said soon after announcing his candidacy.

“We’re going through a growth period right now in Townsville with a strong economy, but we need strong leadership up there at the Townsville City Council – someone who’s not only going to be able to take the council in a strategic direction, but also work with the councillors that have already been duly elected.”

Dametto said his motivation for running was to end 18 months of council chaos caused by the ongoing scandal relating to Thompson’s leadership.

In a lengthy video posted online announcing his resignation, Thompson hit out at Premier David Crisafulli, claiming attempts to oust him amounted to government overreach and political interference.

He described his coming campaign for re-election as a bid to “protect the democratic rights” of Townsville residents.

The LNP government had suspended him with pay last year, and this month Minister for Local Government Ann Leahy issued a show-cause notice.

Speaking from Brisbane on Friday, Leahy said the investigation into Thompson, his suspension and eventual resignation had been a “lengthy saga for the people of Townsville”.

“I have not received any phone calls… [or] correspondence since the show cause notice – the only thing that I received was at 9.07 this morning, which was when my office received notice of his resignation as mayor of the city of Townsville,” Leahy said.

Leahy promised a mayoral election date for the City of Townsville by early next week, and said Thompson would not be stopped from running again.

“Given Mr Thompson is no longer the mayor of Townsville, the process of the show course has now ceased,” she said.

“I’m advised that as per the Local Government Act, the former mayor has not been subject to disciplinary action that would prohibit him from running.”

Thompson said his resignation was “not an admission of wrongdoing”, but “a principled stand to protect the democratic rights of the people”.

“A vote for Troy Thompson is no longer just a vote for a person, it is a vote to protect our democracy,” he said.

Leahy said the Crime and Corruption Commission would not allow her to reveal details of the investigation into Thompson’s alleged wrongdoing.

She instead urged Thompson to release the investigation’s documents.

“Mr Thompson actually has the information that’s in that show cause notice,” Leahy said.

“It is up to Mr Thompson to whether he wishes to release that information – and I would encourage all candidates to be open and transparent in the lead up to the election.”

With state law requiring a new mayor to be selected within two months, the CCC investigation would likely still be under way when candidates run for the position.

When asked whether the state would again issue a show cause notice to Thompson were he to be re-elected, Leahy said she was “probably not going to go into the hypotheticals”.

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