General News
2 August, 2026
Council ‘not’ in a shambles
CLAIMS that the Cairns Regional Council was “dysfunctional” were disingenuous and a “grubby little game of state politics”, a council meeting heard this week.
Speaking to a motion calling on Mayor Amy Eden to pay back $15,000 in legal fees following a misconduct finding by the Councillor Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Cr Brett Moller said the council was “not taking an adversarial position on the matter” but simply following policy rules and regulations.
It is the second misconduct repayment motion on the Mayor’s misconduct to come before the council.
Cr Moller said these actions were “somehow being interpreted” as a reflection of a dysfunctional council.
“It is not. It is a reflection of a council that, despite these challenges, maintains high standards of governance,” he said.
Cr Moller said the recent comments made by the Member for Cairns Michael Healy and Opposition Leader Stephens Miles, who also called on the government to take action on the council, did not serve the community well.
He said the council’s “transparency and accountability” over the tribunal findings were a strength, not a weakness, and state members should perhaps reflect on their own time when they were in office and why they lost the election.
Cr Matthew Tickener said the whole council met Mr Healy just two days before his “bizarre outburst” and not once had he mentioned his concerns.
The motion this week comes after months of clashes in the chamber between the Mayor, the CEO and councillors over matters of misconduct or points of order.
At last month’s council meeting, Mayor Eden was ordered to repay $15,000 in legal fees after a CTC finding that she had breached local government legislation when she had provided confidential information to a journalist on two occasions in 2023.
This week’s motion was over another misconduct finding related to her failure to declare a conflict of interest, also during her time as a councillor in 2023.
Cr Kristy Vallely said that conflict of interest could sometimes be complicated and there were times when someone “genuinely doesn’t realise they have a conflict”.
“I’ve even known councillors who have realised after a meeting they have got it wrong, picked up the phone to the office of the independent assessor, explained what happened and took responsibility,” she said.
“This isn’t one of those cases.
“This involved a close, personal friend of the Mayor. Someone she was in business with.
“During that meeting not one, but two long-serving term councillors raised concerns that they believed she had a conflict of interest.
“She had every opportunity to step back, think about it and declare the conflict.
“Instead, she chose to stay and vote. That decision led to a misconduct charge. Rather than accepting that decision and moving on, the Mayor chose to challenge it using ratepayers’ money.”
