Ipswich City Council wants taxpayers to fund its legal costs after the Queensland government changed its mind about how best to sack the local body.

July 31, 2018

Ipswich City Council says taxpayers should foot the bill for an aborted court case sparked by the Queensland government’s bid to sack it.

The council, which is under a corruption cloud, went to the Supreme Court to challenge a government show-cause notice asking it to explain why it should not be sacked.

But the government abruptly halted that process, instead pursuing special laws to sack all the councillors. 

The council’s lawyer, Patrick O’Shea QC, has told the court the show-cause notice was so unreasonable that the council’s entire legal bill should be borne by the government.

He said the seven-day window the council was given to respond to the notice, along with Local Government Minister Stirling Hinchliffe’s failure to answer a request for a time extension, compounded the situation.

“Really, the (council) had no choice but to commence litigation,” Mr O’Shea said on Tuesday.

He said the minister had ultimately abandoned the show-cause process, and that showed how absurd it was.

“The minister wasn’t prepared to stand behind his notice,” Mr O’Shea said.

But the government’s counsel, Ken Barlow QC, said the minister had changed tack in the public interest.

He said the government was seeking new laws to dismiss the council rather than engage in a lengthy and costly court battle.

“The minister has acted wholly reasonably … Therefore it is reasonable for both parties to bear their own costs,” Mr Barlow said.

Justice Debra Mullins reserved her decision until Tuesday afternoon, but has indicated the government might have to bear some of the council’s costs.

“The fact is they’ve decided on a different course of action … so the government should pay the applicant’s costs,” she said.