In recent developments, the newly elected mayor of Townsville, Troy Thompson, is facing scrutiny over claims he made about his military service during electioneering. As the largest settlement in north Queensland and Northern Australia, the town has a significant population of around 180,000 residents. The city hosts a substantial number of government, community, and major business offices for the northern half of Queensland.
During the recent council election, Troy Thompson defeated incumbent mayor Jenny Hill, who had been in office for twelve years. During his campaign, Mr. Thompson claimed to have spent five years serving with the Royal Australian Corps of Signals and the Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment. However, when challenged by The Townsville Bulletin about this information, he was unable to recall his service number.
This inability to remember a key detail prompted the Department of Local Government to request an investigation into Mr. Thompson’s military service records from the Office of the Independent Assessor (OIA. After receiving and thoroughly examining the necessary information, including his service number, the OIA referred the matter to the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) on May 24th. The OIA will not be providing further comment on this issue at this time.
According to reports from The Townsville Bulletin, Mr. Thompson completed a two-week recruit course in June 1991, followed by a reservist cooking course between July and December that same year. No other courses or activities were recorded for him until his discharge in October 1993.
In response to these allegations, Mr. Thompson took to social media, where he claimed to have received his military service number after being challenged on his defense history since Anzac Day. He explained that during the Anzac parade, there were rumors circulating about him not having a service number or not having served in the armed forces at all. Mr. Thompson stated that he was wearing his father’s medals and not his own because he had not spent enough time in the reserves to receive a medal himself.
I didn’t spend enough time in the reserves to get a medal. It is that simple. All I wanted to do was to demonstrate my father’s medals and how proud I was of him,” Mr. Thompson said in a Facebook video last week. He went on to say, “Respectfully, you’ve got my service number. That ends the conversation. No more bad media. Let’s move forward.
When asked for comment about the OIA’s investigation and whether there were any concerns over his military service records, Mr. Thompson stated that he was not worried and had no intention of releasing the information to the public. He maintained that it was within his rights to withhold the details. I’m withholding the information … which is well within my right,” he said.
To date, there have been no findings against Mr. Thompson by either the OIA or the CCC in relation to his military service claims. The investigation into his records continues, and further updates on this matter are expected as more information becomes available.