Mount Isa City Council wants to charge residents to make complaints.

A report put forward in a council meeting this week said Mount Isa has spent over $105,000 since January this year investigating complaints. None were proven true.

After much debate, Mount Isa City Council voted to submit a formal motion to the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) annual conference, calling for the new fees. The council’s CEO David Keenan has written to LGAQ CEO Greg Hallam, outlining the types of complaints that the city believes should attract a fee. 

“Mount Isa City Council therefore proposes, for your consideration and support, the application of a fee to lodge a complaint that relates to serious matters including corrupt conduct, fraud, misconduct, maladministration and councillor conduct,” Mr Keenan wrote.

“An application fee of $200 per complaint is proposed.

“Where the complaint is substantiated or partly substantiated, council would refund the application fee in full to the complainant.”

Mount Isa Mayor Danielle Slade was the only councillor to vote against the proposal, saying it would see some members of the community silenced. 

“I would hate to see someone with financial difficulties not put in a complaint,” she told reporters after the meeting. 

“I still think we're basically saying we want to make it a little bit more difficult to put in a complaint against ourselves, which doesn't sit well with me.”

The motion must be supported at the LGAQ annual conference for it to become policy. The lobby says it will consider and debate all motions put forward at the annual conference.