![COUNCIL SHOCKED: Acting Rockhampton Mayor Neil Fisher (front) and fellow councilors have paid tribute to former mayor Margaret Strelow who resigned from the position late yesterday afternoon. COUNCIL SHOCKED: Acting Rockhampton Mayor Neil Fisher (front) and fellow councilors have paid tribute to former mayor Margaret Strelow who resigned from the position late yesterday afternoon.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/UdNE97Se3RqCx9C2EmYtgx/2f890e9b-f073-4610-ac19-67729905053a.jpg/r0_0_4032_3024_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Rockhampton councillors have paid tribute to former mayor Margaret Strelow, following her shock resignation Monday evening.
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Ms Strelow was found guilty of misconduct by the Councillor Conduct Tribunal when she failed to update her Register of Interests to include a hospitality benefit received from Adani Enterprises during a trade mission to India in March 2017.
The tribunal determined Ms Strelow engaged in misconduct involving a breach of trust placed in her as a councillor and ordered she make an apology at the next council meeting; update her Register of Interests for the period of April 16, 2017 to June 8, 2019, to record the hospitality benefit received from Adani; and attend in-service training in relation to the completion of the Register of Interests.
Ms Strelow refuted the findings of the tribunal and tendered her resignation to the CEO Monday afternoon.
![Former Rockhampton mayor Margaret Strelow resigned from the position late Monday afternoon. Former Rockhampton mayor Margaret Strelow resigned from the position late Monday afternoon.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/UdNE97Se3RqCx9C2EmYtgx/506ff85c-60fd-4a0a-bd30-19902167f83b.jpg/r0_0_480_651_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Ms Strelow took to her social media to explain her frustration with the findings.
"I recorded the Adani solar farm inspection in the same way we record all of our normal sponsored hospitality. There is a Register of Sponsored Hospitality," Ms Strelow said.
"Neither the Independent Assessor nor the Tribunal have even attempted to give a reason why this particular hospitality should be any different to any other. They were afraid to say the name Adani.
"The fact that I didn't list the solar farm inspection on my Register of Interests was not an administrative oversight it was a deliberate position of principle.
"The Register of Interests did not call up official hospitality at the time the solar farm inspection took place. The legislation has since been changed."
Acting Mayor Neil Fisher said the former mayor's announcement had come as a shock.
"There are a lot of people in the community and in council who have been taken aback by her announcement and I want to say to them that we understand that feeling," Cr Fisher said.
"Margaret was a fierce advocate for the region and I'd like to pay tribute to her tireless work and dedication during her stewardship of our community.
"She was a mentor to us when making tough decisions and a calm voice of reason during disasters when our region needed leadership.
"There was a side to Margaret where you could see how deeply she cared, not just about the region but the people in it. It was not something you'd see in the media but she did."
CEO Evan Pardon said council business would continue as normal while the process for electing a new mayor was worked through.
"We welcome the clarity provided by Local Government Minister Stirling Hinchliffe today as we move through the process to fill the office mayor," Mr Pardon said.
"In the interim, we will continue with the day to day business and will provide more information when it's available."
![Rockhampton MP Barry O'Rourke said Margaret Strelow didn't need to hand in her resignation and that she behaved selfishly and not in the interest of ratepayers. Rockhampton MP Barry O'Rourke said Margaret Strelow didn't need to hand in her resignation and that she behaved selfishly and not in the interest of ratepayers.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/UdNE97Se3RqCx9C2EmYtgx/42d22b74-2749-4cee-8bc8-63e6d109893a.jpg/r0_0_1998_2267_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Rockhampton MP Barry O'Rourke said the tribunal finding did not require Margaret Strelow's resignation.
"Ratepayers did not expect her to or want her to. She simply should not have done it. She has behaved selfishly and not in the interest of ratepayers," Mr O'Rourke said.
"I urge people to read the tribunal findings... they show that this is entirely a mess of Ms Strelow's own creation, and something she could have easily put to bed at any point over the past few years.
"It's either a childish tantrum or a stunt designed to cause a completely unnecessary by-election."
Mr O'Rourke disagreed with the previous Local Government bill, which would see the runner-up in the mayoral race take on the duties if it became vacant and said it needed to be rectified.