Troy Thompson (politician)

Troy Joseph Thompson (formerly Birnbrauer) is an Australian politician who currently serves as mayor of Townsville, a local government area of Queensland. He was elected at the 2024 election, defeating incumbent Jenny Hill.

Thompson has been banned from the Queensland parliament precinct since 2021.

Political career
Thompson had been disendorsed as the One Nation candidate for Thuringowa at the 2020 Queensland state election because he did not disclose his legal name and directorship in a company that went insolvent.

In early 2024, Thompson announced his candidacy for mayor of Townsville at the upcoming local government elections, competing against 12-year incumbent Jenny Hill.

On 27 March 2024, more than a week after the election, Hill conceded to Thompson.

Military service scrutiny
In April 2024, Thompson was the subject of scrutiny after doubts were raised in the media about his claims of having served with the Australian Army. After he attended Townsville's Anzac Day dawn service without any medals, Thompson admitted he did not have any medals of his own. This is despite Thompson claiming he served for five years as a reservist in Australia, with the 109th Signals Squadron before serving with the Special Air Service Regiment's 152 Signal Squadron, finishing his service with the 105th Signals Squadron.

When asked what his service number was, Thompson said he could not recall what it was because the only record of it was in a book where it had been noted down in handwriting in the mid-1990's. Thompson said he had asked unrelated federal MP Phillip Thompson for help in trying to locate his service number, but Phillip Thompson said he had not yet received any such request.

When asked by the Townsville Bulletin to provide evidence of the request having been submitted, Thompson said he would not be making any further comments about the issue. The Bulletin also claimed Thompson has since blocked some newspaper staff and local community leaders from his official mayoral social media channels.

In an interview with A Current Affair in May 2024, Thompson said he enlisted in the army in 1991 and served less than three years as a Reservist, largely in the Catering Corps.

Personal life
Thompson had been previously known as Troy Joseph Birnbrauer, after he married a German woman in 1996 and took her surname "as she was last in her [family] line".