Mitchell, who was elected in 2024 after former mayor Karen Williams led the council for 12 years, has been on medical leave since May. In a statement provided to Brisbane Times, Mitchell said her electoral victory was not respected and she was viewed as a challenge to the status quo on a council with an ingrained political culture.
“There have been threats, continuous accusations and harassment, our family’s cars have been vandalised, we’ve had a drone hover over our backyard and my husband and our daughter have been targeted online,” Mitchell said. “There has been a personalised, coordinated and consistent smear campaign, including online abuse and leaks of confidential information to media.”
Mitchell, a former Queensland Police Service officer and police prosecutor, said she had been subjected to about 70 complaints to the Office of the Independent Assessor, all of which were found unsubstantiated by external investigators. “I know what intimidation looks like, and I know it shouldn’t be part of public life,” she said.
Before going on leave, Mitchell collapsed at work and was taken to hospital. She said she had undergone major surgery and was navigating an autoimmune condition. The experiences, she said, had a significant impact on her wellbeing.
Mitchell called for a rethink of how newcomers can exist within a system dominated by party politics. “I believe Australians are sick of the current state of politics, the power plays, thuggish tactics and pile-ons,” she said. “There must be room for new representatives who bring new skills, new ways of working and new questions, without retaliation.”
Earlier this month, councillors voted for a second consecutive month not to accept Mitchell’s leave from general meetings. Had they voted against her leave again in November, her seat would have been automatically vacated. Redland City Council has long been a combative workplace and has consistently led the state in the number of councillor conduct complaints to Queensland’s Office of the Independent Assessor.