Numbers stacking up as pressure grows on drink-driving Mayor to quit
A Queensland mother whose daughter was killed by a drink-driver is calling for Redlands Mayor Karen Williams to resign after she drank “several glasses of wine” and crashed her car.
Judy Lindsay says Ms Williams hosted an online meeting with her and two other families whoās loved ones had been killed in accidents caused by drink-drivers hours before the mayor crashed her own car into a tree east of Brisbane on Thursday night.
Ms Williams says sheād had āseveral glasses of wineā before the crash, and admits it was a mistake getting behind the wheel but refuses to resign, saying it would be a ārash decisionā.
Police are investigating the incident and no charges have been laid.
Ms Lindsay, whose daughter Hayley was killed in a crash involving a drink-driver in 2009, says the mayor rang her in tears on Friday night to apologise.
āI just said I canāt have any contact with you any more. You canāt be doing the job youāre doing. I trusted you and this is what youāve done,ā Ms Lindsay told Nineās Today program on Monday.
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āSheās got to go, sheās got to go, she has no respect for anybody in this community by doing what sheās done.
āAnd if, you know, having a meeting with us, a Zoom meeting with us, wouldnāt that stop you from getting in the car drunk and driving half an hour after having a meeting with us.ā
Queensland Opposition Leader David Crisafulli said his Liberal National Party colleague should face consequences for her actions.
āI have zero tolerance for drunk-driving, and it doesnāt matter who you are, it doesnāt matter what you do, it doesnāt matter where you live: you should never put yourself in that position,ā he told reporters on Monday.
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āAnd there has to be consequences for actions.ā
Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and Nationals leader David Littleproud have called for Ms Williams to resign, along with state Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon and fellow Labor MP Don Brown.
Mr Littleproud said the mayorās position was untenable, given her advocacy for the victims of drink-drivers.
āWe know youāre in public office, we know you donāt always get it right, and I donāt always get it right, but this is a big miscalculation ā¦ I think her position is untenable,ā he told Today.
āI would hope she would do that under her own volition.ā
Mr Peter Dutton said drink-driving was ācompletely unacceptableā and Ms Williams needed to set a strong example āin terms of actions, accountabilities and consequencesā.
āMy message, particularly as a former police officer, is to not have that extra drink. Donāt drink and drive. I mean, thereās no excuse for it, and the consequences can be deadly,ā he told reporters on Sunday.
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