An ex-Doomadgee Aboriginal Shire mayor who was charged with forgery and misconduct offences in 2016 has had his charges dropped in the Mount Isa District Court.
Edric Walden appeared alongside a previous Councillor from the shire, Tony Chong, who appeared on two misconduct charges and a forgery charge.
Mr Walden's three charges were all dropped in court this week, while two of Mr Chong's were, with one of his misconduct charges standing with a sentence of 12 months imprisonment, wholly suspended.
Mr Walden's charges influenced legislation passed by the Queensland Government in 2018 regarding misconduct and forgery.
At the time, Minister for Local Government Stirling Hinchliffe said the legislation changes "triggered" the immediate suspension of Mr Walden (and four other Queensland mayors and one councillor) from local governments.
"This action does not reflect on the outcome of the charges which will be dealt with by the court," Mr Hinchliffe said in 2018.
Mr Hinchliffe was approached for comment.
The Local Government Association of Queensland was also approached but declined to comment.
