The Queensland Government has made it clear the guillotine is about to fall on Ipswich City Council as the region's corruption scandal widens.
The move came after the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) charged Mayor Andrew Antoniolli with seven counts of fraud.
A total of 12 people from Ipswich Council, also including former mayor Paul Pisasale and two council CEOs, are facing 66 charges amid a series of ongoing CCC investigations.
The council has been given notice to show cause why it should not be sacked, although it is vowing to fight back.
Acting Ipswich Mayor Wayne Wendt (Mr Antoniolli has stepped down) said yesterday the council would file a formal submission explaining "with the utmost of integrity" why they should not be sacked.
But if the elected members do lose their jobs, it will be some time before ratepayers get another chance to vote in a new council.
How soon will it all go down?
The Acting Mayor and nine other remaining councillors now have 21 days to respond to the show cause notices they were sent last night.
After that it is less clear — Local Government Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said he would not be rushed.
"I need to consider [the responses] properly so there's no specified time frame in the act other than to say a reasonable time," he said.
He will weigh up legal opinion too, to decide his next move.
But if his tone earlier this week when he said "it is time to act" when an entire community loses faith in its elected leaders, it appears likely he will drop the axe.
Ipswich councillor David Morrison said they were at the mercy of the State Government.
"It is out of our hands," he said.
Councillor Wendt said they will contend that "we are more than capable of representing the people of this great city — a city which we are proud to serve as councillors".
Former Ipswich deputy mayor Paul Tully said it was unjust for all councillors to be penalised and lose their jobs when not all of them have been accused of wrongdoing.
"It is a poor way personally for me to end a 39-year career in local government," he said.
"You do not expect to lose your career at a stroke of a pen by the minister."
This will mean all elected council officers are sent packing with entitlements.
Other council staff, however, will keep their jobs.
For now, the council remains in place until the Governor in Council (meaning the Queensland Governor acting on the advice of the State executive council) signs paperwork for Ipswich City Council to be dismissed.
Will the bins still be emptied?
The garbage and the recycling will still be picked up, rate notices will still go out, parks will still get mowed — even parking fines will still be issued.
Complaints about council operations can still be made, but to the council administrator instead of an elected member.
"As it is, 90 per cent of complaints already go directly to the administration and not through elected members, so not much of a change," Local Government Association of Queensland president Greg Hallam said.
Ipswich ratepayers' association president Jim Dodrill said he believed the system would be more effective and fairer with an administrator in charge.
"Don't forget an administrator is someone who is not tainted by any of the relationships that the current council has with developers with waste companies et cetera," he said.
"I would say this would be the best outcome possible."
Then who makes decisions?
An administrator is usually appointed when there is a serious failure of governance or evidence of corruption at local government level.
It is normally a career bureaucrat, but the administrator is legally deemed to be "the council".
Mr Hallam said an administrator is basically a one-person council.
"Effectively they operate as the mayor and all the councillors. The administrator even has a council meeting, but it will be a meeting of one," he said.
The rest of the administration carries on as normal. Local councillors' offices all remain open but all inquiries go to the administrator.
Which may sound like a poisoned chalice for Ipswich CEO Sean Maddigan — he only took on the role this week and is now said to be considering his options.
When will a new council be sworn in?
It is believed that will not happen until the next Queensland local government elections, due in 2020.
Ipswich went to the polls in 2016. The city then had a by-election to elect a new mayor after Paul Pisasale threw in the towel citing ill health, later to be charged with corruption.
Mr Hallam said another election before 2020 would be a fourth in four years and was thus untenable.
Mr Hinchliffe said it was too early to speculate on if and when a new council could be elected, just that there was no time frame set out in the act.
Meaning there is a chance an administrator and his or her team could rule the roost until the March 2020 general poll.
There are new laws on the cards?
Yes, Mr Hinchliffe announced yesterday the Government would look to bolster its legislative power to dismiss councils.
He will take a proposal to Cabinet next week.
It is understood it will include changing the existing laws so in future individual councillors could be sacked instead of an entire council being dismissed.
Has this happened before?
It is rare, but yes. In 1978, then Queensland premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen sacked the entire Gold Coast City Council after bitter infighting.
In 1988, Burke Shire Council was fired amid financial uncertainty.
Then, in 2007, Innisfail-based Johnstone Shire Council was dismissed over incessant allegations of bullying, in-fighting and financial problems.
Just two years ago, Deputy Premier Jackie Trad threatened to dump the Fraser Coast Regional Council amid claims of a "dysfunctional" and "toxic working environment".
Mayor Chris Loft was later sacked for misconduct and inappropriate conduct.
The Supreme Court is yet to rule on his appeal against that decision.
