A controversial Cairns Regional Council candidate has confirmed his campaign activities are being scrutinised by Queensland’s election body.
October 18, 2023
A controversial council candidate has confirmed his and others’ campaign activities are being scrutinised by Queensland’s election body.
Shane Cuthbert, a candidate for Cairns Regional Council’s Division 4, said he had received a “warning” letter from the Electoral Commission of Queensland.
According to a letter seen by the Cairns Post, the ECQ has implicated Shane Cuthbert and fellow councillor candidate Rob Pyne in group campaign activities without complying with relevant election policies.
“The Electoral Commission of Queensland has received information suggesting you may be engaged in group campaign activities,” the letter states.
“Under the Local Government Electoral Act 2011 … candidates must not engage in group campaign activities unless they are registered as a group.
“The ECQ has received information and examples of election material which appears to be group campaign activities.”
The ECQ letter cited election flyers posted to Shane Cuthbert’s website under the banner “independent dream team” and a subhead that stated: “Shane Cuthbert (Division 4), Rob Pyne (Division 5) … join forces as independents working together”.
Mr Cuthbert maintained he is running an independent campaign but in a loose association with other council candidates.
“We’re running as independents. We don’t have a group bank account. We don’t share volunteers,” he said.
“I guess the phrase ‘dream team’ indicates we are a team. We will be more clear in future about our wording.”
When asked how he thought the material was brought to the ECQ’s attention, Shane Cuthbert said: “there’s a lot of people who don’t want me to be successful”.
Mr Cuthbert has gained notoriety over a decade of committing crimes and subsequently serving at least six months jail time.
His most recent conviction was for a public nuisance offence in 2021 after entering a not guilty plea; he was sentenced to 50 hours unpaid community service.
Shane Cuthbert said he was reformed through community-focused work, such as volunteering with charities.
His association with Mr Pyne, who is currently the Division 2 councillor, over the past two years has been extensive; he credits Mr Pyne for suggesting he run for council.
Mr Pyne confirmed he had also received a letter from the ECQ. He maintained he was an independent candidate that would continue to support other independents as the campaign rolled on.
“If people ring me asking me for help, I help them. That’s who I am,” he said. “If the ECQ don’t like that, we’ll have that conversation with them at a later date.”
Former magistrate Pat O’Shane was also a candidate in alliance with Shane Cuthbert and Rob Pyne, but she said she was no longer a council candidate.
An ECQ spokeswoman said: “The ECQ is unable to comment on compliance activities which may or may not be in progress”.
Here is the evidence against Shane Cuthbert
Got more evidence of Shane’s crimes? international editions.
Shane Cuthbert Recorded Conversations from less than 1 year before election.
Shane Cuthbert has had these recordings removed from every other platform, and threatens anyone who shares or publishes them.
🔊Charity Fraud, Drug Trafficking & Police Informant
Shane Cuthbert admits to registering fake charities including ‘Domestic Violence Anonymous’ using the identity of his friends (including a mentally disabled man) and partner without their awareness. He admits to fooling members of parliament into thinking that he is an expert on DV and applying for grants. He also talks about trafficking guns and the drug ICE into Cairns whilst avoiding investigation by being a police informant.
📃Read Transcript & Crimes Committed
🔊Infiltrating Society & Collecting Dirt on Judges
Shane Cuthbert laughs about infiltrating every aspect of society. He talks about being a member of various law associations where he attends to get pictures with magistrates and judges. He explains that if he goes before one of these judicial officers as a defendant and the case isn’t going his way, he can produce the photos to claim a conflict of interest so that judicial officer will have to recuse themselves.
📃Read Transcript & Crimes Committed
🔊Threatens to Burn His Partners Place Down
Shane Cuthbert admits to running a business under his partner (Georgia Rosandich) name to avoid scrutiny due to his criminal record. He reveals he invested proceeds of crime into the venture and used Georgia’s name to secure licensing. He describes controlling the business from behind the scenes and threatening to burn it down if she cuts him out. He boasts about self-nominating for awards, manipulating systems, and using intimidation to maintain power.
📃Read Transcript & Crimes Committed
🔊Using Dead Cats to Intimidate Neighbour
Shane Cuthbert brags about placing dead animals on his neighbour’s front door step and car windshield as revenge for complaining about Shane’s loud parties. He brags about taunting police after a raid, and building fake business websites to create the illusion of criminal sophistication. He admits to collecting Centrelink while claiming to run multiple ventures and manipulating how others perceive him to appear more powerful and dangerous than he is.
📃Read Transcript & Crimes Committed
🔊Blackmailing Parliament to be like Adolf Hitler
Shane Cuthbert talks about his obsession with wanting to manipulate and blackmail the Queensland parliament to get his way and become the ultimate controller of the state, the country and the world to be like Hitler. He says Debbie Kilroy laughed when he told her about his wife, that Pat O’Shane doesn’t care about his past but is only interested in using him to research her PhD and that Cairns Councillor Rob Pyne is easily taken advantage of and is desperate for supporters.
📃Read Transcript & Crimes Committed
🔊Everyone is Too Scared to Talk About the Bruises
Shane Cuthbert admits he volunteers to gain votes and plans to run for state parliament with support from a political team helping him manage scandals. He confirms there is video evidence of bruises from a past domestic violence case but says people stay silent because they’re unsure how to react. He relies on his credibility and connections to prevent media scrutiny and believes journalists are too afraid to challenge him due to past legal threats.
📃Read Transcript & Crimes Committed
🔊Shane Cuthbert banned from Queensland parliament
Shane Cuthbert talks about his political ambitions and expresses frustration over being banned from attending QLD state parliament by Curtis Pitt MP, speaker of the house. He wonders if police have told the Labor Party that he is involved in organised crime. He also admits that a friend of his who is a police prosecutor advised him that if he sues government departments for $10k or less they will likely just settle out of court to avoid the costs.
🔊A Current Affair and Breaching the ADVO
Shane Cuthbert talks about contacting A Current Affair to request a copy of their 2016 segment. He also talks about the current Apprehended Domestic Violence Order condition which prohibits him from publishing photos or adverse comments about his ex wife Berenger Rose. He discusses testing the boundaries by talking about her to the media knowing that they would publish his comments and discusses what defence he would use if he’s charged.
Shane Cuthbert Exposed on A Current Affair 2023
Read full story about Shane Cuthbert A Current Affair 2023
Shane Cuthbert Exposed on A Current Affair 2024
Read full story about Shane Cuthbert A Current Affair 2024
Shane Cuthbert Montage of Admissions
Shows Shane joking about being a rapist, curing Borderline Personality Disorder, pretending to be a life coach as well as recorded admissions about threatening to burn down his partners place if she doesn’t help him launder his drug money whilst laughing about plans to manipulate police, bikies and parliament.
Shane Cuthbert Admitting to Charity Fraud
Shows contrast between what Shane told A Current Affair about allegations of charity fraud and what he bragged to his mate privately about. Admits to registering ‘Domestic Violence Anonymous’ using identity fraud, exploiting the disabled, using forged documents to deceive the government and public.
