Brisbane City councillor sparks huge political backlash with ‘civil war’ April Fools Day joke

A Brisbane City councillor has come under fire after claiming neighbouring Redland City had been annexed in a cheeky April Fools prank. 

Ryan Murphy, the councillor for Chandler ward, made a satirical Facebook post that was a nod to US President Donald Trump’s comments about America taking over Greenland.

Mr Murphy said ‘Brisbane City Council work crews crossed the border and began seizing assets and changing signs in the former Redland City’ on Tuesday. 

The councillor even claimed the move had the backing of Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner, who was tagged in the post and quoted as saying: ‘Much like Greenland, the Redlands is better off with Brisbane than going it alone’. 

Mr Murphy also referenced Trump’s televised argument with the president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

He claimed Mr Schrinner refused to address Redlands Mayor Jos Mitchell by name and instead referred to her as ‘his little buddy’.

The post claimed the smaller Redlands council had been mismanaged and residents could look forward to Brisbane City’s lower rates.

‘Look what over a hundred years of independence has got them, they don’t even have dump vouchers or a 25m long bus,’ Mr Schrinner was quoted as saying. 

But many would have recognised it as an April Fool’s Day prank, more humourless Redland residents and political opponents hit out at the councillor.

‘How much are we paying you?’ one Aussie commented. 

‘Sweet – you going to drop our rates to match yours? While Aprils fools is amusing – it’s only funny till someone loses revenue,’ a second said. 

Brisbane City Council’s Labor leader Jared Cassidy branded the joke as ‘tone-deaf’ for using movie imagery of a political extremist.

‘Cr Murphy has completely missed the mark here,’ he said in a statement. 

‘The use of a movie image depicting a racist, ultra-nationalistic leader of far-right militants, even in jest, is completely inappropriate given the current social climate.

‘April Fool’s Day can be great lighthearted fun, but this post wreaks of poor taste and clearly shows that Cr Murphy is out of touch.

‘The character Cr Murphy has used from the movie “Civil War” murders news reporters because they appear Asian or Hispanic asking, “what kind of American are you?”. 

‘It’s absurd that the Lord Mayor endorses this content and finds it funny. It’s anything but that in the current climate.’

Mr Murphy’s announcement was just one in a series of April Fools pranks he made.

He also claimed Brisbane City would be introducing transparent bins, bins dedicated to vapes and deploying a fleet of jetskis on the Brisbane River. 

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mr Murphy’s office for comment.