DOUGLAS Shire Council's final meeting was marred by accusations of revenge politics and cries of "shame" after the sacking of a senior staff member.

Despite furious opposition from Mayor Mike Berwick and councillors Melinda Cox and Rod Davis, Deputy Mayor David Egan and councillors Joe Sciacca, George Pitt and Bill Bellero voted to terminate general manager David Carey's contract.

Mr Carey, now on worker's compensation leave, has been at the centre of a long-running council battle with several legal opinions sought and rejected about the possibility of ending his employment.

Last night, Cr Egan told The Cairns Post: "This is not a dismissal. It is finalisation of a contract.

"A term in the contract, 9.1.6, says the contract can be terminated at any time and that’s what we've done."

The council spent almost an hour debating the dismissal with Mayor Mike Berwick defending the general manager as a productive employee who had never attracted any performance warnings or corrective action.

The sacking was driven by "pure vindictiveness", Cr Berwick said.

Cr Rod Davis told the council he had provided a statement to Work Care investigators about a phone call where, he said: "It was stated to me that it (the sacking) was revenge politics for (sacked chief executive officer) Mr Melchert."

Cr Egan was adamant accusations of vindictiveness and revenge were unwarranted.

When the motion to dismiss Mr Carey was carried, it drew howls and cries of "shame" from the assembled gallery, some wearing black armbands and shirts.

Michael Gabour, of Port Douglas, described events at the meeting as "appalling".

Acting CEO Bruce Ede advised the council the action could spark further legal wrangling and a possible payout to Mr Carey around the $400,000 mark.

Mr Ede also advised that the Industrial Relations Commission was likely to "view poorly any action taken to dismiss a person on worker’s compensation".

When The Cairns Post contacted Mr Carey, he said he was not in a position to comment.

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