Arabic version: طرح إجراء تحقيق بشأن نائبة عمدة هوبارت للنقاش في جلسة مغلقة
According to ABC News, Hobart City Council will debate a motion seeking an independent investigation into Deputy Lord Mayor Zelinda Sherlock during the closed section of its next ordinary meeting. The motion was tabled by councillors Louise Elliot, Will Coats, John Kelly and Marti Zucco, and asks the Director of Local Government to examine the incidents and the council’s handling of them.
The dispute concerns food and drinks taken from the elected members’ lounge at Hobart Town Hall in early 2024. Cr Sherlock acknowledged taking the items over several years, saying she believed they were a workplace entitlement and describing the matter as a misunderstanding of council policy. CCTV footage obtained by Cr Elliot under Right to Information provisions showed Cr Sherlock and a companion leaving the lounge on two occasions with a fully stocked shopping bag. Documents also showed council staff corresponding about dwindling stock.
Cr Sherlock referred herself to Tasmania’s Integrity Commission in March. The commission decided not to investigate, finding the matter did not constitute misconduct. However, several councillors have continued to press for further action. Cr Sherlock has described the affair as a “political assassination attempt” and said she “will not cower”. In an email to fellow elected members, she said the issue had already been addressed by multiple parties, including the council chief executive, and that she had “unreservedly apologised”.
The motion follows an email from Cr Elliot to Cr Sherlock stating that footage of the incident was “considerably more concerning than I had anticipated”. Cr Elliot said she would withdraw her motion if Cr Sherlock publicly announced her resignation as an elected member by 4pm on Tuesday, 21 July. Fabiano Cangelosi, a lawyer for Cr Sherlock, alleged the message was akin to blackmail and referred it to Tasmania Police Commissioner Donna Adams. Cr Elliot called that suggestion “laughable” and “absolutely absurd”.
Cr Sherlock, a Tasmanian Greens member, is due to become acting Lord Mayor after Anna Reynolds resigns in August, before local government elections in October.
