The City of Hobart has issued an apology to Councillor Louise Elliot after a dispute over her attempts to book a venue for a ‘women’s rights and free speech’ forum.
Elliot lodged a complaint with the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner in December, alleging she was blocked from booking the Town Hall venue in September 2023.
Elliot, who was organising the event as a private citizen, claims that her request was leaked to an activist by the Lord Mayor, who then contacted the council to express concerns.
“It’s taken several months and lots of persistence but I’m pleased to say that the atrocious discrimination towards me that involved multiple parties has been admitted,” Elliot said.
“Unfortunately, it wasn’t just straight-up, blatant discrimination.”
“The depth of the lying, scheming, gaslighting, privacy breaches and frustration of legal avenues and processes has been astounding.”
Emails released by Elliot on social media revealed that City of Hobart staff believed the event was anti-transgender, prompting them to block the booking.
According to The Australian, several senior staff left the council following the scandal and various investigations remain ongoing.
“I’m optimistic that there will be change, there has to be as so many rules were broken and the hypocrisy of preaching kindness, diversity and inclusion while actively scheming and discriminating is bewildering,” Elliot said.
“You can have all the diversity plans, flags and photo opportunities you like, but they’re worthless showboating if words and action don’t align.”
City of Hobart CEO Michael Stretton confirmed the matter had been resolved but made no further comments.
“The matter has been resolved through a conciliation process and the City of Hobart is currently working through these matters,” he said.
“The matter will be publicly communicated in the open section of the July HCC meeting.”
Elliot, who is known for her opposition to transgender ideology, said while the “discrimination component” had been finalised, she will continue to pursue other issues relating to “privacy and right to information”.
“I tried to book a public venue and I should have been able to hold my event,” she said.
“It was shameful for the council to censor political beliefs, especially when these beliefs are held by millions of Australians. It’s wrong and anti-democratic.”
