A Hobart City Councillor who was handed a 30-day suspension is back after serving just 16 days of it.
Louise Elliot was temporarily booted from the council in January by the Independent Code of Conduct panel due to a code of conduct finding for yet to be revealed reasons.
Late last month, Hobart Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds said the details of the conduct complaint were required to be kept confidential under the Local Government Act.
“This isn’t a decision of the council … that decision is under appeal, noting that the sanction remains in place while that process occurs,”Reynolds said at a council meeting in January.
“The council is unable to comment further at this time.”
Elliot said she was quick to file an appeal with the Hobart Magistrates Court and was granted a stay this week, putting her suspension on hold until the outcome of her appeal.
“I am back formally acting for you guys,” Elliot told her social media followers in a video.
“I appealed the decision because as soon as I saw the determination report for a code of conduct, I knew straight away that something was very wrong there.”
Elliot applied for the stay on the grounds of natural justice “not being applied fairly”.
“The reason I went to appeal the suspension itself is that I know that every day that i’m not able to do the councillor role is a day lost. It’s a day where the people that voted for me are not represented, so I’m determined to make sure that we have our say.”
Elliot said she now plans to take the council to the discrimination tribunal after allegedly being blocked from making a booking at Town Hall for a women’s rights event.
“We have a conciliation date set for later this month and I suspect it’ll be likely that it’ll go to a hearing,” she said.
“I will be pushing on with that because I believe in true diversity and inclusion and that includes diversity and belief and thought and free speech and freedom of expression.”
