The Hobart City Council has demanded the Labor Party take action over allegedly illegal promotional posters, which it claims have cost ratepayers thousands of dollars to remove.
In a formal letter to the party, Acting CEO Michael Reynolds claimed Labor-branded, adhesive-backed posters promoting the ‘TassieDoc’ policy were slapped onto council infrastructure across several Hobart suburbs unlawfully.
“This activity constitutes a breach of council’s by-laws and is unlawful,” Reynolds wrote.
The council says a three-person crew with traffic control support was sent out over four consecutive mornings to remove the stickers, with clean-up efforts focused on the CBD, Sandy Bay and New Town.
“To date, approximately 40 hours of labour has been required to remove the stickers and it is estimated that the city has incurred costs of between $4,000 to $5,000 for labour and the repair of the damaged surfaces,” Reynolds stated.
The council says several poles, bins and bus stop structures were scratched or had paint peeled off during the removal process.
Images supplied to Pulse show people, understood to be young Labor volunteers, applying the posters to poles in the Elizabeth Street Mall under cover of darkness on Tuesday night.
Reynolds said the use of public assets for political messaging was “entirely inappropriate” and urged the party to act immediately.
“I strongly request that you take immediate steps to instruct all members, volunteers and affiliated individuals to cease these actions,” he wrote.
The council says it may look to recover costs from those involved and has referred the matter to the Tasmanian Electoral Commission.
The Labor Party has been contacted for comment.
