A lawyer for Hobart’s deputy lord mayor has accused a fellow councillor of blackmail over an email offering to withdraw a motion seeking a police investigation into food and drinks taken from Town Hall if she resigned.
Zelinda Sherlock’s lawyer, Fabiano Cangelosi, has referred the email to Tasmania Police.
“I submit that the communication, considered objectively and in light of the relevant authorities, warrants formal investigation,” Cangelosi wrote.
“In our submission, the communication plainly contains threats constituting an attack [on] our client’s will to remain as an elected member of council.”
The email, sent by councillor Louise Elliot on Saturday morning, suggested Sherlock publicly announce her resignation by 4pm on Tuesday.
“If you do so, the proposed motions would be withdrawn from the council agenda and the matter could then move forward without further public escalation,” Elliot wrote.
Sherlock did not resign and the motion remains on the agenda for a behind-closed-doors debate on Monday night.
In the email, Elliot said unredacted CCTV footage she had viewed appeared to show “a clear and deliberate course of conduct” that, in her opinion, amounted to a criminal offence.
She also raised questions about the involvement of others.
Sherlock, a Greens councillor, has admitted taking food and drinks from the elected members’ lounge over several years.
She has described the items as a workplace entitlement, blamed a misunderstanding of council policy and apologised.
CCTV stills showing Sherlock and another person taking items on two occasions in 2024 were released under Right to Information laws earlier this month, prompting several councillors to call on her to resign.
Elliot described the blackmail allegation as a “desperate attempt” at deflection.
“After seeing the CCTV, I extended an olive branch and gave Cr Sherlock a heads up that this issue isn’t going away,” she wrote on Facebook.
“I know I have done nothing wrong. My conscience is clear.”
The motion asks the council’s chief executive to write to Tasmania Police seeking an investigation into possible breaches of the Criminal Code by Sherlock and another person who was with her.
Elliot has already notified police. Neither she nor Sherlock has been charged with any offence.
The motion also seeks an investigation by the director of local government into Sherlock’s conduct and how the matter was handled by former council management.
It was tabled by Elliot and councillors Will Coats, John Kelly and Marti Zucco.
The Integrity Commission wrote to Sherlock on June 10 after she reported the matter, finding the conduct did not amount to misconduct and declining to investigate.
Elliot said she signed a confidentiality agreement to view the unredacted footage, which she claimed showed conduct that was “calculated and premeditated”.
Kelly said he believed the evidence showed “blatant theft”.
Coats said the push was “not about elected members pursuing a political scalp” but “ensuring proper process, transparency and accountability”.
Sherlock has described the campaign as a “political assassination attempt” and said she “will not cower”.
She said she was elected by the people, for the people and voters would decide in October.
In a letter to elected members on Wednesday night, Sherlock said the matter had already been addressed by multiple parties and described it as a “misunderstanding I have unreservedly apologised for”.
The debate comes weeks after Acting Director of Local Government Luke Gregory warned all Hobart councillors about their conduct during meetings.
Gregory wrote that personal disputes should be dealt with through the council’s internal processes and “should not be the subject of councillor motions or meeting debate”.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff declined to comment on the dispute today.
“Anyone who is elected to any position in any level of government needs to always remember that their core responsibility is to represent their constituents and work hard for their constituents,” he said.
Sherlock is due to become acting lord mayor in August when Anna Reynolds, who has previously labelled the situation a “beat up”, steps down.
Local government elections will be held in October.
