Hobart City Councillor Louise Elliot has been suspended for a month. No details have been given by Louise or the Mayor or anyone else on the Council. The decision is being appealed and details will not be available until that is resolved.

It is fair to say Louise has been targeted and harassed by Councillors for her gender critical views, for stating that “transwomen are transwomen and remain men.” That is an unarguable fact. No one can change their sex.

Louise has been referred to the Equality tribunal in Tasmania and has lodged her own complaints about being bullied. As she points out, she has been democratically elected to represent the views of people who live in Hobart but is constantly restricted in her ability to do so. Read more about Louise’s case here and here.

Here is Louise’s full statement about the matter:

I've been suspended for a month over a Code of Conduct complaint and I'm appealing the decision.

The paperwork I received was emphasised as confidential with a penalty of $10,000 for speaking about it, yet the Lord Mayor is telling the world. One rule for me, one rule for others, it seems.

What's happening to me is part of a broader attack on local government representatives across the country. The bar is being set lower and lower, so that councillors can no longer do what they were elected to do. Even if one person could find something offensive or disrespectful, you're in hot water, and we all know how precious some little pansies are. 

Being part of a democracy is hearing views we disagree with and don't like, but the code of conduct is being used to silence people and force compliance. There goes our functioning democracy and true representation. Communication from our political representatives will just be happy snaps and promoting the latest woke mantra. 

The Lord Mayor physically grabbed me in front of dozens of witnesses and was only cautioned, but I have found myself suspended. Another Hobart councillor referred to local people as 'Nazis' and that wasn't a problem. It's a farce and again shows that the Code of Conduct process is badly broken.

This flawed and extreme situation could very well be overturned, but my suspension cannot be rewound. When a councillor is cautioned or reprimanded, those sanctions stay confidential until an appeal is resolved which makes sense from a procedural fairness perspective.

I don't follow the woke, politically-correct, super-safe narratives that career politicians feel they need to for their own self-preservation. I say what's true and my fair opinion, and many people agree with me.

Yours truly,
Louise Elliot as community member

This is the report from the Hobart Mercury: