Hobart Deputy Lord Mayor Faces Calls to Resign Over Taking Council Snacks

Several Hobart councillors are calling on the city's Deputy Lord Mayor Zelinda Sherlock to resign following her taking home snacks and drinks from a council lounge.

In January, a motion was put forward by four councillors calling for an independent investigation into allegations that Cr Sherlock had taken taxpayer-funded refreshments from the Town Hall's elected members' lounge for personal use.

The motion failed, but the issue has gained fresh light after Councillor Louise Elliot obtained documents under right-to-information provisions.

They contained images from CCTV footage showing Cr Sherlock and an unidentified companion leaving the lounge after hours, with a shopping bag supposedly filled with workplace refreshments on two occasions in January 2024.

The documents also contained copies of internal communications regarding the matter, including an email exchange between two council employees.

The email listed refreshments from the lounge, which it stated had been "removed/consumed" within 48 hours since restocking, even though "there had been no meetings or EM [elected member] events within that period".

The items included seven bottles of soft drink, three bottles of wine, seven bottles of beer, six packets of nuts, and "some Mars Bars and rolls of Cadbury Choc".

"This isn't an exhaustive list. Only what I was able to quantify," the employee stated in their email.

A separate email said employees had been noticing unexplained dwindling stock since at least June 2023.

Council's acting boss says policy 'not clear'

Also included in the right-to-information release was an email exchange involving the council's then-acting chief executive, Neil Noye.

Messaging a colleague less than two weeks after January's events, Mr Noye said that he had spoken to Cr Sherlock about the removal of refreshments after CCTV footage captured her allegedly doing so.

According to him, Cr Sherlock had admitted to "undertaking the practice for a number of years", as she had assumed they were "fringe benefits" available to elected members at any time, whether on or off council premises.

Mr Noye noted that he explained to Cr Sherlock "that was not the case," although he admitted that it appeared that this was "not clear within any policy or statement of expectation with the use of the lounge," and recommended that council policies be updated to better reflect the rules.

Mr Noye's account is broadly consistent with the explanation Cr Sherlock has since made on social media, namely that she believed the refreshments could be consumed while working from home "during COVID and beyond", as a large portion of [her] work was undertaken at home" — and apologised for misunderstanding the policy.

"A couple of years ago, staff clarified with me that our Town Hall work snacks could not be consumed elsewhere. I accepted this advice, staff amended our policy to clarify this so other elected members do not make the same mistake in the future," she wrote on LinkedIn.

Cr Sherlock referred herself to Tasmania's Integrity Commission over the matter this March, which dismissed the case on the grounds that it did not constitute misconduct.

'She must resign'

Council elections across Tasmania are slated for October this year.

Cr Louise Elliot has been leading a campaign calling for the resignation of Cr Sherlock.

In a joint email with other councillors today, Cr Elliot said the allegations against Cr Sherlock "all compound".

"The premeditation of bringing empty bags with you, the late and early weekend trips to avoid being seen, the volume of products that went missing, the disappearance of alcohol, her admission that she was doing it for years, and the implausible claim that someone with legal and linguistics training misunderstood a policy that has never been misunderstood before," Cr Elliot said.

"Zelinda and her accomplice arrived and went straight to fill their bags and quickly left. They knew what they wanted, were confident and had obviously done it many times before," she said.

"The evidence is clear and she's admitted it. She must resign," Cr Elliot said.

Cr John Kelly described the Cr Sherlock, who is soon to become the acting lord mayor, as "clearly not a fit and proper person for this role".

He said Cr Sherlock "has no choice but to resign" due to her conduct, and wants to see her political party, the Tasmanian Greens, which he said "advocate for integrity and transparency," immediately disendorse her.

Following the latest revelations, Cr Will Coats has described Cr Sherlock's leadership as "no longer tenable".

Alderman Marti Zucco has written to the Director of Local Government to initiate a board of inquiry into Cr Sherlock's conduct.

"This matter was kept away from public scrutiny for two years. That's a cover-up. If it wasn't for a whistleblower, it would still be hidden," Alderman Zucco said.

An online petition calling for her resignation has also attracted hundreds of signatures.

A 'rinse and repeat tactic'

In the face of calls for her resignation, Cr Sherlock told the ABC she remains "deeply dedicated" to her role.

"I will continue to focus my energy on serving the ratepayers of Hobart, whose trust and well-being will always be my motivation," Cr Sherlock said.

She expressed frustration with the reopening of the issue, which she says has not only "been comprehensively reviewed and resolved" on multiple fronts, but "appears to be a politically motivated attempt to create public distrust".

"This rinse and repeat tactic of attacking people is predictable behaviour. If elected members wish to pursue leadership roles within the council, the focus should remain on constructive community advocacy rather than divisive political tactics."

The ABC contacted Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds and the Tasmanian Greens for comment.