Louise Elliot fights ‘unconstitutional’ sanction for ‘mind virus’ comment
A Hobart councillor sanctioned for using a term made popular by Elon Musk claims the ruling threatens politicians’ right to free speech — launching an extraordinary legal campaign.
A Hobart councillor found to have breached the local government Code of Conduct for using the term “mind virus” plans to challenge the decision in the Federal Court — crowd-funding her legal campaign.
Louise Elliot has been sanctioned for using the term — made popular by US businessman Elon Musk — in a social media post almost two years ago, expressing her opposition to flying the Palestinian flag outside Hobart’s Town Hall.
“We find that to suggest that someone has been infected by a transmissible mental illness because they hold particular political beliefs is inherently offensive,” the panel said.
“The manner in which Cr Elliot describes her fellow elected members as having a ‘mind virus’ can reasonably be construed as suggesting they are suffering from a form of mental illness or condition which could lead to a perception that those colleagues do not have the capacity to function capably or bring rational ideas to council for debate.
“Cr Elliot’s words can and will be taken at face value. Further, Cr Elliot’s comments could be taken to suggest that members of council were supporting terrorism and genocide and were attempting to involve council in such support.”
But Ms Elliot says she has engaged a Sydney law firm to take the matter to the Federal Court and has launched a fundraising campaign towards the $120,000 cost of the case.
“If I don’t stand up to this, the censorship of our speech will just continue,” she said.
“What isn’t fair – and I argue unconstitutional – is restricting my speech as a politician so that it is less than the everyday person’s.”
She says she will argue that the Code of Conduct panel wrongly failed to interpret the Code consistent with the constitutional implied freedom of political communication.
“I’ve also been sanctioned for saying that I was ‘sickened’ by (the) concept of flying the Palestinian flag outside Hobart’s Town Hall only six weeks after the October 7 massacre in Israel.
“I personally have Jewish heritage, and Hobart has a Jewish community and Hobart’s Synagogue was Australia’s first.
“The most concerning part is that the freedom of political communication has been disregarded when assessing a politician’s communication.
“This is so fundamental to our democracy, electoral choice and our system of representative government that it must be challenged.”
Ms Elliot said she was “bewildered” by the panel’s decision.
“They have chosen to take my use of the idiom ‘mind virus’ literally, as if I had stated that an unidentified person was biologically infected.
“Any grounded person that’s even slightly tuned into contemporary media or politics would understand that this is inoffensive political slang.
“Taking ‘mind virus’ literally is an absurd stretch, just like it would be to say that if someone is starting a ‘culture war’ that they’re literally gathering soldiers and ammunition, or that ‘dog-whistling’ is literally rounding up neighbourhood hounds.”
The panel decided not to make Ms Elliot apologise saying: “The Panel felt that Cr Elliot’s views on this matter were so strongly held that any apology she might proffer would not be made genuinely and, in the circumstances, considered it better not to impose a requirement to apologise.”
Originally published as Louise Elliot fights ‘unconstitutional’ sanction for ‘mind virus’ comment
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