Adelaide Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith makes defamation claims against Councillor Henry Davis
Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith has issued a blunt legal demand to a colleague, claiming his public comments had sparked “widespread discussion and gossip”.
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Adelaide Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith has called in the lawyers against Councillor Henry Davis saying he defamed her by calling her a “liar” at a recent meeting.
Lawyers on behalf of Dr Lomax-Smith issued Cr Davis a concerns notice on Wednesday, after he “again seriously defamed” their client during its June 11 public council meeting.
His statements were made during a debate on whether to cut $500,000 of funding from a grants program in order to approve its 2024/25 budget with a 5.9 per cent rate rise.
In the concerns notice, Dr Lomax-Smith’s lawyers say the statements “have caused, and are likely to continue to cause, distress and serious reputational harm to our client”.
The lawyers stated that as the meeting was live-streamed, the comments have been subject to “widespread discussion and gossip” by those who watched.
In the cause notice, it stated Dr Lomax-Smith believed the defamatory imputations were that she is “unworthy of her office” and “not worthy of trust or confidence”.
Her lawyers said it was “latest in a series of false and unjustified defamatory attacks” against her, who since entering politics in 1991, to her knowledge, had never been called a liar.
Cr Davis told The Advertiser that Dr Lomax-Smith had told the chamber that the Adelaide Economic Development Agency was supportive of the proposed funding cut to its budget.
He said AEDA had previously told a committee they did not want their budget cut and would prefer the program continue.
“It is a common theme of this council to threaten me, lodge codes of conduct, eject me from the chamber and prevent me from speaking.
“I am trying to do my job and fix this city, but they are making it very difficult.”
Cr Davis said the council consulted the community on the budget without the proposed cuts included and it was “misleading and dishonest” not to tell the public that $500,000 may be slashed from the commercial events fund.
He said the funding had supported events such as Gluttony, the Ebenezer night markets and CheeseFest.
“No events means a dead city,” he said.
The concerns notice, requests Dr Lomax-Smith receive an apology and retraction to be read aloud by Cr Davis at the council meeting on Tuesday night.
Dr Lomax-Smith did not want to comment when contacted by The Advertiser.
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