Mike Dutta says signature on petition and comment falsely attributed to him
A Hobart councillor is angry that a fake signature purported to be his has appeared on a petition circulating on social media seeking the removal of the Lord Mayor. What he had to say.
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A Hobart city councillor says his signature on a petition urging the removal of Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds is a “blatant case of identity theft”.
Mike Dutta said he would report the matter to police and has questioned the validity of the petition.
Petition organiser Jessica Hoyle, who thanked Mr Dutta for signing the petition, said it was up to him to prove he had not signed it.
The furore over the petition comes as Local Government Minister Kerry Vincent has found that there “is insufficient evidence to suggest there have been breaches of the Local Government Act 1993”.
Mr Dutta said his identity had been compromised and “undermined the integrity” of the petition circulating on social media.
“The petition, which I understand, seeks to remove the Lord Mayor, has been marred by a serious incident of identity theft,” he said.
“Someone has falsely attributed a comment to me, stating: ‘Time for regime change’ followed by a fabricated expression of gratitude for my purported support of the petition.
“I categorically deny making these statements or signing the petition. This is a blatant case of identity theft.
“The validity and credibility of the petition are now questionable, and I urge the organisers, LGB Tasmania, to take immediate action to verify the authenticity of signatures, comments and request the immediate removal of my name, with a further request for them to correct their social media post to confirm that I did not sign the petition.”
Ms Hoyle said Mr Dutta’s signature had appeared and “regime is a word he uses”.
She said the petition, which has 1540 signatures, would be sent to the government.
In the Facebook post, she says: “We would like to thank Mike Dutta for signing our petition we couldn’t agree more with his sentiments.”
Mr Dutta said it was essential that the integrity of democratic processes were protected and prevented “such malicious tactics from undermining our institutions”.
Meanwhile, a government spokeswoman said on Saturday that Mr Vincent had considered and sought advice on matters raised by some councillors in relation to Ms Reynolds.
“While it is clear these matters have raised significant concerns for some councillors and members of the Hobart community, there is insufficient evidence to suggest there have been breaches of the Local Government Act 1993,” she said.
“It is the Minister’s expectation all Tasmanian councils demonstrate good governance and a clear focus on the issues that matter to their ratepayers.”
Four councillors, Marti Zucco, John Kelly, Louise Elliot and Will Coats wrote to Mr Vincent urging him to take action against Ms Reynolds after the Ombudsman found she and other senior council staff breached privacy laws by disclosing Ms Elliot’s personal information without her consent, exposing “a serious governance, cultural and training issue within council”.
All senior council staff, councillors and the Lord Mayor will undergo training to fully understand their obligations under the Personal Information Protection Act 2004.
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