Anna Reynolds says sorry to Louise Elliot after altercation

An altercation at a public meeting to discuss the university’s relocation to the Hobart CBD has taken a new turn. FULL APOLOGY >>

Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds has apologised for an altercation with council candidate Louise Elliot but disputes her views on what happened and denies she “physically” detained her.

In an email Ms Reynolds also said she regretted using the word “bulls. t” to Ms Elliot which was “unnecessary and inappropriate”.

“I apologise for the concern that our brief exchange caused you,” she wrote on Sunday.

“I have had an opportunity to reflect on our exchange and hear from close observers.

“I am of the view that my actions were not as you have described in your emails and in public statements.

“I reached out from my seat and touched your arm to get your attention as you walked past me. Having got your attention you stopped and leaned to hear what I was saying, as I was speaking with a face mask on.

“We spoke very briefly. I did not physically detain you.”

Ms Elliot described the apology as “disappointing and limited”.

“Everything I said at the meeting was 100 per cent true,” she said.

Lord Mayor of Hobart Anna Reynolds. Picture: Chris Kidd

“Her apology has some gas-lighting in there with talk of defamation.

“She was seething and it was a grab. She was not calm.”

In her email Ms Reynolds gave permission for Ms Elliot to publish her email but that it be published in its entirety.

“I also request that you manage your social media pages in such a way as to not authorise the publication of potentially defamatory comments about me on your publications,” she said.

Ms Reynolds said she believed parts of Ms Elliot’s speech at the meeting had unfairly implied she had “acted improperly”.

“I did not call you a liar. I stated words to the effect that what you had said was incorrect and then I followed this up with saying it was “bulls..t’,” she said in the letter.

Ms Reynolds said she had invited Ms Elliot to meet with a view to discussing the apology and was sorry she had decided not to meet.

However, Ms Elliot said it was the council’s chief executive who had offered the meeting and “There was no offer of a support person coming with me”.

A special report from the council’s chief executive on the public meeting on the future of UTAS will be presented at Monday nights’ meeting.

Louise Elliot. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

The email

Hello Louise,

I am responding to your two emails from 12 and 13 April where you raised your concerns about our exchange at last week’s public meeting. I offer the following responses:

I apologise for the concern that our brief exchange caused you. It was never my intention to do so.

I regret that I used the word “bulls..t” when we spoke at the meeting and accept that my language was unnecessary and inappropriate.

I have had an opportunity to reflect on our exchange and hear from close observers. I am of the view that my actions were not as you have described in your emails and in public statements.

I reached out from my seat and touched your arm to get your attention as you walked past me. Having got your attention you stopped and leaned to hear what I was saying, as I was speaking with a face mask on. We spoke very briefly. I did not physically detain you.

The reason I wanted to speak to you was to say that I felt elements of your speech referring to me were inaccurate. I did not call you a liar. I stated words to the effect that what you had said was incorrect and then I followed this up with saying it was “bulls..t”.

It was not a sensible time to provide this feedback to you. At the time, I felt you unfairly suggested that I have acted improperly when you said,

“for years the Lord Mayor has been meeting regularly with UTAS but no information of what has been discussed and agreed is publicly available”

I saw this is as a misleading portrayal of my participation in the City of Hobart / UTAS Governance Forum, which was established by a resolution of all elected members in 2019.

Council nominated myself, Deputy Lord Mayor and City Planning Committee Chair Councillor Helen Burnet, Finance and Governance Committee Chair Alderman Marti Zucco to be Council’s representatives on the Forum. Several Council staff were also involved including the General Manager / CEO, Head of City Planning and various project staff. The Forum also included several staff from the University including the Vice-Chancellor.

This Forum was meeting four times a year but this has been less during COVID. Like many of Council’s stakeholder committees, notes are taken by staff and not published. But I am happy to take a request to this Forum that past and future information be provided to all interested parties.

Your most recent email cancelling our previously arranged meeting makes reference to the Local Government Code of Conduct. The code specifically refers to an expectation that the disputing parties should meet to attempt to resolve a complaint.

I offered and you accepted an invitation to meet, with a view to discussing the above apology and to seek your views on any other actions. I’m sorry you have now decided you do not wish to meet. My offer to meet with the CEO present remains open.

You have publicly stated that you need a public apology and I note that you are already actively promoting your version of our exchange via the media and paid social media advertising.

Please feel free to publish my email. You have my permission to do so. I respectfully request that this email is not selectively quoted in any publication and that it is only published in its entirety.

I also request that you manage your social media pages in such a way as to not authorise the publication of potentially defamatory comments about me on your publications.

sincerely,

Anna Reynolds