Louise Elliot slams Hobart City Council over “wasteful” art grants

A council candidate has accused Hobart City Council of spending ratepayer money on “wasteful handouts” at a time when they were $66 million in debt.

HOBART City Council candidate Louise Elliot has accused the council of spending ratepayer money on “wasteful handouts” to expensive art projects.

Ms Elliot has presented council with a list of “eyebrow-raising” grants that have been awarded to various groups in this council term.

The list includes $10,000 to put poems on buses for four months, $15,000 for dancing that responds to the rivulet, and $13,200 on an empowering fashion runway show.

Ms Elliot claimed she had nothing against the arts, but that council shouldn’t be spending other people’s money on it while carrying a $66 million debt.

“The council is like a teenager with a credit card, spending away and leaving parents to pay off the debt,” Ms Elliot said.

“We’re at a time when we have rates going up, housing affordability has never been worse, we have an increase in parking fees, council are crying poor, yet here are these handouts.”

Ms Elliot said council had increasingly been involving itself in the art scene and social justice causes, when it should really be sticking with roads, rates, and rubbish.

One of the groups singled out by Ms Elliot is Great Southern Dance, which ran the aforementioned $15,000 rivulet dance project.

Louise Elliot has complied a list of the most anti-development members of Hobart City Council. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Project designer Paul Wakelam said Ms Elliot’s comments were straight-up “libelous” and designed to push a political agenda at the expense of the arts community.

Mr Wakelam said their project engaged over 1000 people, renewed people’s appreciation of the rivulet, and brought foot-traffic into the CBD.

He said the arts in general played a crucial role in Hobart, both for bringing flavour and colour into the city but also stimulating the local economy.

“With any society, development of culture is crucial. Council are trying to activate spaces in the city and bring attention to the history of our location and where we come from,” Mr Wakelam said.

“If she gets in and wants to put out an agenda to squash art funding, that’s cool. We don’t give into that stuff. I have no ill will towards her; politics is politics.”

Council CEO Kelly Grisby said most of council’s borrowings were for capital works, and not for funding community grants.

She said Hobart City Council’s capital expenditure for 2021/22 was $42.96 million, more than twice that of Clarence City Council.

“The City of Hobart grants program is guided by the Hobart: A community vision for our

island capital and the Capital City Strategic Plan 2019–29,” Ms Grisby said.

“The Council has for many years supported the City in delivering a significant grants program that support community-driven activities to provide for connection, empowerment and self- expression.”