Hobart City Council pursuing Labor on costs to remove election signage, but no edict to pay

Australia Broadcast Center

29-07-2025

Tasmanian Labor will need to decide whether to ignore or pay a request for payment from Hobart City Council for the clean-up costs of election material from city bus stops, bins and power poles.
The request, raised at the council's meeting on Monday night, would seek to recoup between $4,000 and $5,000 incurred for a three-person crew to remove "TassieDoc" stickers from the CBD, Sandy Bay and New Town.
The stickers, promoting a Labor election promise, appeared in the lead-up to the state's snap election on July 19.
"Apart from the cost incurred by the city, it is entirely inappropriate for city assets to be used unlawfully for political promotion," Hobart City Council then-acting chief executive Michael Reynolds wrote in a letter to the political party, dated July 17.
"A number of the city's poles, bins and bus stop infrastructure have also been scratched or paint lifted when the stickers/posters were removed," he wrote.
But Monday night's motion at the city council's weekly meeting acknowledged Labor may not be behind the promotional material.
"There is no suggestion that the placement of the stickers was authorised or supported by the Tasmanian Labor Party," Councillor Louise Elliot, who tabled the motion, said.
"That said, multiple Labor volunteers were recorded and identified placing Labor's promotional material on council infrastructure."
Election signage rules under the Tasmanian Planning Scheme [TPS] state that all campaign material must be removed within seven days after an election.
The optional nature of the request for payment leaves the door open for Labor to ignore it.
"It could very well be Labor's prerogative to say, 'no, get stuffed. We're not gonna pay that invoice,'" Cr Elliot said.
"But I think if I was Mr Winter, I would be saying 'let's pay this as a gesture of goodwill.'"
The wording of Cr Elliot's motion originally suggested an invoice should be issued to Labor.
But the chamber heard that council invoices could only be issued for goods or services. It was suggested a request for payment be sent instead.
Another option for the council would be to endorse an investigation into the individuals involved, which could lead to the recovery of costs through the magistrates' court.
"Going through the investigating and researching and options stage, that just costs ratepayers more. Instead, we can hopefully nip it in the bud," Cr Elliot said.
The motion passed 8–3, with Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds in support.
Speaking on ABC Hobart's Mornings program, Cr Reynolds said, "it does cost the ratepayers money to clean stickers off poles".
Hobart City Councillor Louise Bloomfield said the Labour Party benefited from the stickers' placement.
"What I like about this motion is it actually starts to set some precedent," Cr Bloomfield said.
"It starts to send the message out that if you're going to run [for office], this isn't acceptable because sadly this is not the first time this has happened."
Councillor Ryan Posselt, who is a Labor member, abstained from voting but made his position clear during last night's discussion.
"I'm not sure, other than for political reasons, why we would go ambulance-chasing the Labor Party when we have the identity of the people who broke the law," Cr Posselt said.
He said a council investigation should continue with the aim of holding the individuals responsible.
"The party itself didn't sanction it. This was the action of either a rogue campaign for an individual candidate, or rogue people associated with that campaign."
The Tasmanian Labor Party has been contacted for comment.