{"id":829793,"date":"2026-07-28T20:47:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T20:47:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/829793\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T20:47:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T20:47:14","slug":"sherlock-claims-political-assassination-as-she-apologies-for-council-snack-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/829793\/","title":{"rendered":"Sherlock claims \u2018political assassination\u2019 as she apologies for council snack scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hobart Deputy Lord Mayor Zelinda Sherlock has offered an unreserved apology for taking food and drinks from the council\u2019s elected member lounge, but described the ongoing fallout as a \u201cpolitical assassination.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking on ABC Radio this afternoon, Sherlock confirmed a list of missing items \u2013 including soft drink, wine, beer, nuts and chocolates \u2013 had been provided to the Integrity Commission.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do understand and I do appreciate that this is not in the spirit of what the community expects from me as an elected member and I do unreservedly apologise,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Sherlock said the community now has the information it needs to make up its own mind.<\/p>\n

\"\"Missing items included soft drink, wine, beer, nuts and chocolates. Image \/ City of Hobart<\/p>\n

\u201cI will try my best that I can for the community as I have done for the past 8 years and I will continue to represent the most vulnerable in our community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She said the incident occurred in 2024 and could have been handled through proper authorities rather than playing out publicly.<\/p>\n

\"\"Deputy Lord Mayor Zelinda Sherlock apologised for taking items from council. Image \/ Pulse (File)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis \u2026 definitely appears to be a political assassination,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do feel bullied. I feel harassed. I feel targeted.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said the elected member lounge has a yearly budget of $4,000 shared among 12 councillors.<\/p>\n

Asked whether alcohol should be available in a council office, Sherlock said the community \u201cwould probably not expect that those kinds of items are contained within that space.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Councillor Marti Zucco dismissed Sherlock\u2019s apology as \u201ccrocodile tears\u201d. Image \/ Pulse<\/p>\n

Fellow councillor Marti Zucco dismissed what he described as \u201ccrocodile tears\u201d from Sherlock and said he did not accept the apology.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the excuses under the sun have been used,\u201d Zucco told Pulse.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat it is now is because basically the cat\u2019s out of the bag and we know it was bagfuls of product being taken after hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zucco said he had written to the Director of Local Government 20 times in eight months and the director had now requested information about the matter.<\/p>\n

\"\"A push for an independent investigation failed by one vote at council. Image \/ Pulse<\/p>\n

He said the situation would not have dragged on if the then acting chief executive had reported it properly in 2024 as required under the Local Government Act.<\/p>\n

He claimed staff who witnessed the behaviour had been too worried to speak out, with two having since left the organisation.<\/p>\n

Zucco said he had viewed CCTV evidence for a second time and was lodging a right to information request to have the footage released publicly.<\/p>\n

He confirmed a push for an independent investigation earlier this year failed by one vote at council.<\/p>\n

Since January, Zucco said councillors had faced \u201croadblocks\u201d including a 149-day wait for a right to information request and complaints to the ombudsman.<\/p>\n

\"\"Councillor Louise Elliott said the matter was about accountability. Image \/ Pulse<\/p>\n

Councillor Louise Elliott said the matter was about accountability, not politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has only ever been about ensuring accountability for what all clear-thinking people view as stealing and the sweeping of serious conduct under the carpet,\u201d Elliott said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe double-standard that a staff member would be sacked for far less weighs heavily on me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hobart Deputy Lord Mayor Zelinda Sherlock has offered an unreserved apology for taking food and drinks from the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":829794,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-829793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=829793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/829794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=829793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=829793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=829793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}