Hobart councillor Louise Elliot is taking the Tasmanian government to court after a complaint was made against her for using the phrase “mind virus” to describe colleagues wanting to fly the Palestine flag outside the local town hall.

In late November 2023, six weeks after the October 7 attacks on Israel, Ms Elliot criticised a proposal to fly the Palestinian flag outside Hobart Town Hall.

The Nationals member said she was worried about the “mind virus that brings these concepts into the council chamber” and voiced her opposition to supporting “terrorism, genocide and repulsive brutality”.

Fellow councillor Mike Dutta filed a complaint to the Tasmanian Local Government Code of Conduct Panel which falls under the state government's purview.

The panel decided Ms Elliot’s phrase suggested

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