Achievements

Louise secured Hobart City Council investment in the Beacon Foundation’s youth initiative, connecting local businesses with young people at risk of disengaging from school and helping create pathways into training and employment. She also championed keeping YouthARC at City Hall, protecting the program from the risk of closure that could have arisen from the significant cost of relocating and rebuilding it elsewhere.

Protecting Ratepayers through Responsible Borrowing

Louise successfully moved to strengthen Council’s borrowing rules, requiring a fully costed business case before new debt is taken on. This ensures Council considers the alternatives, understands the full long-term costs and can afford the repayments — protecting ratepayers and ensuring borrowed money delivers lasting value for Hobart.

Driving Financial Reform at the Aquatic Centre

Louise repeatedly challenged the poor financial performance of the Doone Kennedy Hobart Aquatic Centre, which was losing around $2 million each year. Her sustained advocacy helped drive a new, more financially viable operating model — reducing the annual loss by approximately $1 million, with the centre now working towards breaking even.

Bringing Accountability to Council Property

Louise supported a thorough audit of Council-owned properties, which exposed Dorney House as costing ratepayers more than $200,000 a year while still falling into poor condition. The property is now going through a tender process for a new operating model aimed at ensuring it is properly maintained and no longer an ongoing financial burden on ratepayers.

Standing Up for Salamanca Stallholders

Louise listened to the concerns of Salamanca Market stallholders during negotiations over their lease agreement and successfully moved amendments in the Council chamber, helping deliver an agreement that better reflected their needs. The process also uncovered that stamp duty had been incorrectly applied to stallholder site ownership, and Louise helped secure refunds covering 15 years of payments from the State Revenue Office.

Improving Access to the Royal Hobart Hospital

As Chair of the Accessibility Committee, Louise called for more disability parking in the Argyle Street Car Park. Eight additional accessible spaces have now been installed near the Royal Hobart Hospital overpass, making hospital access safer, easier and more dignified for people with disability, older residents and their families.

Strengthening Transparency and Accountability

Louise successfully moved that questions raised during Council debates, meetings and workshops be answered in writing within 30 days and published in a meeting agenda. This replaced a system where responses could take more than 18 months, helping elected members make decisions with better information and giving the public a clearer view of how Council decisions are made.

Improving Community Consultation

Throughout her term, Louise has consistently pushed for clearer, fairer and more meaningful community consultation. Council has since introduced more consistent report templates and improved survey design, with questions becoming less leading and prescriptive. These are important steps forward, although Louise believes further reform is still needed to ensure the community is genuinely heard before major decisions are made.

Supporting Community-Led Neighbourhood Planning

Louise supported the Sandy Bay and Mount Nelson neighbourhood plans, recognising the need to prepare for population growth, changes associated with the future use of UTAS land, and the impact these pressures may have on housing, traffic, services and neighbourhood character.

Creating a Safer and More Supportive City

Louise championed the establishment of Hobart’s Safety Liaison Team, developed in partnership with Tasmania Police. Recruitment and training are now underway, with the team expected to begin operating in September 2026. It will provide a visible, non-enforcement presence in the city — helping prevent problems from escalating, supporting local businesses and connecting vulnerable people with appropriate services.

Making Developer Dealings More Transparent

Louise supported the creation of Hobart’s Property Developer Contact Register and sought to strengthen its coverage. The register publicly records elected members’ relevant contact with property developers about planning and development proposals, giving the community greater confidence that Council dealings are open, accountable and transparent.

Supporting Fair and Effective Short-Stay Reform

Louise opposed increasing rates on short-stay properties to 400 per cent because it was a blunt measure that risked heavily penalising existing, lawful operators without clear evidence it would return homes to the long-term rental market. She argued for more targeted solutions — addressing future whole-home conversions through planning controls, better regulation and coordinated statewide measures. Her position was not to avoid reform, but to pursue an approach that was fair, practical and more likely to improve housing supply.

Supporting Live Music Through Practical Consultation

Louise supported the amplified music trial in Salamanca, while personally doorknocking the surrounding area to hear directly from residents and businesses. This helped ensure the proposal was considered fairly and on its merits, rather than being delayed through further reporting. The trial was introduced and has since operated successfully, supporting Salamanca’s cultural life while respecting the needs of the local community.

Taking a Balanced Approach to Collins Street

Louise supported improving cycling access in Collins Street, including a single bike lane where it could be delivered safely and fairly. She opposed the two-lane design because of concerns about road safety, access and the negative impact on nearby businesses. Louise welcomes the current review and hopes it will lead to a more practical solution that protects businesses, improves safety and keeps the city moving.

Keeping Hobart Accessible and Open for Business

Louise opposed the CBD scramble crossings because of their significant impact on surrounding businesses during installation and the ongoing concern that they have made the city harder to navigate. She supports pedestrian safety, but believes changes to Hobart’s streets must also preserve access, traffic flow and public confidence that the CBD remains easy and welcoming to visit.

Supporting Ferries in the Right Location

Louise welcomes the expansion of ferry services across the River Derwent and supports a local terminal at Wrest Point rather than Lords Beach. She believes this location would provide better amenity and access while helping protect the sensitive habitat of the endangered handfish.

Making Street Dining Safer

After a truck struck outdoor furniture that had extended beyond its permitted area, Louise successfully called for an audit of street-dining installations across Hobart’s CBD. The audit helped identify unsafe or non-compliant setups, protecting pedestrians, diners, workers and motorists while supporting safe and vibrant outdoor dining.

Making Better Use of Hobart’s CBD Streets

Louise co-sponsored a successful motion to review Hobart’s CBD bus layovers — the kerbside spaces where buses wait between scheduled services rather than picking up passengers.

At the time, 23 layover bays were already operating and another six were proposed, occupying approximately the same amount of valuable kerb space as 89 standard car parks. Louise called for more suitable locations and modern operating practices that would support public transport while freeing CBD space for parking, access and other community uses.

The motion also addressed buses idling for extended periods, which creates unnecessary diesel fumes, affects pedestrians and nearby businesses, and contributes to pollution around Hobart’s important heritage buildings.

When Hobart City Council funding for Chinese New Year celebrations on Parliament Lawns did not proceed, Louise worked with the State Government to help secure replacement grant funding. Her advocacy helped ensure the celebration could continue, supporting Hobart’s Chinese community and preserving an important cultural event for the wider city.