Nobby Clark | |
---|---|
44th Mayor of Invercargill | |
Assumed office 8 October 2022 | |
Preceded by | Tim Shadbolt |
Personal details | |
Born | 1951or1952(age 72–73) Nelson,New Zealand |
William Stuart"Nobby" Clark (born 1951or1952) [1] is a New Zealand politician,serving as the Mayor of Invercargill since 2022. He has also served on the Invercargill City Council since 2019 and as deputy mayor since 2020.
Clark was born in Nelson and moved to Auckland after leaving school. He served as a medic during the Vietnam War, [1] and subsequently moved to Invercargill in 1975. [2] He has been described as a blue collar worker and worked at Oranga Tamariki,Stopping Violence Southland,and the IHC New Zealand. [3]
He was employed by Idea Services the company owned by IHC,until he was sacked as their Southland regional manager. He initially lost a wrongful dismissal case, [4] but on appeal won $15,500 compensation and repayment of costs. [5]
Prior to being elected to council in 2019,Clark was spokesman of the Invercargill Ratepayers Advocacy Group. [3] He was the highest polling Invercargill city council candidate in 2019,with 10,802 votes. [6] He was selected by mayor Tim Shadbolt to be deputy mayor on 12 October 2020,following the resignation of Toni Biddle. [7] Following clashes with Shadbolt,Clark announced his intention to resign as deputy in March 2022,but was eventually convinced to stay on. [8]
On 30 May 2022,Clark announced his candidacy for the 2022 Invercargill mayoral election. [9] In June,he announced the formation of a group of ten council candidates he would run alongside. The group mostly consists of new candidates,though incumbent councillor Allan Arnold was among them. [6] [10] This ticket was revealed in July to be called "Let's Go Invercargill". [11]
On 8 October,Clark won the Invercargill mayoral election,winning 6,537 votes. The incumbent Shadbolt only won 847 votes while the second-highest candidate Newstalk ZB broadcaster Marcus Lush won 3,785 votes. [12]
Following his election as Mayor,Clark announced that he would focus on opposing the Government's Three Waters reform programme,building a new museum in Invercargill and reviewing project spending. [13] He also detailed plans to cut $50 million from the city's $115 million budget. [14] He stated that he would not wear the mayoral robes and would not be addressed as "Your Worship" as his predecessor had. [15] On 14 October,he appointed newly-elected councillor Tom Campbell as his deputy. [16]
On 1 November,Clark attempted to remove the speaking rights of mana whenua representatives at full council meetings,as they did not have voting rights. This proposal was defeated in a council vote. [17] [18]
Clark made national headlines in March 2023 for his use of the word nigger in a speech at an arts event,and again while defending his actions to the media. He argued that he was questioning the line between artistic expression and hate speech in response to a controversial poem by Tusiata Avia. [19] [20] [21] [22] Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon called on him to apologise and Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson called on him to resign. Clark responded by calling for Foon to resign instead,for not investigating Avia for alleged hate speech. [23]
The incident was covered in an episode of New Zealand Today in March 2024,during which Guy Williams attempted to convince Clark not to use the word. Clark repeated the word and forced Williams to say it before he would promise to stop. Clark said that "I don't feel I need to learn and improve" and subsequently stormed out of the interview. He subsequently returned to the interview with a book challenging mainstream historical interpretations of the Treaty of Waitangi and co-governance. [24] [25] This drew criticism from acting Race Relations Commissioner Saunoamaali'i Karanina Sumeo and Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins, [26] and code of conduct complaints from councillors Ian Pottinger and Ria Bond. [27]
On 23 July 2024,an independent investigation found that he had breached the code of conduct on four counts. [28] [29] At an extraordinary meeting on 26 July 2024,the council voted again to censure Clark and request a further apology. [30] [31] On 30 July,Clark issued a public apology for breaching the Council's code of conduct by making racist and homophobic slurs along with "insulting and degrading behaviour" during the New Zealand Today television interview. [32]
In early June 2023,the Otago Daily Times reported that Clark had criticised the Government's Public Interest Journalism Fund (PIJF) during a New Zealand Taxpayers' Union "Hands Off Our Homes" meeting at Invercargill's Workingmen's Club,where he was a guest speaker. Clark claimed that the PIJF limited critical media coverage of Māori and prioritised Māori perspectives,issues and interests. Clark's allegations were disputed by University of Otago media studies lecturer Dr Olivier Jutel,who contended that the PIJF was integral to regional and Māori journalism. [33]
In late June 2023,Clark attracted media attention after hosting a talk in Invercargill by controversial Stop Co-Governance Tour organiser Julian Batchelor,who has drawn criticism for allegedly promoting disharmony against Māori. During Batchelor's talk,Clark gave a speech stating that he did not speak the Māori language by choice,claiming that Māori were "being given more power than they should have," and objecting to the Government's co-governance and Three Waters policies. [34] In addition,Clark expressed opposition to the Public Interest Journalism Fund,"cancel culture," mana whenua representatives on the City Council,and the alleged "bastardisation of the English language" through the incorporation of Māori words. [35] Clark drew criticism for his views and support for Batchelor from several local Māori leaders including Waihōpai Rūnaka kaiwhakahaere Cyril Gilroy,Mana whenua Hine Ruaporo,Ōraka Aparima,public health worker Karina Davis-Marsden for allegedly promoting racial division in Invercargill. [34]
In early April 2024,Clark called for a public meeting on 6 April to address rising youth crime in Invercargill including vehicle thefts,burglaries,assaults,and death and rape threats against ICC councillors,business owners and their partners. He called for tougher consequences against youth offenders. [36] Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Ingrid Leary disagreed with Clark's calls for youth offenders to be treated as adult offenders. Meanwhile,Invercargill MP Penny Simmonds reiterated the Government's policy of combating youth crime but said that local Police had told her youth offending in Invercargill "was no worse than elsewhere in the country,but that a small number of young locals were causing most of the issues." [37]
On 6 April,Clark hosted a three hour meeting at Invercargill's Civic Threatre where civic leaders heard community feedback and discussed solutions to the city's crime problems. Victims of crimes including local business owners and former perpetrators shared their stories including ram raids and organised shoplifting. During the meeting,Clark and local Police area commander Mike Bowman discussed efforts to combat crime including a new security camera system worth NZ$2.2 million. Notable attendees including Invercargill MP Simmonds and lawyer Peter Redpath,who advocated rehabilitative and "wrap around" approaches to combating youth crime. [38]
On 16 March 2024,Clark was invited to attend a United Fire Brigades' Association (UFBA) prize-giving dinner. His conduct at the dinner resulted in UFBA chief executive William Butzbach filing a complaint with the council. According to an independent investigation which interviewed many people present,Clark made disparaging remarks about volunteer firefighters and repeated personal attacks against one particular female MC of the event. He also disparaged young people in positions of authority,understood to be a dig at Gore mayor Ben Bell. Clark disagreed with the alleged severity of his comments,but admitted that some of them were inappropriate and wrote an apology to the UFBA. He also apologised to Bell after Bell reached out to him. Clark placed blame on "brain fade" following his heart surgery,which he said could last up to two years. [39] Clutha mayor Bryan Cadogan questioned this diagnosis,having dealt with his own cardiac issues. [40]
After the investigation was completed,an extraordinary council meeting was called for 21 June to address the complaint. [41] Councillor Ian Pottinger said that he would ask Clark to resign at the meeting and was supported by the Southland Business Chamber. [42] At the beginning of the meeting,Clark stated that he would not resign and left the room. The council unanimously voted to accept the findings of the investigation that Clark had breached the code of conduct,however Pottinger's motion for the council to formally ask Clark to resign failed 5–6. They instead voted to send a letter of censure,require that Clark specifically apologise to the MC he offended,and ask that he delegate future public engagements to the deputy mayor. [43] In an email to councillors the next day,Clark agreed to the further apology but stated that he would continue to speak at public engagements. He further accused them of gaslighting for referring to his behaviour as racist,homophobic,sexist,and ageist. [44]
On 24 June,Clark announced that he would take another month off work,saying that he came back too soon following his surgery. [45]
On 22 October 2024,Clark announced that he would no longer engage with several media including the Otago Daily Times , Southland Express and Stuff due to what he regarded as their negative coverage of his Code of Conduct complaints. [46]
In mid-October 2024,Clark confirmed that he would not be contesting the 2025 New Zealand local elections as Mayor,telling the Otago Daily Times he wanted to spend more time with his partner Karen Carter. He confirmed that the 2022-2025 term would be his final term as Mayor and that he would focus on the construction of the new Southland Museum and Art Gallery,the development of Wachner Pl and waste management consents for Bluff and Clifton. [47]
Clark has the distinction of being the first person to run the Kepler track 30 times. In 2004 he became just the fourth person to donate a kidney anonymously in New Zealand. [1] Cancer runs in Clark's family,and in 2022 he was diagnosed with follicular thyroid cancer. [48] In December 2023,Clark suffered a minor heart attack. Originally scheduled for a quadruple bypass surgery, [49] [50] he only required a double bypass on 3 January 2024. [51] He took a break from council duties until March. [52]
Invercargill is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand,and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of the Southland Plains to the east of the Ōreti or New River some 18 km north of Bluff,which is the southernmost town in the South Island. It sits amid rich farmland that is bordered by large areas of conservation land and marine reserves,including Fiordland National Park covering the south-west corner of the South Island and the Catlins coastal region.
Lumsden is a town in Southland,New Zealand. Lying in a gap in the surrounding hills,Lumsden is the location of a major junction on State Highway 6. Lumsden is 81 kilometres north of Invercargill,106 kilometres south of Queenstown,59 kilometres west of Gore and 77 kilometres east of Te Anau.
Sir Timothy Richard Shadbolt is a New Zealand politician. He was the Mayor of Invercargill from 1998 to 2022,and previously Mayor of Waitemata City.
Southland Boys' High School (SBHS) is an all-boys school in Invercargill,New Zealand,and has been the only one in the city since Marist Brothers was merged with St Catherines to form Verdon College in 1982.
Meng Liu Foon is a New Zealand politician who served as the mayor of Gisborne from 2001 to 2019. He served as New Zealand's race relations commissioner from August 2019 to June 2023,resigning after failing to declare payments of $2 million he took for emergency housing while director of an investment company. He is one of a handful of people of Chinese descent to have become a mayor in New Zealand. He is fluent in English,Cantonese and Māori. At the time of his departure from the mayoral position he was the only mayor in New Zealand who was fluent in Māori.
ILT Stadium Southland is a multi-purpose venue located in Surrey Park,Invercargill,Southland,New Zealand. It was originally the home venue of the Southern Sting netball team. It currently serves as the main home venue of both the Southern Steel netball team and Southland Sharks of New Zealand's National Basketball League. It has also occasionally served a home venue for both the New Zealand national netball team and for New Zealand Breakers of Australia's National Basketball League. The venue is owned by Southland Indoor Leisure Centre Charitable Trust and the Invercargill Licensing Trust has the naming rights. Stadium Southland was originally opened in 2000. Following a roof collapse in 2010,it was redeveloped in 2014. The SIT Zero Fees Velodrome,which was opened in 2006,is adjacent to the main stadium complex. As well as hosting netball and basketball matches and tournaments,Stadium Southland has also hosted music concerts and tennis,badminton,boxing and wrestling events.
Dunedin Hospital is the main public hospital in Dunedin,New Zealand. It serves as the major base hospital for the Otago and Southland regions with a potential catchment radius of roughly 300 kilometres,and a population catchment of around 330,000.
The Invercargill City Council is the territorial authority for the city of Invercargill,New Zealand.
The Southland Times is the regional daily paper for Southland,including Invercargill,and neighbouring parts of Otago,in New Zealand. It is now owned by media business Stuff Ltd,formerly the New Zealand division of Fairfax Media.
Lee Vandervis is a local-body politician who was first elected to the Dunedin City Council in the 2004 local elections. Vandervis has run for mayor in 2004,2007,2010,2013,2016,2019 and 2022;finishing second in 2007 and 2019. Vandervis failed to win mayor again in 2022,but he was re-elected to the Council.
The Mayor of Invercargill is the head of the municipal government of Invercargill,New Zealand,and leads the Invercargill City Council. The mayor is directly elected using a First Past the Post electoral system every three years. The current mayor is Nobby Clark. Invercargill also has a deputy mayor that is chosen from the council. There have been 44 mayors so far.
The mayor of Gore officiates over the Gore District in New Zealand's South Island. Prior to local government reorganisation in 1989,the mayor of Gore officiated over the Gore Borough.
Penelope Elsie Simmonds is a New Zealand politician,Member of Parliament and a Minister in the House of Representatives for the National Party. She previously served as the chief executive of the Southern Institute of Technology. Following the 2023 New Zealand general election,Simmonds assumed the disability issues,environmental,tertiary education and skills,and associate social development and employment portfolios in the Sixth National Government.
Kew is a suburb in the New Zealand city of Invercargill.
Grasmere is a suburb in the New Zealand city of Invercargill.
Glengarry is a suburb in the New Zealand city of Invercargill.
The Water Services Reform Programme was a public infrastructure restructuring programme launched by the Sixth Labour Government to centralise the management of water supply and sanitation in New Zealand. It originally proposed shifting control of stormwater,drinking water and wastewater management from the country's 67 local councils to several new publicly-owned regional entities by July 2024. Details of the proposed reforms were announced in October 2021. The Three Waters reforms were criticised by several mayors and the opposition National and ACT parties.
The 2022 Invercargill mayoral election took place on 8 October 2022 as part of the New Zealand local elections. Incumbent mayor Tim Shadbolt unsuccessfully sought a tenth term against nine other candidates,losing to his deputy Nobby Clark.
Invercargill Central is a shopping centre located in the central business district of Invercargill,New Zealand. Stage one of the project opened on 14 July 2022.The BusSmart Hub is outside Invercargill Central. All stores on the ground floor are open.