Nobby Clark (politician)
Nobby Clark | |
|---|---|
| 44th Mayor of Invercargill | |
| Assumed office 8 October 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Tim Shadbolt |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1951 or 1952 (age 72–73) Nelson, New Zealand |
William Stuart "Nobby" Clark (born 1951 or 1952)[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.
Early life and career
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, but on appeal won $15,500 compensation and repayment of costs. [4]
Political career
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.[5] He was selected by mayor Tim Shadbolt to be deputy mayor on 12 October 2020, following the resignation of Toni Biddle.[6] Following clashes with Shadbolt, Clark announced his intention to resign as deputy in March 2022, but was eventually convinced to stay on.[7]
2022 Invercargill mayoral election
On 30 May 2022, Clark announced his candidacy for the 2022 Invercargill mayoral election.[8] 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.[5][9] This ticket was revealed in July to be called "Let's Go Invercargill".[10]
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.[11]
Mayor of Invercargill, 2022–present
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.[12] He also detailed plans to cut $50 million from the city's $115 million budget.[13] He stated that he would not wear the mayoral robes and would not be addressed as "Your Worship" as his predecessor had.[14] On 14 October, he appointed newly-elected councillor Tom Campbell as his deputy.[15]
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.[16][17]
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.[18][19][20][21] 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.[22]
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.[23]
Personal life
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.[24]
References
- ^ a b c Rosenberg, Matthew (25 June 2021). "Invercargill's unlikely deputy mayor: 'I was like a wolf coming into the sheep pack'". RNZ.
- ^ Fallow, Michael (8 October 2022). "Nobby Clark – long a challenging figure, now Invercargill's civic leader". The Southland Times. Stuff.
- ^ a b Savory, Logan (10 April 2019). "Council critic wants seat at the table". Southland Times – via PressReader.
- ^ "Patrina got punched by a colleague, so why did she get sacked?". Stuff/Fairfax. 2022.
- ^ a b "2019 Elections". ICC. Invercargill City Council. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
- ^ Savory, Logan (12 October 2020). "Nobby Clark selected as Shadbolt's new deputy mayor". Stuff.
- ^ Savory, Logam (30 March 2022). "Nobby Clark to stay on as Invercargill's deputy mayor". Stuff.
- ^ Harding, Evan (30 May 2022). "Nobby Clark standing for Invercargill mayoralty". Stuff.
- ^ Savory, Logan (29 June 2022). "Group unites in push for 'new blood' at Invercargill City Council". Stuff.
- ^ Savory, Logan (20 July 2022). "Former smelter boss part of 'Let's Go Invercargill' ticket running for council". Stuff.
- ^ Leask, Anna (8 October 2022). "Your Vote 2022: A new dawn in Invercargill as Nobby Clark elected, Sir Tim Shadbolt's reign now over". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
- ^ Brunton, Tess (10 October 2022). "New Invercargill Mayor points to different leadership style after Sir Tim's departure". Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "New Invercargill mayor Nobby Clark outlines budget plans". 1 News. TVNZ. 9 October 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
- ^ Savory, Logan (11 October 2022). "'Your worship' no more: New Invercargill mayor Nobby Clark wants pomp and ceremony gone". Stuff.
- ^ "Nobby appoints Invercargill deputy mayor". Otago Daily Times. Allied Press. 14 October 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Girao, Luisa (1 November 2022). "Mana whenua council role to be reduced". Otago Daily Times. Allied Press. Archived from the original on 1 November 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
- ^ Girao, Luisa (2 November 2022). "Mana whenua reps return to council table". Otago Daily Times. Archived from the original on 2 November 2022.
- ^ Brooks, Sam (8 March 2023). "Bleak: Invercargill's mayor just used the n-word". The Spinoff.
- ^ "Invercargill mayor criticised for using n-word in speech". 1 News. 9 March 2023.
- ^ Fallow, Michael (9 March 2023). "Nobby Clark - those weren't my words". Stuff.
- ^ Swift, Molly; Iasona, Seni (9 March 2023). "Invercargill mayor Nobby Clark defends saying N-word, repeats it 8 times in Newshub interview". Newshub.
- ^ Fallow, Michael (9 March 2023). "Nobby Clark rebuffs calls to resign or apologise for explicitly citing offensive words". Stuff.
- ^ Tomsett, Ben (8 June 2023). "Mayor's comments labelled ignorant". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Savory, Logan (21 March 2022). "Invercargill deputy mayor Nobby Clark has thyroid cancer, awaits surgery". Stuff.