Nobby Clark (politician)

William Stuart "Nobby" Clark (born 1952 (age 69)) 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, and subsequently moved to Invercargill in 1975. He has been described as a blue collar worker and worked at Oranga Tamariki, Stopping Violence Southland, and the IHC New Zealand.

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.

First term, 2019–2022
Prior to being elected to council in 2019, Clark was spokesman of the Invercargill Ratepayers Advocacy Group. He was the highest polling Invercargill city council candidate in 2019, with 10,802 votes. He was selected by mayor Tim Shadbolt to be deputy mayor on 12 October 2020, following the resignation of Toni Biddle. Following clashes with Shadbolt, Clark announced his intention to resign as deputy in March 2022, but was eventually convinced to stay on.

2022 Invercargill mayoral election
On 30 May 2022, Clark announced his candidacy for the 2022 Invercargill mayoral election. 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. This ticket was revealed in July to be called "Let's Go Invercargill".

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.

Inauguration and leadership style
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. He also detailed plans to cut $50 million from the city's $115 million budget. He stated that he would not wear the mayoral robes and would not be addressed as "Your Worship" as his predecessor had. On 14 October, he appointed newly-elected councillor Tom Campbell as his deputy.

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.

2023 N word controversy
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. 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.

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. This drew criticism from acting Race Relations Commissioner Saunoamaali'i Karanina Sumeo and Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins, and code of conduct complaints from councillors Ian Pottinger and Ria Bond.

Criticism of government media funding
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.

2023 Julian Batchelor tour
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. 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. 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.

Response to crime
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. 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."

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.

United Fire Brigades' Association code of conduct complaint
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. Clutha mayor Bryan Cadogan questioned this diagnosis, having dealt with his own cardiac issues.

After the investigation was completed, an extraordinary council meeting was called for 21 June to address the complaint. Councillor Ian Pottinger said that he would ask Clark to resign at the meeting and was supported by the Southland Business Chamber. 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. 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.

On 24 June, Clark announced that he would take another month off work, saying that he came back too soon following his surgery.

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. Cancer runs in Clark's family, and in 2022 he was diagnosed with follicular thyroid cancer. In December 2023, Clark suffered a minor heart attack. Originally scheduled for a quadruple bypass surgery, he only required a double bypass on 3 January 2024. He took a break from council duties until March.