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Invercargill mayor Nobby Clark has refused calls to apologise for using an offensive slur (Photo: Stewart Sowman-Lund, additional design Archi Banal)
Invercargill mayor Nobby Clark has refused calls to apologise for using an offensive slur (Photo: Stewart Sowman-Lund, additional design Archi Banal)

PoliticsMarch 15, 2023

Behind the scenes at council after the mayor uses the n-word

Invercargill mayor Nobby Clark has refused calls to apologise for using an offensive slur (Photo: Stewart Sowman-Lund, additional design Archi Banal)
Invercargill mayor Nobby Clark has refused calls to apologise for using an offensive slur (Photo: Stewart Sowman-Lund, additional design Archi Banal)

Documents released to The Spinoff reveal Invercargill mayor Nobby Clark was provided with a draft apology by his own council officials after using a racial slur during a recent speech – but chose to ignore it. Stewart Sowman-Lund reports.

Invercargill’s mayor was told by his own staff that he should apologise for using the “n-word” during a recent speech, but declined to do so. That’s despite being warned his speech was creating a negative “perception” of the Invercargill Council.

Documents released to The Spinoff under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act reveal Nobby Clark was even provided with a draft apology that he could use, but instead settled for sending an internal message to council staff doubling down on his decision to use the offensive slur.

Clark used the word during a speech delivered at an Arts Foundation and Creative NZ event on March 7. He was commenting on the balance between freedom of speech and hate speech, using a book – and subsequent publicly funded stage show – by award-winning poet Tusiata Avia as the basis for his statements.

“Does poetic expression override some of our societal norms?” questioned Clark, before answering his own question: “If we have art and poetry that uses the word ‘queer’, ’n*****’, ‘fuck the bitch’, which you’ve heard recently – is that beyond our tolerance?”

The comments prompted widespread condemnation, including from Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon and Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson (in an email obtained by The Spinoff, Clark incorrectly refers to Davidson as the “co chair of te party Maori [sic]” and says her being “aghast” was a “badge of honour”).

Clark fronted several interviews to defend his comments – and repeated the offensive slur during his media round. “I would never refer to any situation as being a n*****. I absolutely find it abhorrent [sic],” Clark told Newshub.

“I wasn’t using those words as my words. I was reflecting that they’d been in the media and been in the art space in recent times, and I felt uncomfortable about that and I wanted to talk with them.”

The Spinoff has seen dozens of emails to and from the mayor regarding his speech. While some further criticised him – including one correspondent who said the mayor had “single handedly reaffirmed Invercargill’s reputation as the Asshole of the World” and another who called him an “embarrassment” – many emails were sent in support of the mayor’s offensive comments. 

Clark tended to reply to the messages of support, often stating “I fear nobody (except Karen at home)” or writing that “evil only prevails when good men stay silent”.

Nobby Clark, mayor of Invercargill. (Photo: Let’s Go Invercargill, Image Design: Archi Banal)

But on the same day the controversy made national headlines, after first being reported via The Spinoff, the mayor was told he should consider a public apology.

“In regards to the media stories today about your speech at the All in for Arts event yesterday, my advice is that you issue an apology statement,” Invercargill Council’s strategic communications manager told the mayor in an email on the evening of March 8. 

“This is the perfect example of when perception is more important than intention, and the media stories do not reflect positively on Council or our relationship with those in the community.”

The call to apologise was, according to the emails, backed by the council’s acting chief executive Michael Day.    

An example apology was provided to Clark. It read: “I apologise for the words I used in my speech at the Art Foundation event in Invercargill on Tuesday. My intention was to start a conversation around poetic expression, but I now know that my use of these words was inappropriate. Invercargill City Council and I profoundly support the arts community and have great respect for the work they do.”

Less than 10 minutes after this email was sent, Clark responded saying he would not be issuing any form of apology. “I stand by my comments that was a reflection of what has recently been said by others under ‘artistic expression or artistic licence’ and how that would fit with a future gallery owner like ICC [sic],” he wrote.

A few minutes later, Clark emailed the council’s chief executive and admonished him for having his concerns passed on by a staff member. “If you have concerns about my presentation which I gave you a heads up on, that concern from you should not be relayed via your staff,” he wrote.

Day responded that he did not have concerns and would speak with the mayor in person, before sending a follow-up email to clarify his position. “I do not support the use of those words, but I understand you wanted to raise the issue. I accept you do not want to apologise but I have received a number of concerns from staff so I will send a message to staff today about the issue.”

Earlier in the day, Clark had emailed councillors with similar comments to those he made publicly in the media. He said that while he found the words he used “abhorrent” they were “recent quoted references in [the] artist’s setting”.

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Anna Rawhiti-Connell
— Senior writer

It took until the afternoon of March 10, two days later, for the council chief executive to issue an internal statement to all council staff acknowledging the controversy and the subsequent media attention. “Some concerns have been raised with me by our staff and I wanted to acknowledge these,” he wrote. “Our elected members are often asked to comment and provide their opinion on issues in the community, but it is important to note that these views do not represent those within the organisation.”

He added: “As an organisation, we are guided by our Compass values of Responsibility, Respect, Positivity and Above and Beyond, and this means that we respect and value all people and cultures. I do not support the use of racial slurs in any context and remind anyone who may need it, that our Raise Workplace Wellbeing employee assistance services are available.”

In an interview with The Spinoff during his election campaign last year, Clark claimed he was “colour blind” to issues of race. “Is there some advantage to being in a community that’s split on culture? ‘Cause that’s racism. I don’t see that,” Clark said.

Keep going!
Image: Tina Tiller
Image: Tina Tiller

OPINIONPoliticsMarch 15, 2023

Dear Auckland, thanks for funding our $2.9bn hobby. Regards, golfers

Image: Tina Tiller
Image: Tina Tiller

While it may appear Wayne Brown is leaving no stone unturned in his epic search for savings, golf enthusiasts like me can rest assured the vast tracts of manicured grass on which we play are safe from budgetary scrutiny.

Dear Auckland ratepayers,

As you’ll know, the council is currently consulting on its proposed budget plans for 2023/24.

This is a fairly crucial budget, not only because it’s Wayne “Fix It” Brown’s first as mayor, but more significantly because it aims to fundamentally reshape the services council delivers. 

I write as someone who helped out with Efeso Collins’ mayoral campaign, so you might say this is just sour grapes. But this is not a dig at our city’s newly elected leader – rather I’m more interested in the blinkered way our council’s money mandarins frame what can and can’t be cut.

But before I continue, can I start by saying thank you, given I’m one of a small, privileged group who is able to enjoy relatively exclusive access to the $2.9 billion worth of land that’s either owned or managed by council for golf. It’s strangely comforting knowing that my weird addiction for hitting a small white ball into a tin-lined cup around manicured fields is so favoured by our city’s decision makers that it continues to avoid any kind of budgetary scrutiny from bureaucratic number crunchers. 

Auckland mayor Wayne Brown (Image: Tina Tiller)

Obviously, my tongue is firmly lodged in my cheek, as the contradiction is not lost on me that these vast tracts of land totalling around 535 hectares are preserved for a stereotypically wealthy set of older male Aucklanders, while a raft of services, programmes and facilities that serve a far wider and more diverse cross-section of our society is about to be slashed.

And I must admit I wasn’t really aware of the scale of my privilege, which is why I thought it was worth bringing to attention. But this figure of $2.9 billion is hardly a secret. In fact, it was while researching a small local story for a community magazine my wife and I run that I stumbled on a 2022 report by council officials to the Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board, outlining the need for a rethink in how these golf courses are managed.

Along with stating that the land golf courses currently occupy is worth the deficit-crushing number of $2.9b, it also outlined that golf is played by only around 100,000 Aucklanders and that many courses’ leases are up for renewal soon. 

Ironically, the story I was researching was about plans to upgrade a park for Māngere. This large, grassy expanse is creatively named Centre Park, given its proximity to the rest of the suburb, and while it has a smallish playground, the fields lack bike paths, basketball courts, exercise facilities and picnic tables that would turn this sleepy, “under-utilised” (according to council’s own reports) space into a hive of activity. Unfortunately, there’s currently no money to do these changes, so the local board has done the next best thing which is create a detailed masterplan in the hope that the millions needed to progress things materialises in future budgets. 

But as the city’s soon-to-be-jumping-ship chief executive Jim Stabback says, “council’s facing some significant financial challenges”, so it’s understandable that money for a park that serves only roughly 80,000 people can’t be a priority. And yet, a slightly higher number of Aucklanders continue to get exclusive use of 535 hectares for golf. 

‘Hutt Valley, Kāpiti, down to the south coast. Our Wellington coverage is powered by members.’
Joel MacManus
— Wellington editor

But it’s not just community parks that council can’t fund. Along with proposed cuts to library hours, arts programmes, youth employment skills training and community-run initiatives that reduce the impact of climate change, there are also plans to cut funding to humble but indispensable Citizen Advice Bureaus. 

My understanding is that the savings from shutting down CABs could be in the region of $2 million, while the cost of paying out redundancies to the many of its long-suffering staff could push into the hundreds of thousands. The trade-off seems negligible unless there are also plans in the pipeline to sell the buildings many of these CABs operate from – but that’s just me utilising some creative thinking.

It would be easy to lay the blame at the feet of the new mayor and his fellow councillors, but it strikes me that council officials have had plenty of time to scope out the potential returns of selling some golf courses, or at the very least, rezone these clubs so they pay rates at a level that reflects the value of their land. 

I’m well aware that writing such a column could see me blacklisted from these 13 council-managed courses, but given there are a further 25 privately owned courses in Auckland, my addiction should be able to continue unabated.

Given all this, it would be appropriate to give the Auckland mayor the final word and even though it’s from a response to my esteemed friend Sam Brooks, it still applies. 

“Don’t fucking come and talk to me, write a submission.”

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