Matt Lawrey 4 Nelson-Whakatū Mayor

14/10/2022

The final results are in and, if you’re one of 6352 people who backed me for the Mayoralty, can I just say, thanks again for the support!

We may not have won but the fact 6352 people voted for positive progressive change (9273 when you add Rohan’s 2921 votes) is a good sign.

Nelson-Whakatū remains a fabulous place to live and the democratic process does not start and stop with an election. We have some wonderful progressive people around the Council table and it’s up to all of us to support them over the next three years, particularly as they come up against ideas that will potentially push the city backwards.

There are lots of ways to support your elected representatives. A good first step, if you haven’t already taken it, is to just send them a message of support/congratulations. Their contact details shouldn’t be hard to find online.

Messages of encouragement during the term can also give people a lift. Importantly, Nelsonians need to be prepared to appear in person at Council meetings to speak in support or against things you agree or disagree with. Whether it’s through Public Forum or the Annual or Long Term Plan process, citizens appearing in person carries so much more weight than a written submission can ever do. If you want to win people’s hearts and minds, you’re best trying to do it in person.

If you’re not up to appearing in person, by all means, do it in writing. I know that many of you are over making submission but giving up on them only increases the chances of regression.

The final results also reveal that Nelson-Whakatū had a 51% voter turnout voter, which is down on 2019’s 53%. It’s clear from turnout rates across the country that local democracy is in trouble but there are things that we can do to improve the situation. These include: coming up with a system that gives people an easy alternative to postal voting, actually talking to kids about politics, teaching Civics in schools, having candidates speak at high schools, polytechnics and universities, and lowering the voting age to 16 so that people are in the education system when they get to make their first vote, rather than us just leaving them to figure it out by themselves after they’ve left school.

Thanks once again to everyone who got behind my campaign and for all the messages since Election Day. I’m OK with the result because I know that we threw everything we had at it and I’m rapt that pretty much everyone I was hoping to get elected made it onto Council. I’m also hopeful that some of the ideas I ran on find their way into future decision making; ideas like free public transport for kids and students, building airspace apartments in our parking squares, lighting the Railway Reserve, and making it possible for all our kids to walk and ride to their local school.

In case you're wondering, I’m loving having an open schedule and I’ve already done more mountain biking in the last week than I’d done over the previous three months. I’m looking forward to really giving The Little Things a push in overseas markets and getting some new projects underway. I’m also looking forward to a glorious Nelson-Whakatū summer. We'll see you out there!

09/10/2022

08/10/2022

Just want to say thank you to everyone who voted for these three fabulous humans. My friends Pete, Rachel and Rohan are just the sort of people we need around the Council table and I’m rapt they’ve all been returned. Have a great term you three!

08/10/2022

So...the good news is we have a new Council with some really good people on it who will serve the city well. The bad news is that I won't be joining them.

I'm disappointed not to have made it but we gave it heaps and used the campaign to push a lot of good ideas (like free public transport for children and students) that will hopefully take hold.

I am grateful for my 9 years on Council and believe I helped to achieve a great deal for the city that moved it forward. From making the Top of Trafalgar St a place for people, and finally getting the Modellers Pond sorted, to helping to get more people into active transport and getting inner city living finally happening.

I'm also proud to have helped to save the Railway Reserve and to have helped to get a game-changing walkway-cycleway planned for our waterfront.

I also think, because of progressive work over the last term, Nelson-Whakatū is really well-placed for the future. The Nelson spatial plan Te Ara ō Whakatū is a visionary strategy for the central city, the new planned bus service with the hub at Millers Acre will be a huge step forward, the waterfront walkway-cycleway is going to be sensational and the planned Kāinga Ora housing development will bring much needed people and buzz into the central city while giving hundreds of people warm and dry homes.

My hope is that the incoming council has the courage to keep these projects on track. As I repeatedly said on the campaign trail, it's really important that these projects come to fruition if we're going to have the smart little city that we deserve.

A short time ago I had good chat with Nick Smith. I congratulated him on his success and applauded him for putting everything into his campaign. I hope that he adapts well to the world of local government and works with everyone around the table to move the city forward.

Thank you to everyone who gave their time, energy, creativity, contacts and money to help make my campaign possible.

I especially need to acknowledge the amazing Sarah Kerby for helping to organise the doorknocking and phone calling, and Brian McGurk for knocking on a tonne of doors on behalf of the campaign.

I also need to say a massive thank you to my wonderful family Tania, Darcy and Miro for their unwavering support and love. They really are the best!

I also want to thank all the Nelsonians who had the courage to put their hands up for election. Local democracy is such an important pillar of our society and whenever someone puts themselves forward, they strengthen that pillar. Good on all of you for your efforts and sacrifices.

As for what's next.... well, I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't feeling rather liberated right now. There are a few things I've been wanting to get stuck into over recent years that I just haven't had time for and I'm looking forward to being able to refocus my energy. I'm also happy about the fact that I'll be around lots for the boys before they inevitably take off.

I'm also really looking forward to going for a ride.

08/10/2022

Tom Petty knew what he was talking about...

Win or lose we'll be going to The Free House this afternoon to celebrate either my nine years on Nelson City Council or the start of an exciting new challenge. We'll head down after we get the call telling us the preliminary results, and we'd love it if you could join us. Not sure exactly when that'll be but I'll put up a post to let you know.

Cheers.

07/10/2022

And that’s a wrap!
Campaigning has come to an end. Today was spent talking to people in Trafalgar St, taking down signs and phone calling. It was a good last push with six of us making 450 calls to encourage Nelsonians we came across who hadn’t voted yet to get their paperwork in.
We got a lot of positive feedback and a whole lot of people thanked us for the reminder. I’m feeling tired but strangely content. No matter what happens tomorrow, I know we’ve given this a really good shot. I’m so grateful to everyone who has got behind the campaign, especially the amazing Sarah Kerby, the legendary Brian McGurk, and my incredibly supportive family, Tania, Darcy and Miro. I am a lucky man.

06/10/2022

How’s this for a great effort? The Tautoko Ukraine Charitable Trust raised nearly $8000 for humanitarian efforts in Ukraine last night with an art auction at Nelson Centre of Musical Arts!

The evening featured a powerful speech by Ukrainian refugee Valeriya Horyayeva who reminded us of the ongoing atrocities being committed by the Russian Army and the impact the invasion is having on the world.

It was a great event featuring fabulous food and drinks, lovely live music, great MC-ing by Ali Boswijk and a display of masterful auctioneering skills by John Walker.

It was also nice to catch-up with people like Valeriya, Dmytro Romanenko, Lyubov Marchenko, Scott Mayer and Nelson MP Rachel Boyack (BTW Rachel thanks for letting me steal a couple of the photos below).

Thanks to everyone who volunteered (including the incredibly community-minded Marie Lindaya) to make the evening possible and the event's supporters, including Nelson Centre of Musical Arts, John Walker Auctions, Multicultural Nelson Tasman and Nelson City Council. Good job everyone!

05/10/2022

In case you missed it, The Nelson Citizen's Alliance has published a full page attack ad in today's Nelson Weekly targeting myself, Aaron Stallard, Rachel Sanson, Rohan O'Neill-Stevens and Pete Rainey.

The ad is so full of rubbish, the paper has, since going to print, publicly denounced it as "disinformation." The Weekly has also posted a public apology and given each of us a right of reply - you'll find them below.

Over the years, there have been a few of other times when hardline conservatives have played dirty politics in our local elections. This time is the worst because of the way Neville Male and Tim Skinner's group has attempted to trash five of us at once in a publication that has ended up in thousands of homes in the closing days of the campaign.

There'll be some people out there who'll look at what's happened today and think that it's just politics and no big deal. What those people are missing is the deeply corrosive effect this kind of behaviour has on our democracy. Not only do these personal attacks put people off voting, they actually put people off standing in future elections.

There is definitely a sinister side to this.

The other bit that I find so revealing is that on pretty much their last opportunity before Election Day to promote their ideas, or even their candidates, The Alliance had chosen instead to spend their money trying to tear other people down.

I think that tells you a lot.

Don't forget to vote.

In today’s edition of the Nelson Weekly there is an advert that contains disinformation about candid...

04/10/2022

Two months ago on a cold and wet Saturday in the middle of a pandemic we launched the Matt for Mayor campaign with an event at River Kitchen. Over 170 Nelsonians of all ages and from all walks of life turned up and we had great time. In fact, it was pretty much the perfect way to kick things off!

03/10/2022

Fun fact: waving signs at passing traffic is a surprisingly good way to start the day!
Council candidates Aaron Stallard, Matty Anderson and I got a really warm reception from the city's commuters this morning. Thanks for all the honks and waves everyone. Don't forget to vote!

02/10/2022

Let's do it Nelson-Whakatū, let's vote!

Tomorrow (Tuesday) is the last day you can put your votes in the post. If you want to be extra certain, swing by one of the city's vote drop-off points and stick 'em in the bin, as modelled here by the awesome crew at the Victory Community Centre.

The drop-off bin locations are....

Nelson City Council's Civic House, 110 Trafalgar St
Elma Turner Library, 27 Halifax St
Stoke Library, 35 Putaitai St
Nightingale Memorial Library, 2 Beach Rd
Founders Heritage Park, 87 Atawhai Dr
Tāhunanui Community Hub reception, 55/61 Muritai Street
Habitat for Humanity Hub reception, 166 Tāhunanui Drive
Victory Community Centre, 2 Totara Street

No matter who your preferred candidates are, make sure you take the opportunity to have your say.