Who to vote for in Wellington
A guide to electing pro-LVR candidates
This year Common Ground Aotearoa is focused on the local elections in Wellington City. Our goal is to elect a group of councillors who agree that rates in Wellington need fixing, and have indicated they are interested in pursuing a switch to Land Value Rates (LVR) to get our city working again. The good news is that many candidates have announced support or interest for the policy and we are well on our way to seeing LVR being a priority next term. We’ve been getting questions from Wellingtonians about which candidates to support across the city so we’ve written a quick rundown of the candidates we’d really like to see on council. We’re not giving details on every candidate - just those we can confidently say we’d like to see elected. Not all these candidates are equally committed to our proposal but these are the people we want around the council table when it comes time to make a decision.
We recommend door knocking and phone calling for these candidates as voting has now opened and we want to ensure a strong turnout. We often go volunteering as a group and we’re always looking for more people to join us, so get in touch if you’re keen! Donating to these candidates is also a great way to help them.
TLDR: Land Value Rates is supported by Green candidates, while Labour candidates have pledged to investigate the idea. Alex Baker for Mayor and Tim Ward for Pukehīnau/Lambton are two Independents who are supportive. In general, look to vote for Green & Labour candidates.
Mayor
Andrew Little
Andrew has indicated that he supports LVR in principle, but wants to look more closely at it. The Labour Party’s local government policy states that they will investigate Land Value Rates.
Alex Baker
LVR is one of Alex Baker’s core policies. He is also running for council in the Motukairangi / Eastern Ward.
Takapū/Northern General Ward
Only one candidate in this ward has indicated support for LVR.
Ben McNulty
Ben is the Labour candidate in the Northern Ward. He is pro-LVR and has been supportive in his three years as a councillor.
Wharangi/Onslow-Western General Ward
Rebecca Matthews
Rebecca is the Green candidate in the Western Ward. She is one of the biggest advocates for LVR on council, as well as pro-housing policy more generally.
Joy Gribben
Joy is the Labour candidate and is committed to Labour’s local government policy, which includes investigating LVR.
Pukehīnau/Lambton General Ward
Geordie Rogers
Geordie is the Green candidate in the Lambton Ward and is another major advocate for LVR on council.
Afnan Al-Rubayee
Afnan is the Labour candidate and is committed to Labour’s local government policy, which includes investigating LVR.
Tim Ward
Tim is an Independent candidate in the Lambton Ward, he has suggested he is loosely supportive of Land Value Rates but he needs to look into it more.
Motukairangi/Eastern General Ward
We are blessed to have three pro-LVR candidates in this ward, we encourage you to rank these three at the top of your ballot.
Sam O’Brien
Sam is the Labour candidate for the Eastern Ward and has indicated support for LVR.
Jonny Osborne
Jonny is the Green candidate and supports LVR.
Alex Baker
Alex is running as an Independent and has pledged to implement LVR.
Paekawakawa/Southern General Ward
This ward elects two councillors, we recommend re-electing both incumbents.
Nureddin Abdurahman
Nureddin is the Labour candidate in the Southern Ward and has indicated support for LVR.
Laurie Foon
Laurie is an incumbent Green councillor in this ward, and supports LVR.
Te Whanganui-a-Tara Māori Ward
Tory Whanau
Tory is the Green candidate for the Māori Ward and supports LVR.
Matthew Rewiti
Matthew is the Labour candidate and is committed to Labour’s local government policy, which includes investigating LVR.