Rohan Tomas Sean O'Neill-Stevens is a New Zealand politician and deputy mayor of

Nelson City Council Nelson City Council is a unitary local authority. It has its headquarters in Nelson. History Nelson City Council was created in 1992. Local governance of Nelson began with Nelson Province in 1853, which covered the entire upper South Island ...

. In 2019, he was elected as the youngest councillor of Nelson City Council. He is a member of the

Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand ( mi, Rōpū Kākāriki o Aotearoa, Niu Tireni), commonly known as the Greens, is a green and left-wing political party in New Zealand. Like many green parties around the world, it has four organisational ...

, and previously served as the Co-convenor of the party's

youth wing A youth wing is a subsidiary, autonomous, or independently allied front of a larger organization (usually a political party but occasionally another type of organization) that is formed in order to rally support for that organization from members ...

Early life and education

O'Neill-Stevens is of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

an descent, and is of Ngāti Apakura. In 2017, while studying at

Nelson College Nelson College is the oldest state secondary school in New Zealand. It is an all-boys school in the City of Nelson that teaches from years 9 to 13. In addition, it runs a private preparatory school for year 7 and 8 boys. The school also has ...

he was awarded a scholarship to attend UWC Robert Bosch College in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Political career

Nelson City Council

In the

2019 New Zealand local elections The 2019 New Zealand local elections were triennial elections to select local government officials and district health board members. Under section 10 of the Local Electoral Act 2001, a "general election of members of every local authority o ...

, O'Neill-Stevens was elected to the Nelson City Council. O'Neill-Stevens campaigned on issues such as public transport improvements, youth engagement, and housing. In the 2022 New Zealand local elections, O'Neill-Stevens ran for re-election and for mayor of Nelson, finishing in third place for the mayoralty and was re-elected as a councillor. Following the election, O'Neill-Stevens was appointed deputy mayor by Mayor Nick Smith to 'provide balance'.

Political positions

Housing

O'Neill-Stevens supports housing density, calling "subpar and unaffordable housing" a "stain" on New Zealand. He voted against Nelson City Council and

Tasman District Council Tasman District Council ( mi, Te Kaunihera o te tai o Aorere) is the unitary local authority for the Tasman District of New Zealand. The council is led by the mayor of Tasman, who is currently . Tasman elects its 13 councillors from five differ ...

's Future Development Strategy for having "lowballed intensification" and failing to change the way council's approach urban planning.

Transport

O'Neill-Stevens has advocated for public and active transport improvements, and in 2021, moved a motion for Nelson City Council to support free public transport for students, under-25s and community services card holders which was narrowly defeated.

Gambling

O'Neill-Stevens has spoken out against the harm of gaming machines, and in 2021, he moved a motion to adopt a sinking lid policy to reduce the number of machines in Nelson.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:ONeill-Stevens, Rohan 2000 births Living people Nelson City Councillors Deputy mayors of places in New Zealand Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand politicians People educated at Nelson College Waikato Tainui people Māori politicians New Zealand LGBT politicians