Rohan Tomas Sean O'Neill-Stevens (born 2000) is a New Zealand politician and deputy mayor of

Nelson City Council Nelson City Council is the unitary local authority for Nelson in New Zealand. History Local governance of Nelson began with Nelson Province in 1853, which covered the entire upper South Island. The town of Nelson was managed by the Nelson ...

. 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 (), commonly known as Green or the Greens, is a Green politics, green List of political parties in New Zealand, political party in New Zealand. Like many green parties around the world, it has four pillar ...

, convened their 2023 general election campaign, 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 Co ...

and

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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, a feat achieved in part thanks to its original inception as a private school. It is an all-boys school in the City of Nelson that teaches from years 9 to 13. In addition, it r ...

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 lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Political career

Nelson City Council

In the

2019 New Zealand local elections The 2019 New Zealand local elections () were triennial elections held in New Zealand on Saturday 12 October 2019. Election schedule Key dates relating to the local elections were as follows: Results In Auckland, Phil Goff was re-elected ...

, 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 The 2022 New Zealand local elections () were Local elections in New Zealand, triennial elections held in New Zealand from 16 September until noon 8 October via postal vote. Election schedule Key dates relating to the local elections were as ...

, 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, as the highest polling At Large candidate. 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 () is the unitary authority#New Zealand, unitary local authority for the Tasman District of New Zealand. The council is led by the mayor of Tasman, who is currently . History Tasman District Council was formed on 1 Novem ...

's Future Development Strategy for having "lowballed intensification" and failing to change the way council's approach urban planning. In August 2023, O'Neill-Stevens was appointed to a Nelson City Council hearings panel as a resource management commissioner, to consider Plan Change 29, the council's controversial proposed housing intensification planning rule changes.

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.

Personal life

In 2014, O'Neill-Stevens older brother died after falling through a skylight at Wellington Cathedral. O'Neill-Stevens identifies as queer.

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 LGBTQ politicians