Matt Morris

Why did you decide to stand for Christchurch City Council?

I have stood for Council before, in 2001. Then, as now, I felt the urge to stand because I am so passionate about making Christchurch a 'green city'.

This means one which is environmentally sustainable - a huge issue that all urban centres need to get on with, and in a hurry - but also one which is socially sustainable. Although Christchurch is already a great city, there are some huge social problems - drugs, violent crime, poverty, stress, isolation - that need lots of attention. I always feel you can't have one sort of sustainability (this includes economic sustainability) without the other. For example, where neighbourhoods are weak and people don't know each other or even live in fear of what's around them, things can be radically changed for the better if there's a community garden or some other communal, safe 'greenspace' provided.

A lot of the answers to big problems are often quite simple, but there has to be the political will to make it happen. I want to contribute my voice to that political push.

What skills do you feel you possess which would make you effective on the council?

I have strong analytical skills, I can absorb and understand lots of information quickly, I have a good business sense and I am able to get on with lots of different types of people to achieve a common end. I have chaired and facilitated plenty of meetings (I was the provincial co-convenor for the Green Party, I am president of our local branch of Soil & Health, I was vice-chair of Local Agenda 21, for example). I tend not to be belligerent, disrespectful or vindictive, and prefer a positive approach to politics.

What can Christchurch City Council do to better support its LGBT community?

It can do lots of things. It can, of course, always provide better support to those organisations that are already doing good work. It could actively promote events like Pride Week. I don't think the Council should 'take over' the role of community organisations, who probably understand the issues better and who should remain independent, but it could work more in concert with them. In particular I feel very strongly that much more work around homophobia needs to be done in schools.

Many people, not just in the LGBT community, feel that Christchurch is not a safe city, especially on weekend nights. Whatever solutions we implement to change that right now, we also need to work in schools to try to deal with homophobia at an early stage. I don't see this as the Council's job, but the Council can certainly help get that work done.

One idea I had a long time ago was for a queer-friendly space for young people, run by them in a mentoring relationship with the Canterbury Development Corporation. This is totally achievable, but again, you need the political will in Council for such projects to happen.

As far as I know, there are two gay candidates standing in these elections in Christchurch, myself and Tony Milne, both young and both part of the 2021 team.

Tell us about your background, and where you grew up.

I grew up in Christchurch, in St Martins. I was the youngest of three kids.

All of us still live in Christchurch and my parents still live in the same house they bought in 1975, at the end of a cul-de-sac. Real kiwi suburbia stuff. We used to play cricket with the other kids on the street and be in and out of each others' houses, watching TV and getting up to mischief.

After this childhood and adolescence I went flatting in a couple of scungey dives and then some great homes while I was studying at Canterbury. But after I finished Honours I wanted to get really involved in the community doing environmental work. So I got a Taskforce Green position working for the Organic Garden City Trust, and over a few years on different schemes working as the Trust Manager we had built up a really awesome team and were getting lots done in terms of gardening programmes in primary schools, community gardening, adult education, industry support and helping develop and implement a government funded organic certification scheme for small scale producers.

After a few years I went back to university and completed a Ph.D. on home gardening in Christchurch, which is an odd sort of subject but fits perfectly within the new histories of empire. It also was part of developing a new approach to both social and environmental history. As I see it, and this is consistent through all of my work, social and environmental issues are always closely linked.

I work both as a freelance writer and as a supermarket duty manager. I always think this is quite weird, in a way. But I have been working in supermarkets since I was a kid, and actually enjoy it. I particularly like the chance to work with lots of teenagers who are generally very naughty and therefore quite good fun. And the market has always been the best meeting point in any culture.

When did you come out as gay, and what was it like for you at the time?

I think you keep coming out as gay. I was pretty lucky at high school because, as one of the arty kids my friends were all 'alternative'. We were the Goths at our school, and sexual 'deviation' was kind of cool for us. We all read the Vampire Chronicles and enjoyed music that vaunted homoeroticism or bisexuality. My best friend came out to us as gay when we were 16, so he sort of paved the way. I had a girlfriend and she was bi. It took me a while to realise that I was neither straight nor bi. I was 17 I think when I came out to my friends, and 20 when I came out to my family. They were kind of like 'well, we don't like it but if that's how it is, then that's how it is.'

But despite the fact my friends were all obviously supportive, I found that year, when I came out to my family, to be terrible. I was very depressed and had developed an anxiety disorder. I had got into a very unsafe relationship with some guy and this made things much worse. It was horrible.

I feel very deeply about the need in our communities for positive role modelling - we had ambiguous popstars, gay vampires and Julian Clary as our role models. They were OK, but perhaps a bit removed from our reality.

What's your relationship status?

Single.

What do you think are the most pressing issues currently facing the NZ's gay community?

I heard a recent poll that said 25% of NZers would not want to live next door to someone who was gay, or perhaps it was gay couples. I was not surprised by this. Homophobia is still just as prevalent as it has been. To me the danger is still the internalisation of homophobia by young people struggling with coming out. This is my main interest in being involved with Christchurch's Queer Friendly Alliance; working to create a positive environment for young gay and lesbian people to come out into, making it safe, is more important than anything else I can think of. All of the legislation around developing equal citizenship rights for LGBT people is, to my mind, part of a broader picture of making it OK or normal to be queer.

Which LGBT people do you most look up to?

Locally it's Tim Barnett. I'm a Green, you know, but he's very cool. I actually stood for parliament for the Green Party in 2002, in Christchurch Central, which is Tim's electorate. I think he described it as a double act.

But he has achieved so much and remains so nice!

I also have lots of respect for some of the courageous young queer people I work with. I don't know they'd want to be named, but man, they're very inspirational.

What's your worst habit?

I talk about myself too much. Oh, and sometimes I dash off to Greek and Bulgarian monasteries during election campaigns.

Which books are you currently reading and recommending?

The Karamazov Brothers by Dostoyevsky: Great big nineteenth century Russian classic about a dysfunctional family and the hard lives of the peasantry.

The End of Oil: Excellent discussion of why there will be an oil crisis soon and what its implications will be.

A History of Food: Beautifully written book about all the icky things people have eaten over the centuries.

Your favourite music at the moment?

I've rediscovered Coldplay's 'A Rush of Blood to the Head'. Fantastic!

Your favourite movies?

My favourite film is 'The Garden' by Derek Jarman. That guy was a genius. Oh yeah, he's one of my LGBT heroes as well.

Your favourite TV programmes?

Since I was a kid I wanted to be Doctor Who, which I think is partly why I did a doctorate.

On a plane recently I caught the episode of Extras with David Bowie. Laughed till I cried.

Your favourite websites?

I am shockingly useless at visiting websites. I tend to dive in looking for particular pieces of information and get out again. I think this is because I just don't get time. I'm also lots happier in the garden than in front of the computer.

Who in the world would you most like to have a coffee and a chat with and why?

Siouxsie Sioux. But she would have to make the first move. Without wanting to put too much onto her, I'm sure she single-handedly rescued me in adolescence. She did this by being unbelievably cool. Actually, she was already old-hat by the time I was a teenager, but her contribution to culture, to music and to the women's movement is enormous. I'd just like to say 'Cheers, thanks a lot.' I think the big project, in a way, was a critical evaluation of suburban modernity and the idea of what's normal.

That was really empowering stuff for us when we were trying to find our voices.

If you could have one wish granted what would it be?

Honestly, I wish there was more love and less fear in our world and in our communities.