A social media post by a group affiliated with Wellington mayoral candidate Ray Chung has labelled a Wellington City councillor “one of the mental, extreme communist trans-loving ... Green Party retards”.
The now-deleted post by political campaign group Better Wellington took aim at current councillor Rebecca Matthews.
“Message to voters in Onslow-Western ward,” the post said. “It’s time to throw out the Trash!”
It continued, saying Matthews “used to be a socialist Labour Party appointee and is now one of the mental, extreme communist trans-loving (like the guy who shot Charlie Kirk) Green Party retards”.
The statement finished by saying: “Throw this grift monkey to the wind and evict her from council.”
Matthews, a second-term Labour Party councillor, is now running on the Green Party ticket.
She responded on social media, describing the post as “disgusting”.
Matthews later told the Herald: “I would never talk about a colleague or anyone else like that.
“I am disappointed that this is the standard some people have dropped to, and I think most Wellingtonians will see through this nonsense and reject it.”
A couple of people have shared a disgusting post Better Wellington have made about me today. Three things: I will never attack my colleagues or anyone like they do, I am sad that others think it’s ok, and I have no intention of backing down on my work for the city and our people
— Rebecca Matthews (@RebeccaJEmm) September 12, 2025
Earlier this year, Better Wellington established a ticket of candidates to contest seats on Wellington City Council in this year’s election.
The group, named Independent Together, is led by mayoral candidate Ray Chung.
“This team of skilled, experienced and vibrant people is an impressive line-up to contest the Wellington City Council elections,” Better Wellington says of Independent Together on its website.
“They stand for ZERO RATES INCREASES, NO PARTY POLITICS and getting the council BACK TO BASICS.”
When contacted by the Herald about the post, Glenn Inwood, a former whaling lobbyist and political communications operative behind the group, said they chose to delete it after being asked by a few respected members.
“While reluctant to do so, we decided that we didn’t want to upset the people who liked what we do,” Inwood said.
He would not say who personally made the post, or who asked for it be taken down.
“It just so happens in this instance that the post was a woman, we’ve made similar posts about male candidates. They all cry victim when questioned ... that’s how precious and sanctimonious these candidates are.
“Better Wellington as a group, as a whole, had no objection to the content,” Inwood said, and it was made to draw attention to the “fringe” views of the Green Party and “an example of leftist politics”.
“The Green Party today is a chimera. It’s an asylum. It’s a twisted version of the party founded by Rod Donald and Jeanette Fitzsimons.”
Inwood said he had spoken to Chung about the post, who was glad it was taken down.
Chung’s campaign has been marred by controversy, most notably over a gossip-filled email about Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau.
Chung sent an email to councillors detailing a sex and drugs rumour about Whanau.
He wrote of Whanau in explicit terms, having drug-fuelled “tempestuous sex” and making reference to her having “pendulous soft breasts”.
This resulted in several Independent Together candidates quitting the party and Chung losing the support of a high-profile rich-list backer.
Whanau has said rumours like those spread by Chung were part of highly-sexualised dialogue aimed at her – and other female politicians – to demean them and undermine their roles.
Voting has opened for the local body elections and closes at noon on Saturday, October 11. Provisional results will be released the same day with the final results declared on October 16.