Sue Grey Tauranga

The Outdoors & Freedom Party Candidate for the June 18 2022 Tauranga by-election.

The ODFP team have hit the ground running in Tauranga. Why has Sue decided to run?

More and more Kiwis see that New Zealand has a democracy problem. While governments make promises at election time, once every three years, what now see are all these operations going on and big important laws being created that weren’t declared at election time, but that have potential to impact New Zealand’s sovereignty and the health and autonomy of the people of New Zealand. Elected representatives in New Zealand today, as Sue Grey has noted ‘take being elected as a mandate to do whatever they like.

Any vote for the parties in government is a wasted vote, as they are already in Wellington.

In discussing why she is running as a Tauranga candidate, Sue has stated: ‘It’s so important to get a voice into Parliament who has a history of speaking up for the people. There’s absolutely no point choosing someone who’s just another clone of what we’ve already got. The only way we can get change is by doing something different.’

‘So my career has been fighting for the underdogs, standing up for the people on a whole range of different issues. Sometimes they’re issues I personally believe in, and sometimes they’re not, they’re issues that my clients believe in, but I stand up for my clients, – because it’s something that is important that needs to be out there and discussed.’

‘And so, if we only talk about the safe things, and we only do what we think is going to win, we lose the whole diversity of our population.’

‘It means the underdogs become even more the underdogs – and the popular guys become even more of the popular guys…. and we end up with all sorts of problems because people don’t feel that they’re part of the community.’

‘So for me, the solution for many of these things is to give a voice to everybody, get all the voices around the table, – all the voices on the waka, some might say. Then we can actually find solutions that work for everybody.’

Democracy is currently dead in Tauranga. It’s dead because expensive non-elected commissioners are making up the rules. It’s dead because if people attend meetings at Tauranga City Council, and the meetings don’t align with the Commissioner’s perspective, the meetings are abruptly ended. It’s dead because minor parties are left out of meet-the-candidate debates.

There are other troubling problems that are difficult to get to the bottom of, and require greater transparency. They also raise issues about whether our local councils have expertise and resourcing to do their jobs for the good of everybody (or whether all the funding is going into PR and ‘democracy services.’

For example, what happened with:

Without accountable and transparent decision-making processes – and consequences that result in change for the public good – we don’t have democracy.

Once local decisions, are being taken from our local councils, such as ownership of local water, the decision to fluoridate, the absence of consent from residence regarding slim 5G towers – local people are unable to protect their health, and make decisions which protect their families and make Tauranga a safe and vibrant place to live.

A Member of Parliament in Wellington.

Sue’s knowledge of the ‘rules of the game’ means that once elected, Sue Grey will hit the ground running.

For from being a clone that won’t deviate from the party line, the Outdoor & Freedom Party principles – health, freedom, stewardship of our environment & resilience – are a guide for getting to the bottom of party-political issues that always seem to act in favour of control, of globalisation and of big business.

Sue has extensive experience where it counts – understanding how democracy is gamed by Parliament and elected officials. Traditional democratic checks and balances are eroding. Ministry and departmental officials are increasingly unaccountable, inaccessible, and and hidden behind massive public relations teams. The Ombudsman and Human Rights Commissioner appear impotent and helpless.

The problem extends to the courts. Right now, the courts are reluctant to act independently of central government. But democracy only works if the courts can hold central government and Parliament accountable!!

The process of Judicial Review a performance if all the government does is change the legislation – without due process – to suit the deep government agenda. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Sue and the Outdoors & Freedom Party watched how the courts decided in favour of law suits against arbitrary government decision-making that was contrary to their own laws. The problem, as we have seen, is that the government then change the law, sometimes in the middle of the night. Recently the documentary Truth, Lies and Politics, which explores the High Court win and the government action to change the law around provisional consent was released.

While New Zealand theoretically has freedom of speech, over COVID-19 people have been shamed for speaking their views. Sue has a history of asking politically controversial and tough questions, they might be controversial because they deviate from the government line, or because they impact the income of big multinational organisations.

By asking questions, we get answers. When we know more, we can do more. We can work together. As Sue stated, when announcing her candidacy:

‘We are all ready for a new style of politics which encourages both unity and diversity. New Zealanders have proven their incredible spirit despite unprecedented challenges of the last few years. This is a great opportunity to take back our freedoms, our rights and to start to build a new style of politics which puts people first.’

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Alan Simmons

Alan Simmons

President & Co-Leader Alan has dedicated a lifetime of involvement in outdoors political issues. He’s sat on a number of national body executives, boards, NGO and management groups, including the NZ Professional Hunting Guides Association, Electricorp Environmental Management Board, NZ Federation of Freshwater Anglers and the NZ Professional Fishing Guides Association. Many will know him through his website, the hugely popular New Zealand FishnHunt forum.

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