Sue Kedgley, ex NZ Green Member of Parliament & Parliamentary Health Leader

Where is Sue Kedgley? What is she doing now after 12 years as a Green MP in parliament? Sue is reinventing herself as a freelance writer, columnist and media trainer and consumer advocate.Having been in parliament, Sue is in a perfect position to comment on the difficulty for back benchers to promote any significant change in the government. She has also listened to people saying that they feel disgusted by the parliamentary process and are completely turned off by the nastiness and hostility in the debating chamber.The low voter turn-out in last year’s election is likely to be because many people feel alienated from Parliament and the entire political process.Parliament is fast becoming irrelevant, and participating in the democratic process doesn’t seem to make any difference these days. Sue says that there needs to be a review of every aspect of the way Parliament works, to see how it could be made more effective and relevant. Lobbying the government is one way to create change and corporate lobbyists spend a lot of their time getting access to Ministers and government officials so they can push their client’s point of view. Those who can afford to hire paid lobbyists, have more access and influence to Ministers, and therefore more influence on policy and legislation than Jo Blogs. Where is the transparency in political decision making? There is no public scrutiny!Is the government really listening to the electorate about genetic engineering, food labeling, the Transpacific Partnership Agreement, and the food bill or do the corporations get the say. Find out Sue’s take on these subjects and more.http://www.suekedgley.com