Lawyer enters election race
Lawyer Sue Grey has her sights set on winning the Nelson electorate seat as the recently appointed co-leader of the NZ Outdoors Party.
After years of fighting for change as a lawyer and activist from the outside, Grey said she would try to make that difference from the inside.
New Zealand was a stunning country but had ‘‘some serious problems with its degrading environment, inequality, shocking mental health statistics, a failing medical system, and government departments that ignore their own laws’’, she said.
‘‘We all know that we need change. It’s better to be on the front foot. We can’t wait, we’ve got to get on with it.’’
A self-employed Nelson lawyer, Grey has been involved in several highprofile matters, including the 2017 aerial drops of bait laced with the rodent poison brodifacoum at Nelson’s Brook Waimarama Sanctuary; working with Nelson activist Rose Renton on medicinal cannabis; and the Saxmere case against the Wool Board.
Grey said she had been ‘‘really concerned’’ about the environment for about 20 years. She hoped that her foray into politics would provide the opportunity to ‘‘get those issues on the table and get them into Wellington’’.
‘‘There are issues we can’t ignore any more,’’ she said, adding that she believed many New Zealanders felt the same.
Launched in 2015 by co-leader Alan Simmons, the NZ Outdoors Party had ‘‘absolutely taken off’’, Grey said.
The party is looking to have about 40 candidates stand in the next general election, due to be held this year. ‘‘We would like most to stand in electorates if possible,’’ she said.
Her own bid for the Nelson seat will put her up against long-time incumbent National MP Nick Smith and Labour Party hopeful Rachel Boyack.
‘‘Nick’s done a good job for Nelson over the years . . . but if he hasn’t achieved things now, what’s he going to do?’’ Grey said.
It was time for a ‘‘new face’’, she said. Among its policies, the NZ Outdoors Party calls for the immediate cessation and use of 1080 poison; supports the use of medicinal cannabis; and seeks a moratorium on the allocation, auction and rollout of 5G spectrum licences until there has been a full public inquiry into the costs and benefits of 5G, effects on human health and the natural environment, and how these can best be avoided or managed.
‘‘We need urgent and mindful action to prioritise the most important things like a healthy environment with fresh air, clean water and safe food, as without these, none of us have a future,’’ Grey says in a video statement on the party website. ‘‘The NZ Outdoors Party puts our needs before our wants.’’