Kedgley retires

September 17th, 2010 at 3:00 pm by David Farrar

Green MP Sue Kedgley this morning announced that she would not stand for Parliament at the 2011 election.

Ms Kedgley said after four terms she was pleased she had been able to put food, animal welfare and natural health issues on the political agenda.

I can’t think of a single issue I actually agree with Sue on, but I acknowledge she has been an effective campaigner for her causes, and probably has been part of the Greens’ electoral success – she appeals to the mums concerned about food etc.

I do recall interviewing her before the 2008 election, and she want on and on about the need for better public transport in Wellington, I remarked to her how great the new Snapper cards were, and Sue said that she didn’t actually have one. It confirmed my suspicion that she spends more time advocating for public transport than actually using it.

It will be interesting to see how the Greens go in 2011, without so many of their more “iconic” figures.

Tags: Greens, Sue Kedgley

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37 Responses to “Kedgley retires”

excusesofpuppets (132) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 3:03 pm
What about her nagging of pig farmers?

Greens are starting to loose their way, I not really sure what they represent now.
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krazykiwi (9,188) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
I not really sure what they represent now

They are a bunch of ideologically dissimilar people squeezed under a wafer-thin environmental umbrella… desperately hoping for enough combined support to hit the 5% mark. So they represent a bunch of fringe factions and the unthinking eco-voters.
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Rich Prick (1,101) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
I won’t miss her pulling faces at Big Macs. Which by the way, is about the extent of her political achievement in my opinion.
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Psycho Milt (1,349) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 3:21 pm
she appeals to the mums concerned about food

You could usefully rephrase this as “she appeals to dimwits indulging a superstition-based obsession with ‘healthy food’”
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Chthoniid (1,914) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 3:21 pm
Hmm, their first crop of politicians were definitely people whose names I recognised, even if their politics never appealed. I’m not sure their stint in parliament has built up their environmental brand, or just eroded it.

I would expect an electoral hit of some kind now that more of their charismatic candidates (or at least those with some name recognition) are being lost.
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Angus (535) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Kedgley is a flat-earth, no-growth environmental-Marxist. I’m pretty confident the Greens will have no trouble finding someone else to fill her shoes.
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stephen (4,063) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 3:30 pm
I remarked to her how great the new Snapper cards were, and Sue said that she didn’t actually have one.

Maybe she had a gold pass?
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BlairM (2,020) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 3:33 pm
Yeah, and Pol Pot was “an effective agrarian reformer”.

More than anyone, Sue Kedgley has given the Greens their reputation as “the banning party”. I’m not sure a lot of the hippies will miss her much.

To be positive, her resignation highlights to me the fact that experienced political activists and advocates always make the most effective MPs, and so it proved with her. The new intake of Greens are nothing of this sort, which is why most people can’t even name all nine of them, or however many there are. If you couldn’t get publicity before you had a secretary, an office, and a nice salary, then you are not going to do a great job of it when you have it.
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Fot (252) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 3:35 pm
Of course the commies will have no problem finding a replacement Angus, however it will be another moon bat along the lines of Delahunty or Hughes.

I detest Kedgley because she is a fake, however she was another one of the “normal” sounding and acting Greens, with the departure of Fitzsimmons and now Kedgley the Greens will shed a ton of votes.
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gravedodger (1,175) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 3:35 pm
The only thing in her career that struck a chord with me was her campaign for a more accurate and informative labeling regime. I admit not necessary perhaps with reputable traders but I would like to have some idea as to the real melamine content of the milk I put in my scotch, entirely medicinal of course.
ps she got some credit in the looks stakes as a bonus, I mean compared to Ms Bradford.
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cctrfred (39) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 3:40 pm
So given the recent issues with ACT, what are the chances that the 2011 parliament will consist of National, Labour and the Maori Party only?
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Chthoniid (1,914) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 3:48 pm
@BlairM

…there are nine of them?
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ben (2,366) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 3:50 pm
Good riddance. Few are as opposed to liberty as Ms Kedgeley.
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JohnG (22) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 3:52 pm
@KK(3.12pm) – mmm, “wafer-thin” reminds me of “one thin wafer” – was Mr Creosote a Green then?

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backster (1,780) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
I think she was the only true green left. I also think her campaigns to protect the food chain and similar issues were very worthwhile and in the Public Interest. I’m sorry to see her go. I can’t say I would be sorry to see any of the other greens go they being more red than green.
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Tauhei Notts (1,260) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 3:59 pm
Anguis at 3.24 p.m. is exactly correct.
But I am so old that I remember 40 years ago when she was drop dead gorgeous. Gravity does catch up on those lovely ones.
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tvb (3,313) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 4:05 pm
Her plummy voice irritated me, when she is just a bit of ordinary white trash from NZ. I bet she does not use public transport. I just cannot imagine her with her silk dress and cashmere jersey mixing it with some unwashed jeans and the spitting and the bad language and the screaming children. That is the reality of public transport in NZ.
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Fot (252) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
Yep, good riddance Sue, don’t let the door hit your increasingly large ass on the way out.

[DPF: 10 demerits]
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gravedodger (1,175) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 4:16 pm
5% is not a very difficult target for the high-jackers of the save the planet brigade with their renewable resource of naive, idealistic foot soldiers emanating from our politicised school system. Just visit any Polling station and see who is wearing the green rosettes and remember what they actually contribute to the community.
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Jack5 (3,028) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 4:22 pm
Sue was right about two things, IMHO:

1. Imported food should have a country of origin label. Blocked by small export lobbyists and supermarkets.

2. Tim Shadbolt. She was right in not remembering his alleged romantic encounter with her.
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Swiftman the infidel (329) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 4:25 pm
Didn’t the slut screw Coffee Ornon?

[DPF: 20 demerits]
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Hagues (711) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 4:33 pm
“It confirmed my suspicion that she spends more time advocating for public transport than actually using it.”

Come on we all know public transport is something everyone else should use.
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Jack McDonald (193) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 4:41 pm
“It confirmed my suspicion that she spends more time advocating for public transport than actually using it.”

How wrong you are DPF. As Sue’s Youth MP I know her fairly well, and when ever she has meetings out here on the Coast she always comes out by train. Now who’s making assumptions.

[DPF: That's good. But I was genuinely surprised that she did not have a Snapper card as almost every regular (metro) bus user has one]
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david (2,305) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 4:49 pm
Why is that do you think that is Jack? Does she hit the Elderflower juice a bit too hard to be able to drive home?
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jaba (1,924) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 5:03 pm
so who is next in line … can’t wait to see
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freedom101 (353) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 5:04 pm
Very fitting that she should announce her retirement on a day when there is so much di-hydrogen monoxide plastering the country!
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kowtow (4,448) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 5:11 pm
More and more of our food seems to be coming from China .I agree with food labelling and knowing what’s been added to our food.That way one can make an informed choice.

Having said that I’d love to see the Greens electorally eliminated…….
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lastmanstanding (1,038) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 5:15 pm
Back in the early70s I had the hots for Sue and her sister They were both hot hot hot. Sad about her politics though.
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Put it away (2,887) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 5:40 pm
Good riddance to a tiresome whiny naysayer who spent her whole political career creating problems that other people have to deal with.
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Steve (3,648) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 5:55 pm
Sue will probably set up a business selling dihydrogen monoxide, now that she knows it is not dangerous
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Pauleastbay (3,726) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 6:42 pm
The I Q of Parliament will be raised ever so slightly with this ding bat gone

My favourite Kedgley yarn is the concerned member of the public who rang her and said Wellingtonians were letting large amounts of dihydrogen monoxide flow down the gutters and into the harbour. Sue was on the blower to the media immediately until some rotten spoil sport told her what it was.

Bugger off you Greens
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krazykiwi (9,188) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 8:06 pm
was Mr Creosote a Green

Don’t think so, but he did self-compost in the end.. so perhaps a death-bed conversion
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Jim (22) Says:
September 17th, 2010 at 8:23 pm
by chance, I have sat behind a green co-leader on a bus and stood next to the other co-leader at a bus stop.

this was time well spent for them because while the green MPs stand and wait for a bus or sit on a bus, they can’t do much harm, and they take more time to get to those meetings where they strive to be “the banning party”.
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Courage Wolf (559) Says:
September 18th, 2010 at 2:29 am
I can’t think of a single issue I actually agree with Sue on.

I don’t see why you would not agree with her animal welfare bill which would prevent caged farming of pigs.

Sow Stalls
Over half of the sows in NZ are placed in dry sow stalls for either part or all of their 115 day pregnancy. When the sows are about to give birth they are transferred to a farrowing crate. Given that sows are either nursing young or are pregnant they are essentially confined for their entire life on the farm.

A sow’s home range would usually be upwards of 100 hectares. However on a factory farm they are restricted to an area that measures 60 centimetres by 2 metres. The sows can not turn around in these stalls; they can only sit, stand or lie down.

Sows have strong behavioural desires to root and forage. Confinement and barren living conditions mean that the sows cannot carry out these behaviours and they become bored and frustrated. This leads to the development of abnormal behaviours which the sows regularly repeat. These behaviours include bar chewing, sham chewing, head weaving and tongue rolling.

Sows have also shown behaviour indicative of learned helplessness and depression; this is apparent in sows who can be seen in the ‘dog-sitting’ position.

Confinement also harms the sows physically; frustration can cause the sows to bite the ears of neighbouring sows leaving them with open wounds. The constant contact wit the metal stall bars also leave the sows with cuts and scratches. The constant kneeling on a concrete floor results in calluses forming on the sows knees.

Sows confined to stalls are prone to developing overgrown toenails which result in lameness, foot injuries and leg and foot deformities.

Pigs have strong maternal instincts and confinement to a sow stall makes it impossible for the expectant mother to prepare for the birth of her litter. Before the birth, the mother sow would naturally prepare a special nest for her young. On a factory farm sows cannot do this and instead are moved to a new stall called a farrowing crate where she will give birth and attempt to care for her young.

Farrowing Crates
Over 70 percent of all sows are confined to these crates for the birth of their young and will stay there for up to 6 weeks before being impregnated again and returned to a sow stall.

Farmers justify the use of farrowing crates by arguing that the piglets would be crushed to death by their mother if she was not confined. Piglets are generally only crushed under farm situations and in farrowing crates around 25 percent of piglets are crushed by their mothers. When sows are not confined to a small pen or crate they would normally perform a regular behaviour sequence when sitting and lying down to help minimise the chance of piglet crushing.

Full article: http://www.liberate.org.nz/pigs.html – it’s a shame that we would allow these practices given that even though animals aren’t as smart as humans, they have the exact same capacity to feel pain and suffering.
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Courage Wolf (559) Says:
September 18th, 2010 at 2:30 am
Before anyone responds to my comment I would strongly urge you watching this six minute video first:

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Gwilly (152) Says:
September 18th, 2010 at 8:39 am
I for one would like to see better more comprehensive food labelling and I would imagine any person with an ounce of compassion would like to see an end to this terrible cruelty inflicted on pigs.

The challenge of course is to phase out this practise whilst ensuring we don’t destroy our pork industry at the same time.
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Brian Smaller (3,835) Says:
September 18th, 2010 at 8:35 pm
Kedgley is a flat-earth, no-growth environmental-Marxist.

While sending her own kid to the same private school my son went to. Power to the people.
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