2 May 2002

Former National Party President and Wellington businesswoman Sue Wood is to put her name forward for the National Party list for the next election.

Sue Wood says that in recent months, she has become convinced that the prospects for New Zealand under Labour are grim while friends and colleagues have convinced her to put her name forward to be part of making a difference.

“New Zealand can do better, New Zealand has to do better, and New Zealanders know it. We cannot afford to be complacent about our lot as New Zealanders. We are small, isolated and heavily reliant on sound government decision-making. We’re too small to be able to afford to make mistakes.

“We do not have an economy that can sustain First World living standards or First World social services over time, and despite being presented with opportunities such as the Knowledge Wave initiative, Labour has shown no inclination to act,” Sue Wood said.

“Labour knows how to exercise power for short-term gain but it is not providing the good government New Zealand desperately needs to reverse our long-term economic slide.”

“There is no such thing as safe politics. You can’t keep everyone happy and poll every week to make sure you’re not upsetting anyone. In the end you’ll let people down. I’ve seen how that works before and it is starting to happen again.”

Sue Wood served her political apprenticeship during the 1970s and ‘80s and since then has been involved internationally in democracy-building programmes, has built a successful business and served on a number of boards and trusts.

“My candidacy is an opportunity to share my experiences, contribute to good government and support the National Party every inch of the way during this tight and volatile campaign. It is good for National that Labour is overly-confident and good that we are underestimated by the media.

“New Zealand can do better and I’m going to give this my best shot.”

Sue Wood Bio

Sue Wood is a Wellington businesswoman and managing director of Sue Wood & Associates Ltd, a company she founded in 1992. She has extensive experience working on a wide range of projects in the private, public and Maori sectors, and has served on a number of boards and trusts, including Museum of New Zealand – Te Papa Tongarewa, Priory Trust Board of St John and Arts Access Aotearoa. Her previous professional careers have been in journalism and teaching.

In the 1970s and ’80s, Sue was active in politics and, in 1982 aged 34, was the first woman to be elected President of the New Zealand National Party, a position she held for four years. She also stood for National in the marginal Onehunga electorate on two occasions.

Her political experience has seen her involved as an election observer and in democracy-building programmes in the Philippines, Chile, Northern Ireland, Romania and Pakistan, South Africa and Hong Kong. In 1990, she was elected President of the International Institute for Women’s Political Leadership, succeeding former US Vice Presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro in that post.

Sue Wood is a graduate of the University of Auckland and the Auckland Secondary Teachers’ College and attended her local secondary school, Onehunga High School. At university, she was the winner of the Senior History Prize in 1978 and she is a former New Zealand champion and record-holding swimmer.

Sue is 53 and lives in Wellington with her husband Terry, a former Waikato dairy farmer. They have two adult daughters.

ENDS

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