Those who pay for access to public servants and Ministers get a big payback so New Zealand should follow what other similar countries did many years ago and introduce strict rules on lobbying. Our democracy is frequently undermined by lobbyists who arrange for promised policies to not be implemented or for new policies to be introduced. Vested interests get big benefits but at the expense of the community and future generations. Public servants are supposed to provide Ministers with ‘free and frank’ advice but this process is often influenced by lobbyists. Ministers do not have the time, ability, knowledge and experience to be able to make informed decisions that are in the best interests of the country. Under these circumstances, it is easy to influence a decision if a lobbyist is the only person who can get or buy access to the public servants who give advice and to the Minister who ultimately makes the decision. Ministers have very little time each week to make decisions but they allow lobbyists, who mainly represent those with money, to take up most of this time. The reasons for this are that they personally know the lobbyist or access has been purchased by...