Regulatory Standards Bill: What's Going On?

The Regulatory Submissions Bill, presented by David Seymour of the ACT Party, passed its first reading in Parliament on 23 May 2025. The Bill aims to, in simple terms, tidy up laws considered pointless or bad and hold them up to a higher standard in the same way that Aotearoa New Zealand does with budget managing and spending. National Party's support for this bill comes under the coalition agreement signed back in 2023.

The Bill's reading received criticism from Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Te Pāti Māori co-leader, warning Māori that the Bill's "...silence on the impact for Te Tiriti is on purpose. The Bill...opens the door [for] government to attack every Māori equity initiative". Parallels have begun to be drawn in criticism of this bill that this is the Treaty Principles 2.0.

In an emergency Waitangi Tribunal meeting, it was recommended that the Crown halt the continuation and advancement of the Bill to allow proper consultation with Māori.

What is the Bill?

The main goal is to improve the quality of New Zealand's laws by cutting down the regulations they consider not useful or poorly made, making the law-making process easier to understand, and apply a higher standard for regulations.

The Bill aims to make the government more accountable to Parliament, help Parliament review new bills more effectively, and ensure the Parliament has better control over legislation.

It looks to do this all by: creating principles or guidelines for what 'good law-making' should look like (with focus on protecting people's rights, freedoms, and property), holding new or existing law against the principles and if laws don't meet them then must be publicly explained why, implement an independent Regulatory Standards Board, and also support the Ministry for Regulation who would oversee the regulatory system and how it works overall.

The Bill in its entirety seeks to lift the quality of laws in Aotearoa New Zealand by setting clear standards, requiring public explanations when these standards are not met, and then establishing oversight from an independent board and the Ministry for Regulation. This looks to bring structure, accountability, and transparency to the construction and maintenance of laws.

So, what now?

Submissions for the Bill have opened and are set to close on 23 June 2025. You can find the page to submit here: Regulatory Standards Bill Submissions

Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed by authors in their submissions do not necessarily reflect those of Craccum. Craccum does not endorse any content or viewpoints published and is not responsible for the accuracy or reliability of the information provided by contributors.