On Friday, the Government passed the first reading of David Seymour’s Regulatory Standards Bill through Parliament.
Doing it in the shadow of the budget was a cynical move for a bill Seymour claims is about “transparent” lawmaking. The Government clearly timed it to avoid scrutiny over the Bill because they know it’s deeply unpopular.
This is the fourth time ACT has tried to pass this bill. It’s failed not once, not twice, but three times already for good reason. It should fail again. And just because Christopher Luxon let David Seymour put it in their coalition agreement does not mean it has the public mandate to continue.
This time, it has already drawn widespread public opposition. Over 20,000 people submitted on the bill’s first consultation – just 0.33% were in support. There have been stark warnings from constitutional experts, environmental groups and a damning Waitangi Tribunal report.
For those of us working to protect nature, climate, and democracy in Aotearoa, this bill is dangerous. It attempts to lock ACT’s far-right principles into law – elevating corporate profits above the public good, environmental protection and Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
If passed, the bill would set a new and dangerous precedent: that the Crown compensate corporations whenever new laws affect the use or value of their “property.” If a future Government passed regulations to protect rivers, which resulted in a dairy corporation having to reduce its pollution and stocking rates, there would be an expectation that the dairy company would be compensated for its loss of property.
And because “property” isn’t defined, it could mean anything – land, infrastructure, permits, stock, even intellectual property. It flips the well-established principle that polluters should pay on its head.
Alarmingly, it appears that NZ First might support it all the way to becoming law. This should give every member and supporter of the party serious pause.
Less than a decade ago, NZ First introduced a member’s bill titled Fighting Foreign Corporate Control. Today, the party looks poised to support legislation that does precisely the opposite: hands power to multinational corporations to challenge New Zealand’s laws and demand taxpayer compensation whenever a new regulation affects their bottom line.
The origins of the bill can be traced directly to New Zealand’s own far-right think tank – The Business Roundtable (now known as the New Zealand Initiative). A report written by Bryce Wilkinson for the Business Roundtable became the foundation for earlier versions of the bill.
Winston Peters is quoted in the Herald as once stating: “I never intended leading a party with policies that were then being negotiated with the Business Roundtable.”
Well, if his party keeps supporting this Bill then he’d be doing a complete 180 on that statement.
What’s at stake here is the ability of any future government to respond to the very real crises we face – climate change, inequality, biodiversity loss – without being tied down by legal threats, corporate claims, and Seymour’s rigid neoliberal ideology.
In addition, this bill has been labelled the Treaty Principles Bill 2.0, and it’s exactly that. By explicitly excluding Te Tiriti from the set of lawmaking principles, Seymour is trying to make sure the Treaty will no longer guide how laws are made. Instead, he’s attempting to impose a new legal order built on corporate property rights, while ignoring our founding document.
The Ministry of Justice has already warned that the bill fails to recognise Te Tiriti’s constitutional significance or the Crown’s obligations under it and is not in line with the Bill of Rights Act.
The Bill also empowers companies to formally challenge laws they oppose, backed by a new, unelected Regulatory Standards Board handpicked by David Seymour. If a law doesn’t align with ACT’s principles, the government must either amend or scrap it – or publicly justify why they prioritised public or environmental interests over corporate property rights. It places enormous pressure on future governments to avoid bold, necessary reform.
NZ First still maintains it will ensure “that the government always serves in the interests of all New Zealanders.” But this bill tries to redefine our constitutional and legal order so it serves corporate interests instead of New Zealanders.
NZ First has the power to stop it. Winston became famous for helping to end the new right revolution of the 1980s and ‘90s, it would be a shame if he ended his career dancing to Roger Douglas’ tune.
Make a submission opposing the Regulatory Standards Bill today using our quick submission builder.
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