Welcome to our new digital home We love having you as part of our community

Helen White: the Treaty Principles Bill

Helen White: the Treaty Principles Bill

Happy New Year! I hope readers have had a decent break and enjoyed a swim or two (despite the sea lice at so many beaches).

Many of you found time to submit on the Treaty Principles Bill and locally on the helicopter pad application in Westmere. Thank you for those of you who took these opportunities to participate. I have also received many emails raising concerns about the proposed Regulatory Standards Bill. This hasn’t been drafted yet, but we are informed to some extent on what is likely because David Seymour introduced a member's bill of the same name in 2021. This was rejected by its select committee and many of the submitters at the time including Treasury.

Worryingly, the Coalition agreement commits to passing it during this term of government. So, what is it all about and why are so many people worried?

In brief, this bill attempts to dictate a set of regulatory principles a law must take into account. It also says any breach of these principles must be fully compensated. For example, if a law can be argued to breach a property right, then the Government must provide compensation for it. If mining were to be regulated for environmental reasons, the companies that lose property rights would need to be compensated or could sue the Government.

My own learning from this job and my career in law is that litigation by private interests with deep pockets is a significant contributor to why it is so hard to get anything done in this country and many other countries. The threat and reality of those with lots of money embroiling anyone who threatens their private interests in litigation to delay and thwart change works.

It seems ironic to me that the Minister for Regulation who says he wants to cut red tape is adding to it. He intends to disempower elected decisionmakers by dictating the criteria they must take into account and disincentivising brave calls. I want braver decisions to be made that are in the public interest.

Professor Jane Kelsey says this bill attempts to entrench a neoliberal ideology in every piece of legislation. She says in her submission to the Ministry of Regulation:

“The objective is to bind governments forever to the logic of economic freedom (libertarianism) by setting overarching rules and principles within which all future political decisions must be made.”

Hon Duncan Webb says:
“The bill is an unnecessary power grab and would make David Seymour the Rule-Czar, limiting the ability of the other ministers to effectively operate and requiring them to certify compliance with his demands before they can make rules or laws… It seeks to limit what Parliament can do – for example by giving priority to property rights over things like environmental standards.”

In New Zealand's democracy, we're not bound by a fixed constitution or ideas stuck in time. Facing an environmental crisis, Parliament can act to prioritise that. So long as we have the will of the majority of New Zealanders, we get to move much more quickly than many other countries. We get to say that we don’t want guns or mines or gambling, and that we want laws to consider our obligations under Te Tiriti, and the costs to society, the environment or future generations. The Regulatory Standards Bill undermines this.

It is ironic that this piece of legislation is being proposed by the very Government which has ignored the processes we already have to maintain the integrity of new legislation and avoid unintended consequences and expensive mistakes. They could choose to better observe the public submission process by reducing the use of parliamentary urgency or to allow enough time for the preparation of a Regulatory Impact Statements, but they have not.

Addressing climate change and providing affordable houses won’t be achieved by empowering the 1% to sue us every time the Government changes the law against its interests.

I am hosting a public meet on this with guests Professor Jane Kelsey and Max Harris on 7 March, 6pm at the Trades Hall, 147 Great North Road. All welcome. (Helen White) 

helen.white@parliament.govt.nz www.labour.org.nz/HelenWhite

#ponsonbynews #iloveponsonby #loveponsonby #ponsonby #auckland #aucklandshippestrip #onlyponsonby #ponsonbyroad #Greylynn #freemansbay #westmere #ponsonby #hernebay #stmarysbay #archhill #coxsbay @followers #followers @everyone #everyone #waitematalocalboard @highlight

Previous Next

Leave a comment

Please note: comments must be approved before they are published.