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Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 19/11/24



As hikoi headed for Parliament, Seymour was busy with regulatory chores – and with seeking support for Treaty Principles Bill

When Point of Order checked the Stuff website around 11.15am for a hikoi progress report, we learned that Courtenay Place was “jam-packed with chanting kaihīkoi”.

We were puzzled and consulted the online version of Te Aka Māori-English, English-Māori Dictionary and Index. We drew a blank (see screenshot below):


Click to view

Whatever the chanting kaihīkoi might be, they were filling both sides of the street and spilling on to the footpaths.

Soon – presumably – they would be at Parliament, letting the government know what it already knows. The Treaty Principles Bill is not universally supported.

David Seymour, the bill’s promoter, meanwhile had been busy with duties as Minister for Regulation (a curious title for someone who aims for more deregulation).

He announced that something called the Ministry for Regulation’s Red Tape Tipline is now live.

The Red Tape Tipline is an online resource where the public can make submissions on regulation that affects them.

In another media statement, Seymour opened consultation on a proposed Regulatory Standards Bill.

The Bill will codify principles of good regulatory practice for existing and future regulations.

“It seeks to bring the same level of discipline to regulation that the Public Finance Act brings to public spending, with the Ministry for Regulation playing a role akin to that of Treasury.”

Consultation on a proposed Regulatory Standards Bill will be open until Monday 13 January 2025

The Ministry for Regulation “engagement hub” is here: Ministry for Regulation – Citizen Space.

Both statements were posted on the Government’s official website along with a few other ministerial statements (see below).

But Seymour was busy, too, whipping up support for the bill that is being opposed by the hikoi.

He emailed party supporters to remind them scientific polling suggests most New Zealanders support ACT’s proposed Treaty principles. But (he warns) the opposition will try to dominate the submission process to convince MPs and the media otherwise.

Te Pāti Māori, Labour, and the Greens are right now organising to swamp the Justice Select Committee with submissions against the Bill. They will argue in favour of the ‘partnership’ interpretation of the Treaty and the divisive policies you rejected at the last election.

Recipients of the email were asked to make a submission on Parliament’s website in support of the Bill?

Latest from the Beehive

19 November 2024


Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced four new diplomatic appointments.


Regulation Minister David Seymour has today announced the next steps in the Government’s plan improve the quality of regulation by opening consultation on a proposed Regulatory Standards Bill.


Minister for Regulation David Seymour has today announced that the Ministry for Regulation’s Red Tape Tipline is now live.

18 November 2024


The Minister for Youth Matt Doocey has today announced the eleventh Youth Parliament will be taking place in 2025.


After nearly a year in Government, Kiwis have seen significant change across law and order with promising early results shown across some Police statistics, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell.

Explaining what the the Red Tape Tipline is all about, Seymour said:

“We want to hear about your red tape horror stories. From today, New Zealanders will have a say on how they are regulated through an online portal.

“Billions of dollars are sapped from New Zealand’s economy every year from regulatory burden. In 2015, an NZIER study estimated the cost for businesses to comply with tax and regulatory requirements at $5 billion, or around 1.3% of GDP.

“Compliance associated with poor regulation costs New Zealanders time, money, and their sanity. It’s not just that red tape has disempowered people and businesses, it is replacing the No. 8 wire, can-do Kiwi attitude with a culture of fear and paperwork.

“We want to hear from tradies, farmers, teachers, chefs, engineers – every person doing productive work. If there’s red tape in your industry that needs cutting, we want to know about it. The Ministry might not be able to resolve every issue that’s brought to its attention straight away, but we are keen to understand more about experiences with regulation.”


Feedback will help flush out bad regulations that need to be Seymour said.

Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton

1 comment:

TJS said...

Courtenay Place jam packed with chanting 'Kaihikoi'.

May I suggest that they were off to get lunch! So many good places to eat up that end of town. Macdonalds, KFC, Burger King loads of Cantonese takeaways, Indian food. Duh!