Brian Easton: Do We Want A Regulatory Standards Act?

The ACT party election manifesto will propose to introduce a Regulatory Standards Act to set a higher bar for new regulation, and test regulations against the key principles of the Regulatory Standards Act.

To make my position clear I have had doubts, going back to Muldoon’s time in the 1970s, about the casual way we introduce regulations. Since then we have made a number of improvements to how they are introduced. But I am uneasy about the proposed legislation; at the very least, I think it requires a wide public debate before it is enacted.

Richard Prebble: Red tape is a toothache that needs extracting

Our grandson, aged seven, developed toothache last week. His grandmother rang the 0800 Healthline. The advice; "ring around for a dentist”.

The Maori Health providers gave the most honest response. They knew they would be no help. They did not answer the phone. The rest said:

“Ring around for a dentist”.

After failing with every school dental clinic she tried her own dentist. Her dentist said she would like to help but there is a government regulation banning dentists in private practice from treating children.

She rang back the healthline. ‘What do we do for his pain?”