The Political Parties That Rallied Against The Regulatory Standards Bill
131,000 submissions eh?
Second highest number in history, after the 300,000 + submissions that opposed the Treaty Principles Bill, eh?1
You beaut, Aotearoa New Zealand.
We really have to give credit to everyone that has been involved from Emeritus Professor Jane Kelsey, who was possibly the first to sound the warnings in January 2024, to who supercharged it all and we are thankful for, to Te Pati Māori and Toitū Te Tiriti2 who worked tirelessly, to ’s incisive analysis and always incredible acumen, to Greenpeace Aotearoa, Forest & Bird, the veritable Dame Ann Salmond, the Public Health Communications Centre which is always too incredible to limit by words, the great NZ unions, constitutional experts, former PMs, legal experts, media (Newsroom, RNZ, BHN etc), public health experts, scientists, economists, civil liberties groups, community groups, social service advocates, writers….there’s just too many to even try to cover.
Overall, it’s hopefully about the fruits of partnership, the cohesive efforts, the response of community, and the voice of so many who care.
Remember:
NZ First said they would potentially shutter the bill if popular support proved to eventuate, so keep up the pressure on old Winnie and his playmate, Shane Jones.
Last month, Winston signalled he believes the bill is a “work in progress” and depending on the final results of the submisson process, it may give NZ First more of an impetus to push harder against it.3
Their email addresses are [email protected] and [email protected]
This topic will be a good test of where Peters’ priorities really lie as the 2026 election approaches.
Let’s look at how the political parties rallied to spread awareness -
Te Pāti Māori
Te Pāti Māori worked consistently on the effort. The RSB explicitly excludes Te Tiriti o Waitangi from its set of “good” law-making principles and is widely seen as a ‘Trojan Horse’ attempt by ACT to, amongst other things, eliminate the Treaty of Waitangi from the country’s legal framework.
Te Pāti Māori were the first to publicly report the # of submissions received tonight.
Congratulations.
Their efforts
Separate shout to Toitū Te Tiriti, who although not part of TPM, worked hard on an issue that affects all.
The Green Party
The Green Party has opposed the Regulatory Standards Bill from the start.
This month, co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick joined Melanie Nelson and others to discuss the dangers of the Bill, labelling it a “neoliberal…machine”
Labour Party
Labour have warned about the dangers of the Bill for a while. Today they confirmed that they will repeal the RSB within their first 100 days of Government.
Next Steps
- Congratulations. Relax for a while and celebrate your new-found bot-status. Beep beep.
- Write to Winston Peters and Shane Jones and urge them to withdraw support for the RSB - [email protected] and [email protected]
- Party, garden and grab a beer. It’s time for a break and a breather.
- Seymour has directed his Ministry to analyse the responses with an AI bot. We should expect to learn more about the breakdown between those in opposition of the bill, and those against. We can also review oral submissions during the Select Committe process. Won’t that be fun.
PS
No government should make us work so hard to protect this country, nature, and community and individual rights.
No good faith government would rush these types of “dangerous”, retrospective, unconstitutional, all encompassing, ground breaking, and potentially highly damaging laws through - under urgency - nor squeeze the submission time-frame, as this government did.
As Sir Geoffrey Palmer told Melanie Nelson this week, by not debating it cohesively4, there is no opportunity for the the public to genuinely comprehend all of the Bill’s implications.
But I know that was the objective.
The method in this context is under-handed, and there is no valid reason that ACT/National have chosen to rush it through urgency - especially when the stakes against the country are as high as this.
ACT also redacted key information, including RSB implications.
ACT is tense.
Seymour is worried, and his veneer has been shaken,. I wish I could sympathise, but hubris often comes before a fall. I wish Mr Seymour well as one human to another, but more than that, I hope he fades away from public office and positions of influence, and that this government is listening to the people.
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90% of written submissions opposed ACT’s Treaty Principles Bill ↩
Tania Waikato Lawyer is a force to be reckoned with ↩
Also, I’m not sure Peters really likes Seymour, and what better way to get back at Seymour for his Winston zingers over the years, including
“Winston Peters has been shredding his own credibility for decades.” and,
“You are a crook. A charismatic crook perhaps, but a crook all the same.” ↩
And rushing it through urgency instead without any reasonable, valid or relevant rationale ↩
